UTXMP HUD

[Ðork]

. . .
The fact that making a radar for a map is nigh on impossible (I haven't tried, but I believe Fireball when he says this) seems to indicate to me that this was somethin Legend sort of forgot.
. . .

Making a radar is easy. It's not quick. I'd allow 3 to 4 hours to make one, but I'm slow at everything so most people should be quicker.
The instructions, which have always been in the FAQ, are so detailed that you just follow them step by step. It probably needs skill to mess it up.
The one weakness is when a map is very Z-oriented, but a minimap isn't going to do any better.

As for the position being an afterthought, I suspect it didn't require any thought because it's the only sensible place for a radar to be.

 

[Dandeloreon1984]

I'm sorry but I have to say this...
When I first installed XMP and joined a server there was one thing which really annoyed me. There was this godawful map/radar thing right in the middle at the bottom of my otherwise beatiful HUD. It wasn't anti-aliased properly, had the wrong colours, no transparency... and it was right in the middle! This was the only thing that really changed from the Unreal 2 HUD (yes i know there's the enrgy bars and stuff, but they're already sort of based on the existing bars), and it appears to have been thrown in as an afterthought. The fact that making a radar for a map is nigh on impossible (I haven't tried, but I believe Fireball when he says this) seems to indicate to me that this was somethin Legend sort of forgot.
Anyway, for this reason, I vote for the first HUD in this thread. It is quite frankly perfect.

I don't totally remember my first game of u2xmp, but i do know this much, at the biggining pretty much all the clues i had on how to play it were from ut2k3, but now look at me, i am an big annoyer, because i toss conc nades arround before i missle people too there doom

 

[Xaero]

The actual making of a U2:XMP radar isn't too complex. Getting the minimap part to line up perfectly is nigh on impossible.

 

[fireball]

The fact that making a radar for a map is nigh on impossible (I haven't tried, but I believe Fireball when he says this)

It's easy to make a radar (unless you've got one of those wierd maps with fog that won't go away). Getting the damn thing aligned and scaled correctly is the hard part.

 

[[GDC]Faust]

nah, it's easy. The problem is that most of the ppl use the 3d-Window of the editor to make the overhead-map.

 

[fireball]

Just click the T first and then hide all actors

 

[schizophrenia]

As snake would say, "omf".

 

[iddQd]

Brizz, yes first time I played XMP the HUD was all confusing. But after a while one realise we need all the info on it. Personal energy, stamina, ammo, health, team energy, tell me what of those could we remove? None! The HUD is a hard task and yes it will prolly drive some noobs away, but this is XMP, compared to other gametypes cought onslaught cought it actually needs some thinking. No offence to you Brizz, what youre trying to do is giving feedback on how to make XMP popular... but realise what we want is the spirit of XMP in a non fpsuberdraining game and nonlagghellweehooping game. Just plain u2xmp, what we love. So tips like "OMG move the radar to top right cause onslaught is that way!" Is kinda selfish or non XMP thinkling

As long as theres a masterserver and maybe the double playercount I will be satisfied. Hell I could prolly be satisfied with the activity of the current u2xmp if the clan number were just a little higher and more active.

As i said, no offence just plain critisism in a peacefull way

 

[GotBeer?]

"nonlagghellweehooping"? Are we speaking mock-Swedish here?


*hits 'Enter' key* ....Did I win?

 

[Sir_Brizz]

tell me what of those could we remove?

Rearrangin is diferent than REMOVING.

The HUD is a hard task and yes it will prolly drive some noobs away, but this is XMP, compared to other gametypes cought onslaught cought it actually needs some thinking.

The question is WHY? It really doesn't have THAT much more HUD information than any other gametype, it's just how it's arranged.

No offence to you Brizz, what youre trying to do is giving feedback on how to make XMP popular

I'm giving feedback on how to prevent UTXMP from failing like U2XMP did.

... but realise what we want is the spirit of XMP in a non fpsuberdraining game and nonlagghellweehooping game.

But ultimately, that is still a game that failed. Less than 300 active players worldwide WHILE THE MASTER SERVER WAS UP is not successful. Also, there weren't an excessive amount of people complaining about FPS problems.

Just plain u2xmp, what we love. So tips like "OMG move the radar to top right cause onslaught is that way!" Is kinda selfish or non XMP thinkling

So you are saying it si selfish for me to want UTXMP to succeed? It's selfish for me to want a gametype that deserves PLAYERS to have them? It's selfish for me to want to get MORE players to play XMP?

I personally don't see how that is selfish. I think it is MORE selfish to want the game so perfectly exact that NOTHING changes, in which case we will see UTXMP played as often as Nerf Arena Blast.

As long as theres a masterserver and maybe the double playercount I will be satisfied. Hell I could prolly be satisfied with the activity of the current u2xmp if the clan number were just a little higher and more active.

As i said, no offence just plain critisism in a peacefull way

None taken

 

[[pet]owl]

Rearrangin is diferent than REMOVING.


The question is WHY? It really doesn't have THAT much more HUD information than any other gametype, it's just how it's arranged.

I'm giving feedback on how to prevent UTXMP from failing like U2XMP did.

But ultimately, that is still a game that failed. Less than 300 active players worldwide WHILE THE MASTER SERVER WAS UP is not successful. Also, there weren't an excessive amount of people complaining about FPS problems.

So you are saying it si selfish for me to want UTXMP to succeed? It's selfish for me to want a gametype that deserves PLAYERS to have them? It's selfish for me to want to get MORE players to play XMP?

I personally don't see how that is selfish. I think it is MORE selfish to want the game so perfectly exact that NOTHING changes, in which case we will see UTXMP played as often as Nerf Arena Blast.

As long as theres a masterserver and maybe the double playercount I will be satisfied. Hell I could prolly be satisfied with the activity of the current u2xmp if the clan number were just a little higher and more active.


None taken

XMP died cause legend died. And that is that. we had no support. no patches. XMP is a classic but had no back up. Now FMI is bringing it back. THANK GOD, it will have support, patches and there might even be a xmp3 who knows. With FMI support xmp woll become huge. even if the hud was the koolaid man saying "hey hey this way" it would pwn.

 

[W0RF]

I'm giving feedback on how to prevent UTXMP from failing like U2XMP did.

Wait.... Atari closed down Legend, the game had zero support, the SP game it was based on had crappy sales, the netcode was dodgy, the vehicle collision was dodgy, the framerates were in the basement and the master server was down more often than it was up, but XMP failed because the HUD was too confusing?

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Wait.... Atari closed down Legend, the game had zero support, the SP game it was based on had crappy sales, the netcode was dodgy, the vehicle collision was dodgy, the framerates were in the basement and the master server was down more often than it was up, but XMP failed because the HUD was too confusing?

Nope. The HUD was confusing, which may or may not have contributed to it's failure. The game probably would have failed on it's own, though, notwithstanding those other problems. Of course, if they had ALL been together, who knows...but the fact is that even in XMP's best days there were less than 300 players and I think it could and should be able to do WAY better than that. I think the HUD is the first thing that poeple said "Euch!" about and it kept going downhill from there.

 

[W0RF]

IIRC, I think the first thing that went wrong is that it was attached to U2. Automatically there's a small pool of players from which to draw a crowd. The second thing is that for gameplay as complex as XMP, the tutorial was non-interactive and unengaging to the new player, for those who even bothered to watch it. Personally I don't blame Legend for the average player's tendency to just jump into a new game with no initiation and expect to just "pick it up as they go". Still, from that perspective, XMP has two strikes against it before the HUD is even displayed on the screen. I'm sorry, but I just don't agree that it was the catalyst, nor a sign of things to come. Interfacing with the player obviously is something that deserves a good amount of attention, but I'd be hard pressed to find someone telling me that a good HUD can make or break a game.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

IIRC, I think the first thing that went wrong is that it was attached to U2. Automatically there's a small pool of players from which to draw a crowd. The second thing is that for gameplay as complex as XMP, the tutorial was non-interactive and unengaging to the new player, for those who even bothered to watch it. Personally I don't blame Legend for the average player's tendency to just jump into a new game with no initiation and expect to just "pick it up as they go". Still, from that perspective, XMP has two strikes against it before the HUD is even displayed on the screen. I'm sorry, but I just don't agree that it was the catalyst, nor a sign of things to come. Interfacing with the player obviously is something that deserves a good amount of attention, but I'd be hard pressed to find someone telling me that a good HUD can make or break a game.

I'm not trying to say it necessarily did, although because the HUD is part of the game, it is part of what makes up it's success or failure. The HUD definitely didn't HELP matters.

All I'm trying to say is that the information could be arranged better to be mor intuitive and more friendly.

 

[takwu]

. . . it is part of what makes up it's success or failure. The HUD definitely didn't HELP matters.

Based on what?

I think the HUD is part of XMP's success. And it definitely DID HELP me stay in the game.

Not saying it's impossible, but this whole imagination about the HUD confusing people and making them leave is really doubtful.

ooo... flashback! The very first time I played XMP at my friend's place, I said "which way am I going?" My friend said "this way." "Why?" "I don't know, I just saw this red/blue thing around the circle" (of course he meant the radar) Confusing? quite the opposite for me and my friend. Then again maybe we're just freaks.

But I really don't understand how some of you never use the radar. Some of the really symmetrical maps (sunsetbeach, freefall) are almost impossible to get around without the direction.

 

[Emmet Otter]

I cant see how anyone dont want to use the radar. It doesnt make sense not to use it! When my team is low on energy, how do i know which energy to take? BAM! I just look at the radar! Nothing is worse when your teamates are low on energy and you run towards an energy to find out that your occupies it. But now have to run across the map to hack the other. Its a time saver to me. Same goes for deploy points.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Based on what?

I think the HUD is part of XMP's success. And it definitely DID HELP me stay in the game.

Not saying it's impossible, but this whole imagination about the HUD confusing people and making them leave is really doubtful.

The HUD is definitely not part of XMP's success. The RADAR maybe...but no the HUD itself.

ORGANIZATION is key. I don't understand why everyone is INSISTING that they keep the old organization of the HUD, frankly it blew. It was based on Unreal 2's organization, which blew. It's unintuitive and disinteresting AND it's not organized like any other FPS out there. I know, the next thing you will say is "That's what makes it cool, it's not like any FPS out there" well that's good for all you that stuck it out but some people won't. I know that if I was just starting out in video games and saw a hud like the one in U2/XMP I would have gored myself. You can't find any information on it unless you know where to look and what you are looking for.

 

[takwu]

You can't find any information on it unless you know where to look and what you are looking for.

Dude, are you suggesting there is a HUD design where you can find information even if you DON'T know where to look and what you are looking for?

OK, joking aside, the HUD is organized nicely and simply. Top: battle info - Bottom: tactical console.

The left health/shield, right ammo bars are frequently used information, especially during battle, so they are both logically put at the top (the U of HUD). Frankly I do not watch the team energy bar or navigation when in the middle of a gang fight. DM players need not concern the rest

That leaves bottom for the rest, more tactical information, which are used when you're NOT in the middle of a battle, right? Personal energy, team energy and sources ownership are nicely grouped together in the bottom right. The navigation is without question in the middle. Now personal speed/stamina, class, and artifact status aren't related to each other, but they are the only left over, so I guess that's why they are there in the left.

This is, in my opinion, a very logical and practical organization. The argument that these information is scattered around, is simply the anti-argument for larger blocked areas in the view. No way around it: cluster and block the view, or scatter and let everything blend in. It's always a tradeoff. In the old days of Doom and Quake, you choose between the extreme cases of either: completely cluster everthing in a bottom console, or scatter everything on the HUD. The U2XMP hud has come a long way from that, and represents a very good balance between those tradeoffs.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Sheesh...

Refer to the Attachments.

when someone plays XMP for the first time they go like this.

First look at Green area:
"WTF is this? Am I dead? Where's my health? What are those stupid icons? WTF is that big plus?"

Red area:
"WTF is this thing? Is it a radar? WTF are those icons on it? Where is it pointing? How do I use the thing?"

Blue area:
"WTF??? Is this my health? WTF are all these icons? Why are some green and red? Whats with the lightning bolts? This HUD sucks!"

Light Blue area:
"Oh there's my Ammo...WTF is it doing up there?"

Yellow area:
"Oh there's my Health...I'll never see it up there... WTf is shield??"

Realize most people will be coming from UT2004. Refer to that screenshot.

Green, Left:
"There's my health"

Green, Right:
"There's my ammo."

Blue:
"There's the game time and the score"

Red:
"There's the overhead map. I know right where I'm going."

Trust me, the new HUD is better. Keeping all the Player information and "tactical" information in similar areas is the best idea they could have.