Some Suggestions To Improve The Ui Of Warframe (Star Chart Ui Now On The Thread)

[Renegade343]

Hello all, 

 

This thread will be a small compilation of my suggestions to improve the UI of Warframe, making it more convenient for players to use. The suggestions are below: 

 

Mission UI:

 

The current UI is very clean and informative, but sometimes, it is difficult to find a specific team member on the minimap or know if there are any negative effects on players (e.g. a team member having a Cold status effect) so that other team members can go and help. Thus, I have made three (and a half) new additions to the current UI with this image (edited using Photoshop) (assume Frost is within an Arson Eximus's aura range):

 

 

The first thing we would see is the new ability to see status effects on other players (see the Slash status symbol on one of the players on the right?). This will allow players to know what is affecting team members, and act accordingly (e.g. Once the players see one team member is inflicted with a Slash status effect and has low health, the other players can either heal with with powers or team restores). With this change, also tweak Oberon's Renewal to cure all status effects on players when the healing trail hits the players, as well as increasing the projectile speed to 250 m/s.

 

The second thing we see is the colour indicator beside the players' names, and the corresponding Lotus symbol colour on the minimap. This will allow players to accurately know where a specific team member is at, giving them an option to better coordinate attacks and defence to complete the objective. Of course, with that, we can also have the Lotus symbol rotate based on where the player is facing (with the three prongs being a bit more pronounced to indicate the direction the player is facing).

 

The third thing to be added to the UI will be when players enter an Eximus's aura range (if the aura negatively affects the player). When the player enters the aura, a danger sign with the same colour as the Eximus's aura colour will be shown at the top middle of the screen, with a small distance counter below the danger sign indicating the displacement between the player and the Eximus, which also shows the cutoff range of the aura (e.g.: A player within 10m of an Eximus with a 15m aura will show 10m/15m), allowing players to see what aura they are in and inform them when they can escape the aura range and subsequently its effects.

 

The fourth thing will be to show Mind Controlled enemies as having the same icon as a normal enemy (i.e. the red diamond shape), but to the colour of the owner (e.g.: An enemy is Mind Controlled by a player that is displayed as green on the minimap. Said enemy will now be shown as the same colour as said player to indicate it is Mind Controlled by said player). 

 

With these changes, I hope to make the UI more informative to promote better teamplay, and thus reward players who like to play as a team a bit more (especially on random games).

 

Foundry UI: 

 

Now, the current Foundry UI lacks one thing: Easy access to show all the resources that the player has. Here is the Foundry UI now, if anyone has not seen it yet: 

 

 

Although a member has suggested that the recipe resource requirements should show the total number of said resources that the player has (e.g.: On the Foundry UI, if I have 81 Orokin Cells, then all recipes needing Orokin Cells will show 81/X [where X = no. of said resource required]), it is not a full solution, as some players may want to check on every resource quickly. 

 

Thus, my suggestion to add on to that is to install four new buttons (labelled "Common", "Uncommon", "Rare" and "Research") on top of the recipes, replacing the text "Acquire materials and build new items.". The word "Resource:" will be on the left of the buttons. These buttons can be then clicked, which will roll down the list of resources that is in the category, showing the resource itself and the number of said resource (e.g.: If a player has 200 Nano Spores and 200 Salvage and clicks on the "Common" button, he/she will see the list roll down, displaying all of the resources in the "Common" category [Nano Spores, Salvage, Ferrite, etc.], while showing the number of resources the player has [will show 0 Ferrite etc., 200 Nano Spores, and 200 Salvage]). These buttons then can be clicked again to hide the list. Also, these buttons are independent of one another, meaning a player can open all four lists to view at his/her will. 

 

With this change, I hope to bring back some of the functionality of the previous Foundry UI.

 

Star Chart UI (2014-07-29 08:33 GMT +08:00): 

 

Now, with the new Star Chart, some players will be a bit confused as to where what planet is linking to what planet (or even what node to what node), as opposed to the old Star Chart. My suggestion is to increase the gap of the nodes slightly, then include a white linking line to connecting nodes, indicating that this node is connected to this node, and so on, allowing players to see in order to access a particular node that is not unlocked, what nodes they must clear to get to said node. 

 

Also, on the Assassination node, there can be a few lines of text stating what planet this boss unlocks, placed underneath the unique boss sign on the boss node (e.g.: For the Jackal, underneath the eye sign, there will be two lines of text stating "Linked to Mars" and "Linked to Jupiter" to tell players that this boss will unlock Mars and Jupiter). 

 

With these two small changes, I hope to bring back some functionality that was present in the old Star Chart UI to the new one.

 

Please take the time to read through these few changes (may continue to expand), and give constructive feedback and criticism on these. 

 

Renegade343

 

To see my other threads, please go to my profile.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Renegade343

[noveltyhero]

Actually I made a color coded thread too!

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/263927-how-to-easily-identify-squad-members/

Great minds do think alike :D

 

But I also addressed more issues with the U14 UI here:

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/265419-how-to-fix-u14/

[Renegade343]

Actually I made a color coded thread too!

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/263927-how-to-easily-identify-squad-members/

Great minds do think alike :D

 

But I also addressed more issues with the U14 UI here:

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/265419-how-to-fix-u14/

This is meant to be a catch-all UI thread, meaning it does not just targets U14. 

[yarash2110]

looks like to much clutter to me, we don't need to know if someone is slowed down, or having a puncture proc, 

 

what i would like to see is having the ability to access everything from everywhere just like before the update, where you had the bar on top with the arsenal foundery and everything and it will always be available, and now everything has categories and sub categories with no speed, just to customize loadout for a mission for example you need to press esc 3 times or twice and walk to the arsenal, and ofc clicking takes no time but it is really annoying and unnecessary, so if we had the option to just enter everything from everywhere, that will fix the new UI for good,

[yarash2110]

looks like to much clutter to me, we don't need to know if someone is slowed down, or having a puncture proc, 

 

what i would like to see is having the ability to access everything from everywhere just like before the update, where you had the bar on top with the arsenal foundery and everything and it will always be available, and now everything has categories and sub categories with no speed, just to customize loadout for a mission for example you need to press esc 3 times or twice and walk to the arsenal, and ofc clicking takes no time but it is really annoying and unnecessary, so if we had the option to just enter everything from everywhere, that will fix the new UI for good,

thats just my opinion, maybe it could be a toggle

[Renegade343]

looks like to much clutter to me, we don't need to know if someone is slowed down, or having a puncture proc, 

Would be useful for hive sabotage/survival/defence/healers who need check on other team-members. After all, it is just a small sprite, so it should not be too obstructive (besides, it is linked with the Show Team Members button, so disabling it will also disable the ability to see the red status effect sprite on team members on the screen). 

 

 what i would like to see is having the ability to access everything from everywhere just like before the update, where you had the bar on top with the arsenal foundery and everything and it will always be available, and now everything has categories and sub categories with no speed, just to customize loadout for a mission for example you need to press esc 3 times or twice and walk to the arsenal, and ofc clicking takes no time but it is really annoying and unnecessary, so if we had the option to just enter everything from everywhere, that will fix the new UI for good,

Currently trying to think of a way to get that and incorporate it with the new UI. 

Edited July 19, 2014 by Renegade343

[Renegade343]

Star Chart UI is now online. 

[WingKiller]

they need to trash the star chart and bring one similar to the last one back

[Renegade343]

they need to trash the star chart and bring one similar to the last one back

The new one is alright in its job, but it just lacks the functionality of the old Star Chart. 

 

Taking some aspects of the old Star Chart and melding it with the new one should help quite a bit. 

 

And removal/reversion of gameplay elements is the last resort, if all solutions and suggestions fail. 

[WingKiller]

The new one is alright in its job, but it just lacks the functionality of the old Star Chart. 

 

Taking some aspects of the old Star Chart and melding it with the new one should help quite a bit. 

 

And removal/reversion of gameplay elements is the last resort, if all solutions and suggestions fail. 

 

 

true it does the job, but the flow is much worse and the spinning, omg the spinning. i shouldnt have to spin the map to find a mission. They need a more heads down sort of view. 

[Renegade343]

true it does the job, but the flow is much worse and the spinning, omg the spinning. i shouldnt have to spin the map to find a mission. They need a more heads down sort of view. 

The transition from clicking the planet to the nodes is alright, but I do agree on the spinning thing.

 

Maybe an option for players to allow them to either use the new Star Chart UI, or a revamped version of the old Star Chart UI, then?