A thought about WHY the new UI..

[Old Duck]

People have rightly pointed out that the new UI feels like it is made for a touch screen / tablet. What if they are right? I'm not talking about playing ED on an iPad, but rather the idea of future-proofing the UI to work on VIRTUAL touch screens. For example, if we someday get ship interiors, maybe there will be a station on the bridge that has a screen dedicated to the system and galaxy maps that we access like the screens in the concourse, as virtual CMDRs touching a screen rather than a person playing a video game on their PC (the current full-screen implementation of maps). Same goes with other virtual screens for things like outfitting. This would IMO explain why the UI has been drastically changed to use big "touch buttons" instead the traditional UI we had previously.

Now please don't get me wrong, this is not a defense of the new UI. I hate it as much as anyone. But it might explain why Frontier completely redesigned something that was perfectly fine to begin with, because they want to take a more Star-Citizen approach to everything being interacted with as our character rather than these "out-of-game" full screens we currently have.

Anywho, just a thought!

 

[avow555]

Whatever the designs philosophy, it just doesn't work.

 

[Old Duck]

Whatever the designs philosophy, it just doesn't work.

Oh I totally agree. I just wonder why they put so much effort into "fixing" something that wasn't broken (especially when plenty of things that ARE broken remain unfixed). There has to be a reason!

 

[PontifusRex]

Interesting, yes. The biggest mystery to me is why companies never seem to explain the reasons behind why they make certain choices. A little info goes a long way.

 

[CMDR Sophie Joanne]

Interesting assessment.
Personally, I prefer the new UI layout. The info on the old tabs was very unorganised and all-over the place

 

[Pigletslastand]

I'm really looking forward to the Roadmap because it will hopefully stop us all standing around in the dark shouting for a light.. might help to know where we are going!

Also I hate the new UI.. it is cumbersome and difficult and many times I've needed to access the galaxy map etc in high stress situations like combat.. trust me you don't want a millisecond of delay or obfuscation tripping you up at times like that!

 

[Old Duck]

Interesting assessment.
Personally, I prefer the new UI layout. The info on the old tabs was very unorganised and all-over the place

My problem with the new UI is lack of efficiency and consistency. If Frontier fixes these aspects, then I can live with the aesthetics. It does sound like Frontier plans to do just that, so fingers crossed!

Still, a mighty lot of work went into something that while not perfect, at least worked. There are so many other parts of the game that are still clearly broken (I'm talking old Horizons bugs) that I feel there must be a greater reason to investing such time in the UI than simply it was "unorganized". Hence my OP.

 

[Pigletslastand]

If it actually worked well on my touch screen I might be inclined to agree with you.

However, I think they were just trying to modernise it. Which is fine, although doesn't add anything to the game, but no-one seemed to check that you can do everything you could with the old one. Or really listened to those pointing these things out in the Alpha test.

The thing is you have a player base who uses this stuff on the regular wayyyy more than the people testing it and in much diverse circumstances, that's not the fault of the testers that's just a fact. Frontier should leverage their userbase as an asset, a very good one and if the issue tracker was organised properly it would be great for them. It's not like we haven't been there filling out the damned thing is it??

 

[Northpin]

Oh I totally agree. I just wonder why they put so much effort into "fixing" something that wasn't broken (especially when plenty of things that ARE broken remain unfixed). There has to be a reason!

Well, it started with UI design for carriers, i'm not really fond of it, but it's... sort of acceptable.
On XB it still takes the occasional extra click because the way tiles are arranged.
Still the Horizons station was more functional than the Carrier one.

Point is, all the Horizons UI is way more functional than what we got as UI in Odyssey.

Still no idea why.
Maybe someone wanted a fresh look and they already had an UI team on the payroll
Maybe it has something to do with the touch screens... not as much as EDO being futureproofed, but maybe the team or the lead UI was more experienced in touchscreens UI
and less in Joystick, Controller, KB/M screens

 

[CMDR Sophie Joanne]

My problem with the new UI is lack of efficiency and consistency. If Frontier fixes these aspects, then I can live with the aesthetics. It does sound like Frontier plans to do just that, so fingers crossed!

I don't see a few extra clicks or mouse movements a problem, tbh, but that could just be me.

 

[Pigletslastand]

yeah my point exactly.. if Frontier were to pay for the testing we did for them it would cost them a packet.. and they patently ignored most of it. Sad

 

[Pigletslastand]

Mind you they never gave their teams the time to implement even if they were listening, you can't redesign a UI in two weeks.. which means either they were cringing as they released something they KNEW was going to bomb coz it wasn't ready or the whole 'Alpha' experience was a cynical marketing ploy to drum up support and make us their marketing team (unpayed). Both options are equally depressing.

 

[Old Duck]

Maybe it has something to do with the touch screens...

The reason this idea comes to mind is because Odyssey already has touch screens - those terminals in the station / outpost concourses. As players, we see these UIs on smaller, virtual screens rather than full-screen like Horizon UIs, so this might be why the icons and interfaces had to be made so big.

On the other hand, Horizons also has virtual "touch screen" interfaces - the various holographic panels for our ships (particularly the left and right panels), which IMO are extremely well done and friendly for all different types of input devices - controllers, HOTAS, K&M, etc. So the "why" doesn't excuse the "how" in Odyssey.

 

[Joe Akeem]

<Tinfoil hat> We are testing the PS5 version, hence the yeeting of massive data clogging our VRAM
</Tinfoil hat >

(Because of the PS5's excellent asset streaming)

 

[Drelthar]

maybe the team or the lead UI was more experienced in touchscreens UI
and less in Joystick, Controller, KB/M screens

To be honest, this is kind of how it feels...

 

[CMDR Sophie Joanne]

In every example I tested, it's not even any more clicks once you've figured out the new layout.

And before anyone starts, I could not test every possible scenario, and I am aware of some people - especially those using controllers - having significantly more click for certain actions.

That's good to know - like I said, I don't have a proiblem with extra clicks (but your testing says that isn't the case). I just went off all the "MorE KlicKz" posts and decided it isn't a problem for me.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Oh I totally agree. I just wonder why they put so much effort into "fixing" something that wasn't broken (especially when plenty of things that ARE broken remain unfixed). There has to be a reason!

Because they outsourced it with the request to "freshen up the UI, go" - to a party who never played the game in their lives.

That's my theory anyways.

 

[Pigletslastand]

In every example I tested, it's not even any more clicks once you've figured out the new layout.

And before anyone starts, I could not test every possible scenario, and I am aware of some people - especially those using controllers - having significantly more click for certain actions.

Guys I'm using a Joystick = controller and i can tell you for one it's horrible on both and way slower than mouse, i know this because the mouse works too and i find myself wanting to put down my controller and use that instead but I don't want to be tied to a desk. It is NOT a better experience on controller/HOTAS

 

[the100thmonkey]

There's clearly been an effort made to standardise the UI - there were effectively two UIs already (three if you count the maps) and FD were going to add a fourth with the on-foot interface.

Clearly, some of the decisions made have been questionable, but it is a good idea to make the UI as consistent as possible. I actually like some aspects of the maps while disliking others. I like the columns on the left and right, but dislike the placement of the buttons. For instance, the system map button on the galaxy map should be the second from top, if not the top icon. I like the bookmarks manager because I can plot a route directly to a station, but why is the manager right down at the bottom? Again, it should be second or first.

It would be nice to be able to choose the position of icons/buttons like you can with a modern internet browser.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Guys I'm using a Joystick = controller and i can tell you for one it's horrible on both and way slower than mouse, i know this because the mouse works too and i find myself wanting to put down my controller and use that instead but I don't want to be tied to a desk. It is NOT a better experience on controller/HOTAS

Often also made worse by the fact where the 'default' location the "cursor" is placed. If you use the dpad (like I do). The 'authority' bounties/fees screen is a prime example of that but EDO has introduced a few more.