HUD buff clutter

[BalaDeSilver]

I understand why the buff HUD is the way it is. It served the game well for a long time, especially in the early days when there weren't as many buffs as there are today, but with the number of possible buffs increasing at an alarming rate, the buff HUD now has two main issues that need addressing.

1 - The buffs simple aren't identifiable at a glance. In most games, the buff icons have distinct shapes and a whole visual identity with the kind of buff they are, with different colors and completely different graphics for each one. Warframe already has this in a way, where you can set different colors for buffs and debuffs, but I'm afraid those aren't enough with the sheer amount we have today. Too many buffs are too similar in shape, so it's often hard to find the one you want with a simple glance, in the buff bar.

The 2 buffs from Blood Rush and Gladiator Might use the same ingame asset; the 50%/5.1 and the x10/1.1 use very similar graphics; The 30%/1.1 and the 141% use similar shapes but one is filled in and the other one is not. While you absolutely can differentiate them, it's not something you can do at a glance, it's hard to tell them apart.

2 - The sheer cluttering of that screen. On the above image, you can't even tell how much Overguard the Nekros has, since the buff is way too close to the character portraits. Similarly, you might also notice that I have exactly 18 buffs in that screenshot. I don't have exactly 18 buffs at the moment, tho, but only up to 18 can be shown at once. If I want information on any more buffs, tough luck, I straight up don't have them.

"Oh, but that's just a Circuit thing, of course it won't happen on normal missions, since you don't have all those decrees..."

Well, then, this is a clip of me legitimately playing Yareli in a Kuva Survival fissue on SP:

You might notice buffs expiring and being immediately replaced by already almost expired buffs. I can't have all of them at once, no matter what I do. My build is simply too strong for the buff list.

I suggest not only increasing the max length of the list (maybe up to 20, or maybe dynamically depending on aspect ratio and HUD scale), and only showing the relevant buffs at the time. Like, if you have your melee up, only the melee and Warframe buffs show up, same for secondary and primary, so Galvanized Shot won't show up when you have you Primary, Blood Rush won't show when you have your secondary, so on. That would help a lot.

Also increase the distance of the allied buffs based on how much Health, Shields and Overguard they have, since my friend has a Rhino build that can have 10m Overguard in Steel Path Star chart, not even on the Circuit, and those numbers get chonky.

When it comes to the first problem, I suggest a togglable background on each buff (on by default) that shows its origin. A faded Arcane icon behind Arcane buffs, a faded mod icon behind mod buffs, a faded Excalibur icon behind Warframe buffs, a faded Operator icon behind Focus buffs, a faded Duviri icon behind Decrees, and so on. It'd increase readability by a lot, even if it doesn't solve all problems the current system has.

Edited October 1 by BalaDeSilver

[Oreades]

NGL watching the HUD slowly bloat over time has been hilarious because the reason we apparently can't just have Kuva represented in the mod station is because "information overload", so to determine if I have enough of the mod currency (kuva) to use on Rivens I must first filter by Riven and then select a Riven before the game will even display the amount of Kuva you have so you know if you have enough Kuva for Rivens in the first place. All while buffs keep piling up to slowly consume the screen.

 

Edited October 1 by Oreades

[FulfillMyWill]

IMO we should have an option to "favourite" some buffs so that, when active, they are always shown 1st and in different color.

[Quest]

18 minutes ago, FulfillMyWill said:

IMO we should have an option to "favourite" some buffs so that, when active, they are always shown 1st and in different color.

Or a toggle to display buffs cast by the client first.

[Binket_]

1 hour ago, BalaDeSilver said:

"Oh, but that's just a Circuit thing, of course it won't happen on normal missions, since you don't have all those decrees..."

The best part is that now that we have Koumei upcoming, that WILL be a thing outside of the Circuit too.

Not that we need Decrees to really see this being an issue. Just have an Octavia in your squad, it's probably even worse.

• Two instances of her 4 possible Metronome buffs, making 8 slots in total it can occupy.
• Her passive, granting Energy Regen.
• Her Amp which takes another slot.

That's 10 slots out of the 18 possible ones to show. Leaving only 8 left to render.
Of which that 8 will likely be something like the lines of Primary/Secondary Arcanes, Tome mods, Adaptation, etc.

This has been asked before as a QoL change. It's only getting more relevant, DE.

1 hour ago, BalaDeSilver said:

I understand why the buff HUD is the way it is. It served the game well for a long time

If I were DE, I'd also look into using as an excuse to overhaul the HUD on a much bigger scale.
Especially since that's kinda DE's schtick when it comes to fixing anything, but I digress.

You got two major things you can add alongside the enhanced buff bar:

1. Moving HUD elements:
   Our visuals are ungodly cluttered as is. Between Warframe-specific functions like cycling abilities or elaborate passives?
   We simply cannot parse much of this information easily.
   • Solution? Let us move certain UI elements to locations where it's more useful.
     A players idea of "useful" is going to vary, so giving the tools to let them make it useful is far more effective.
     ^{Don't give me that "Too much effort" schtick DE, you make a big stink about accessibility as is. Finish the job properly.}
2. New HUD styles:
   Seriously, why can't we use the Duviri HUD in the maingame? Why can't we use Teshin's HUD?
   There's a whole option that says "Prefer Default HUD as Drifter", which forces Duviri to be the standard one.
   • Solution? Let us select from unlockable HUD themes, similar to the UI theme options.
     You can even sell ones like Teshin's or Veso's in that. You already sell UI themes for 50 plat a pop, that's free money.

Both of these not only enhance the experience for many players, but benefit DE directly as well.

DE, If you're afraid players won't see it or care for it-- make it more widely known.
There are still players out there who seem to think you can only build one item at a time in the Foundry.
You have full reign over what NPCs get placed, how information is shown, etc, etc.
^{Very little excuse for this kinda thing, besides maybe a budget-- but we both know how you can justify that.}

 

All that aside, I feel most of the issue just derives from short-sighted solutions that went unchecked.
DE's bread and butter for this game, really.

[BalaDeSilver]

41 minutes ago, Binket_ said:

Moving HUD elements:
Our visuals are ungodly cluttered as is. Between Warframe-specific functions like cycling abilities or elaborate passives?
We simply cannot parse much of this information easily.

• Solution? Let us move certain UI elements to locations where it's more useful.
  A players idea of "useful" is going to vary, so giving the tools to let them make it useful is far more effective.
  ^{Don't give me that "Too much effort" schtick DE, you make a big stink about accessibility as is. Finish the job properly.}

Morrowind had that. In 2002.

Want a bigger map? Open the map screen and pin it. It's even resizable, so it'll only take as much space as you allow it. Want to keep a look on your inventory? Pin it, also resizable? Want to keep stats on screen for some reason? Pinnable and resizable too. This solution is 22 years old at this point.

Of course just copying Morrowind wouldn't do anything for Warframe, it's a completely different genre of game, but the idea remains. A custom-fitted HUD is the best HUD that can ever be. If I can pick and choose what information is displayed and where, I can manage things myself. If something is taking more screen space than I want, I'll just move, resize or just make it more transparent. If I'm able to make more or less information, I'll just adapt it to my likings.

Also, one last thing is redundancy. DE hates redundancy for some weird reason, when it'd actually benefit a lot of the game. Having accessibility options also be on their respective non-accessibility categories in the options menu simultaneously to the accessibility tab would be great for everyone, and the same goes for health and ammo. Let me have a health bar near my reticle, and an ammo bar as well. You already have that with abilities, if a little useless, just double down on that approach. You don't need to remove a thing to add another, you can keep both.