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[belgariad87]

i love games where the simple fact that they have a knife and you dont actually means danger. games like this that dont have any "oh sh** i'd better run" moments arent nearly as fun.
And thats why i loved thief deadly shadows

[pspeed]

I'd rather lose an arm than have a broadsword stuck in my head.

... I guess i didn't think of it that way. but what if you lost your arm AND had a sword stuck in your head?

You would be beyond caring.


Re: health-indicating colors.
I think you should only use this to indicate fainting or something like that. The screen (except for the HUD) is what the character is seeing. So if your arm is bleeding, you wouldn't see red. You might start to see black or gray, though.

Yeah, but you have to balance the fact that in real life you'd have much more situational awareness.  You'd be able to see more... and if you took a swipe to your sword-arm you would know it without even looking.

But I will keep HUD elements minimal because I think they are distracting.  So far, I have the orbs that show you what you are holding in your hand and I will use them for as much as I can. 

There are lots of other options for other things.  Head wounds can cause direct changes to display (red tint, blurred vision, etc.)

Hits to the legs can show up on the left/right orbs somehow... and anyway you will notice your movement gets weird after a while anyway.  Body hits will physically move your whole body some amount... so I may not have to indicate those other than the overall health bar.

A lot will have to be figured out in play testing.

[belgariad87]

yay play testing!

[Michael]

If you want a health bar can be how you say "temporary" or have an option for display? don't have to answer your choice

[Sern]

But I will keep HUD elements minimal because I think they are distracting.  So far, I have the orbs that show you what you are holding in your hand and I will use them for as much as I can. 

Yes please.

I love how TES: Skyrim maintained a minimal interface, it wasn't...in my face. It was there when I wanted it and gone when I didn't. It was easily accessed through a central location and central button, Tab (PC).

I think having a minimal interface is important for immersion. Imagine walking around in real life with an HP bar, a mini-map, a directional attack display, a mana bar (if you're cool like me), stamina, and a bunch of other random crap on the screen. Maybe that's the way of the future. If it is, shoot me now...in the face.

In Skyrim when you are low on stamina, you can hear yourself panting as if you're out of breath, an audio representation of your status. It's not intrusive or overly obnoxious. A sound is played when you are out of mana that is subtle but each time you cast a spell it fails. You can see this represented visually and you know without looking at the mana bar you're f*'d and need to get the heck outa there. Or if you're an epic (light armor) battle mage which modded the game files like me, you just pull out your pwn sword and go to work.

If your HP is low the screen dims slightly but not so much you can't compensate and the corners turn red to signify blood loss. These are all references that are in my face yet discrete at the same time without me having to stare at some bars on the screen. I like the bars and I'm friendly with them, we hang out. But we're not intimate, you know. They have to know their place. That place is at the bottom of my screen in the corner out of sight unless I'm willing to take a peek down there. That sounded...came out wrong.

I'm at my perfect buzz right now... Sight is slightly blurry. Yeah, time for bed. Time to giggle about useless unfunny stuff, because I can.

P.S. - While this may be a PITA (pain in the arsification process) - it is certainly possible to have different levels of HUD visibility or 'in your faceness'. Even two settings is better than one but admittedly this would require a bit more work and design consideration.

HUD 1: IN YOUR FACE B..EEEEEEEE
HUD 2: Sup, down here if ya need me.

P.P.S. - This trance music is trancy....a lot. ASOT 571 anyone? - Ignore the picture of the half naked photoshopped lady. <- HA! I bet you clicked it anyway. Enjoy.

[ap0r]

That music is cool .... and also, mages totally pwn!...

Cheers for Wall of Sparks and Lightning Bolts .... also the Master level lightning storm works like a charm against dragons