UI Needs an Overhaul...

[Cookie Eating Huskarl]

GT... lol.

I'm home for a bit anyways so I should have enough time to work on the UI. Any special requirements on the looks?

i was wondering if we could put more than one ui layouts. like they cycle in a random order. one time u start, it's a feron styled ui. Another time, planelord, illoriaon ... etc. Something like that, possible to do?

[Glaehron Turaanen]

I've already ran into a problem...

Only thing I can do is drawing and texturing and the likes, I don't even know how to open those DDS files. Like I could take an ingame screenshots and put all of my skill in patching up the looks but that's that. I have no experience as a 'modder' at all so when it comes down to coding and the thing I can't be of any help unless somone can give me a link to some Guide for Dummies 

[Cookie Eating Huskarl]

I've already ran into a problem...

Only thing I can do is drawing and texturing and the likes, I don't even know how to open those DDS files. Like I could take an ingame screenshots and put all of my skill in patching up the looks but that's that. I have no experience as a 'modder' at all so when it comes down to coding and the thing I can't be of any help unless somone can give me a link to some Guide for Dummies 

google dds converters. Convert them to bitmap (bmp) or other viewable form, or get a program that can read .dds files

[Alenmare]

Hey Glaehron. No worries about the .DDS files. I'll convert them for you, you can edit them in whatever format you what, send them back to me, and I'll convert them back.

I'll see if I can set up you a link.

Edit: Hehe, I had to go through the alphabet song to find the quests_window file. Is that sad or what?

[Glaehron Turaanen]

Thanks for the offer but no worries! I found and installed a .dds plug-in for GIMP. Can read .dds files fine now 

[Kardiophylax]

I use Irfanview for viewing usually.  I use GIMP if I need to edit though.  DDSConverter 2.1 will take care of converting any .jpg you have to dds.

[Alenmare]

Sometimes that doesn't work - saving on it is kind of odd, for me. I'll keep the files up as a backup just in case, but nice job.

Here, just in case:

http://www.filefactory.com/file/a04d347/n/UI_Files_rar

As well, anyone looking to edit the files can download that and tinker around.

[Glaehron Turaanen]

I tried DDSConverter 2.1 but it kept crashing down so I downloaded the plug-in for Gimp.

But are there any requirements the UI has to meet apart from having a new fantasy look to them?

[Kardiophylax]

I tried DDSConverter 2.1 but it kept crashing down so I downloaded the plug-in for Gimp.

But are there any requirements the UI has to meet apart from having a new fantasy look to them?

Not really.  Just be sure to test them thoroughly in game by replacing the originals in the textures folder.  As long as all the numbers, items, etc. are readable and display properly, I'm fine with it.  Using the pre-existing ones as a baseline should give you an idea of what they need to look like.  I might work on a new cursor icon. 

I'm also going to look into if faction specific UI is possible or not... some day when I have time...   so not sure when.

[Why.so.seriousa?]

oh you think he should try changing the life bar? I suggest a sword in full health, a slightly cracked sword, very cracked sword, no sword. Then the sword will slowly deteriorate as you lose your health.

 Though this can be hard... so if you dont' want to do it, its ok.

[Cookie Eating Huskarl]

oh you think he should try changing the life bar? I suggest a sword in full health, a slightly cracked sword, very cracked sword, no sword. Then the sword will slowly deteriorate as you lose your health.

 Though this can be hard... so if you dont' want to do it, its ok.

one hit by the crusaders and u would be left with the pummel not really a good idea...

[Alenmare]

Eh, I think its a good enough idea, myself. Although it could confuse players into thinking that it really was the health of their sword - still, not knowing exactly how injured you are would actually be kind of cool. As it is though, I think we need to use some form of bar/slider like in Native. Still, we could make it really intricate and fancy.

[HokieBT]

FYI - one suggestion since I change the UI in my Star Wars mod....  I had a tough time at first, but what I ended up doing was making every background all white, then went into the game and saw how it looked after all the buttons were overlayed, etc.  Then I just did a CTRL+Insert to take a screenshot, edited that, removed the buttons that had been overlayed, and re-saved it as a DDS.   This worked well for me, but I have very minimal texturing skills, so you might be able to easily edit the UI without doing something like this...

[Glaehron Turaanen]

HokieBT. Any advice is welcome! I'll see if I can get it done without compeltely bleaching the backgrounds. But yeah, should it prove to be too tough, I'll give a try to your method.

On the worn sword idea. Could be done perhaps, if I take a look at how the shield damage icon is done in the game. But a classic lifebar is still the best I think, as not to confuse people like already pointed out. Could give it a try though.

[Why.so.seriousa?]

or maybe, the sword gets bloodier when your health gets lower