Love the new HUD, but there's still room for improvement

OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
So as I said, I love the new HUD, it just looks so much better than the old one. But there's one thing missing from it; numbers. In the old HUD, everything had numbers. Now only oxygen has and for the rest you just kinda have to guess the exact number. The exact number is useful when you don't want to waste food, HP packs etc. Since the old HUD had this, the new one is actually worse when it comes to usability. I want it fixed because it's otherwise just awesome.

Another neat thing would be the ability to choose between the new and old HUD or even further customize it. I'll stick with the new HUD, but more customization is always better-
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Comments

  • SubnaticbroV2SubnaticbroV2 Join Date: 2017-04-24 Member: 229918Members
    Yeah, customization would be a great option. Also not a huge fan of the new HUD, just too much guessing and wondering how much oxygen, food, and water you have left. The new art style is amazing, I love it, just I now wonder what everything looks like, I mean the basic materials still look the same-ish but kind different. But great update overall.
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    Yeah, customization would be a great option. Also not a huge fan of the new HUD, just too much guessing and wondering how much oxygen, food, and water you have left. The new art style is amazing, I love it, just I now wonder what everything looks like, I mean the basic materials still look the same-ish but kind different. But great update overall.

    There's no guessing with oxygen, tha one shows the exact number. It's just not enough
  • garathgarath Texas Join Date: 2017-02-08 Member: 227730Members
    I agree with you 100%. I love numbers. Some of us are probably a bit too OCD when it comes to min-max'ing our food / water consumption. I try to wait until my hunger/thirst drops just enough so I'm not wasting food/water. But I get that they wanted to create a prettier HUD. Honestly, as much as I love numbers, I think the new HUD is great. I think I'll give up my numbers in exchange for a beautiful new HUD. But if they can let me toggle the numbers on later down the road, I'm all for it!
  • garathgarath Texas Join Date: 2017-02-08 Member: 227730Members
    This looks interesting:

    47280 /main/New UI - Stage 3 2017-04-28 06:19:36 Vyacheslav Sedovich Switching to numbers in HUD indicators when the PDA is open.

    https://subnautica.unknownworlds.com/#/subnautica/checkins


  • scifiwriterguyscifiwriterguy Sector ZZ-9-Plural Z-α Join Date: 2017-02-14 Member: 227901Members
    I guess I'm on my own here - I thought the UI change was actually a pretty smart idea. After all, humans are analog, not digital. Not sure about everybody else, but I don't think "Hm, I'm only 73% full, guess I'll eat more" or "Yikes, I'm 68% thirsty! Water!" Numbers seemed a little...cheaty.
  • GreyfairerGreyfairer Join Date: 2017-04-24 Member: 229937Members
    The options for a number overlay would be nice, although I am happy with the new design even if it is a bit fit bitty.

    Maybe if toggled the center icon on each indicator would change to an actual number; the heart, water drop, etc. would just be replaced by a similarly colored number.

    Greyfairer
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    I guess I'm on my own here - I thought the UI change was actually a pretty smart idea. After all, humans are analog, not digital. Not sure about everybody else, but I don't think "Hm, I'm only 73% full, guess I'll eat more" or "Yikes, I'm 68% thirsty! Water!" Numbers seemed a little...cheaty.

    "Hm, I'm only 73% full, guess I'll eat more" No most certainly not like that, more like "Hm, one nutrition block provides 80 food. I have 30. I'll wait until it drops to 20 so I won't waste food." In game, ofc.

    "Numbers seemed a little...cheaty. " Well how about oxygen then? It's not like you know the exact time in seconds you have oxygen left

    "After all, humans are analog, not digital" Humans are not analog or digital. The terminology has nothing to do with numbers (except for 0 and 1, which are actually off and on), and a number approach on these would be closer to analog; analog tech is based on constant small changes, and the changes in the HUD are small. Digital in the other hand is based on a set of two opposite states; current and no current/on and off, represented by 1 and 0 respectively. If the HUD was digital, everything would have only two positions:
    Oxygen: full-suffocating
    Health: unsratched-dead
    Food: full-starving
    Thirst: Well hydrated-severe dehydration
  • scifiwriterguyscifiwriterguy Sector ZZ-9-Plural Z-α Join Date: 2017-02-14 Member: 227901Members
    Ojakokko wrote: »
    I guess I'm on my own here - I thought the UI change was actually a pretty smart idea. After all, humans are analog, not digital. Not sure about everybody else, but I don't think "Hm, I'm only 73% full, guess I'll eat more" or "Yikes, I'm 68% thirsty! Water!" Numbers seemed a little...cheaty.

    "Hm, I'm only 73% full, guess I'll eat more" No most certainly not like that, more like "Hm, one nutrition block provides 80 food. I have 30. I'll wait until it drops to 20 so I won't waste food." In game, ofc.

    "Numbers seemed a little...cheaty. " Well how about oxygen then? It's not like you know the exact time in seconds you have oxygen left

    "After all, humans are analog, not digital" Humans are not analog or digital. The terminology has nothing to do with numbers (except for 0 and 1, which are actually off and on), and a number approach on these would be closer to analog; analog tech is based on constant small changes, and the changes in the HUD are small. Digital in the other hand is based on a set of two opposite states; current and no current/on and off, represented by 1 and 0 respectively. If the HUD was digital, everything would have only two positions:
    Oxygen: full-suffocating
    Health: unsratched-dead
    Food: full-starving
    Thirst: Well hydrated-severe dehydration

    Well...no, sorry. :) Assuming that wasn't a reductio ad absurdum argument, it's a misrepresentation. Digital versus analog is about using a constant transition among states versus using a series of defined "steps" to break up that gradient. You're looking at the smallest possible unit of digital data, the bit. However, lucky for all of us, that's not the sum-total of the digital world, just like how a single nerve signal is not the sum total of a human being. (Nor is a single nerve signal a nice, clean on or off.)

    See, bits are put together to form bytes. Bytes form words. Words are grouped as needed to convey data. Just as a digitally-stored audio file isn't only "NOISE" or "silent" at a given time, digital data in all its forms is about representing a value or set of values at a given time. The contents of that data isn't limited to "on or off," except in the smallest - and for most purposes effectively useless - scale. Digital data is not 1 or 0; it's whatever data you care to store to whatever precision you're willing to pay for. After all, your computer is a digital machine and you're not looking at a bunch of 1s and 0s on screen; at the tiniest level, that's the foundational structure of data, but that's not data itself. In the scale you've chosen for your illustration, you're not a person; you're either an A, C, G, or T. But just as you are not a single DNA base, digital data is not a single bit.

    The problem with expressing biological variances like hunger or thirst as a digital value is that digital representation of data is not infinitely precise, nor is it continuous. The best example is music recording. When you look at the data structure of an analog recording, be it a record or tape, you'll see that the waveforms are smooth; the recording process is continuous, and thus every infinitesimal change is a part of the recording. However, the exact same audio recorded digitally is "jagged" rather than smooth. This is because digital data recording uses a process called "sampling." It checks the data, writes the value at that moment, then a few thousandths of a second checks again, writes again, and so on. As a result, it's like a strobe light rather than real life. More than that, digital data is only resolved to a given level of precision. If the actual value is 3.99982680, then it may well be recorded as 4.000 because that's all the room that's apportioned for that data point, so the system had to round. It's why LP purists claim that records sound warmer and more real.

    "Analog" is not solely a technological word. That's one definition. Life is analog. Continuous variation of values. The universe operates on gradients and continuous variation, not clean, discrete little steps.
  • JackeJacke Calgary Join Date: 2017-03-20 Member: 229061Members
    garath wrote: »
    This looks interesting:

    47280 /main/New UI - Stage 3 2017-04-28 06:19:36 Vyacheslav Sedovich Switching to numbers in HUD indicators when the PDA is open.

    https://subnautica.unknownworlds.com/#/subnautica/checkins


    Well, good that that will be fixed. Hasn't been pushed out to even the Experimental Branch yet, as I've just updated to that and started a new Experimental game. It was just checked in today though, so maybe in a day or two.
  • TarkannenTarkannen North Carolina Join Date: 2016-08-15 Member: 221304Members
    edited May 2017
    I guess I'm on my own here - I thought the UI change was actually a pretty smart idea. After all, humans are analog, not digital. Not sure about everybody else, but I don't think "Hm, I'm only 73% full, guess I'll eat more" or "Yikes, I'm 68% thirsty! Water!" Numbers seemed a little...cheaty.

    I agree. While you can accurately gauge how much O2 you have via an external tank or how deep you dive with a depth gauge, you don't really know how much food is in your stomach, or how dehydrated your body is. The 'guesstimation' radial gauges make more sense, since there's noaccurate means to track it. Also seeing as how the PDA is running off of emergency mode, the Medical Lab is thrashed, and the Aurora's computers are offline, we shouldn't have that precise of a biological readout. :tongue:

    To be more on point, Stalker attacks always deal 30% damage, while Bleeders suck away 5% damage per tick. I would go so far to say while those values should be a base, it should be random damage each time. It doesn't make sense to be at 100% health, then get bit by a Stalker: "Oh, I can take two more hits before I'm in serious trouble!" In that vein, First Aid Kits probably shouldn't heal for 50% each time as well. Could they instead heal for base 20%~30%, then have a strong regeneration factor for a short time? As advanced as modern medicine is in the future of Subnautica's universe, I doubt we could survive two chomps from a Stalker and just shake it off with just a roll of medicated gauze. :open_mouth:
  • TarkannenTarkannen North Carolina Join Date: 2016-08-15 Member: 221304Members
    edited May 2017
    Ugh, why are there time limits on forum edits now? I noticed two typos in my previous post, and I can't even edit my own post now... :confounded:

    Edit from the future: Thanks to @AceDude I can finally fix my post and quell my OCD! :blush: Mucho gracias! :love:
  • scifiwriterguyscifiwriterguy Sector ZZ-9-Plural Z-α Join Date: 2017-02-14 Member: 227901Members
    Tarkannen wrote: »
    Ugh, why are there time limits on forum edits now? I noticed two typos in my previous post, and I can't even edit my own post now... :confounded:

    I can only assume the limits were added to trigger our collective typo OCD.
  • RezcaRezca United States Join Date: 2016-04-28 Member: 216078Members
    Tarkannen wrote: »
    Ugh, why are there time limits on forum edits now? I noticed two typos in my previous post, and I can't even edit my own post now... :confounded:

    My guess is spam prevention or something, but I feel your pain - I see something I wanted to clarify or fix a typo and then "Sorry, no more edits / editing window has passed" and I'm just like Noooooooo because those mistakes or a poorly worded sentence begins driving me mad ;v;
  • RainstormRainstorm Montreal (Quebec) Join Date: 2015-12-15 Member: 210003Members
    Tarkannen wrote: »
    First Aid Kits probably shouldn't heal for 50% each time as well. Could they instead heal for base 20%~30%, then have a strong regeneration factor for a short time? As advanced as modern medicine is in the future of Subnautica's universe, I doubt we could survive two chomps from a Stalker and just shake it off with just a roll of medicated gauze. :open_mouth:

    Yeah or there could even be different types of Medkits to add to variety of items. Like static ones as we already have that give sets amounts of healing like a normal one giving 50% and a weaker one for 25% healing, one that gives a Heal-Over-time type of healing ..... the sky's the limit! :smiley:

  • MichloMichlo Originally Wallasey, UK now Los Angeles, US. Join Date: 2016-09-10 Member: 222215Members
    It isn't about cheating. It is about using our limited resources wisely with the technology at our character's disposal. If we can point a scanner at ourselves and get all sorts of readings, we can have numbers on our vital statistics.

    And again, it is merely the OPTION people like myself are asking for. A toggle to please all.

    Cheers.
  • SP3CT3R_7SP3CT3R_7 Join Date: 2017-04-21 Member: 229830Members
    I would like to have at least some percentage values for the new HUD. This could also be an option you could disable in the options if you really wanted to. Please add some numbers in devs, but otherwise, really loving the HUD update!
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    I'm sure someone will mod numbers back in after v1.0 (or maybe before).
  • nesrak1nesrak1 Places Join Date: 2016-12-04 Member: 224536Members
    0x6A7232 wrote: »
    I'm sure someone will mod numbers back in after v1.0 (or maybe before).
    Maybe tomorrow I can see if I can, but I do kind of agree with the "in real life you don't know your actual percentage thing."
  • gamer1000kgamer1000k Join Date: 2017-04-29 Member: 230121Members
    edited April 2017
    I'm in agreement that the new HUD is a step back in usability from the old one. It does look nice, but I preferred the bars and numbers of the old HUD over the circles we have now for checking things at a glance. This may simply be an issue of familiarity and I'm sure I'll relearn which part of the screen to glance at.

    The new compass is also a step backwards in usability since it doesn't provide numerical bearing information anymore.

    I guess I like my numbers in the UI since they're much more precise and indicate exactly how much of something you have, not just the percentage of the maximum value.


    In response to the posts above about humans thinking in imprecise terms instead of numbers, this is true IRL, but in this game, the player is wearing an advanced survival suit with a HUD that apparently is able to precisely calculate this information. Plus, behind the scenes the game is keeping track of an absolute value anyways so it's trivial to provide this helpful information to the player.
  • RainstormRainstorm Montreal (Quebec) Join Date: 2015-12-15 Member: 210003Members
    gamer1000k wrote: »
    The new compass is also a step backwards in usability since it doesn't provide numerical bearing information anymore.I

    What ... the old compass showed numerical infos ? mine sure never did

  • gamer1000kgamer1000k Join Date: 2017-04-29 Member: 230121Members
    Rainstorm wrote: »
    gamer1000k wrote: »
    The new compass is also a step backwards in usability since it doesn't provide numerical bearing information anymore.I

    What ... the old compass showed numerical infos ? mine sure never did

    I stand corrected, for some reason I was thinking that the old compass had numerical heading indicators. Must have been thinking of a different game (it's been a little while since I played Subnautica, I just came back for the new update).
  • CaptainFearlessCaptainFearless CO, US Join Date: 2016-12-14 Member: 224941Members
    Don't have the time to read other people's responses right now, but maybe there could be an option for percents to appear somewhere nice bu each part of the HUD?
  • nesrak1nesrak1 Places Join Date: 2016-12-04 Member: 224536Members
    edited April 2017

    I don't know where else to put the number at. I could just replace the image and make it like that open PDA thing.
  • L4NDSL1DEL4NDSL1DE Planet 4546B Join Date: 2017-04-22 Member: 229850Members
    My only gripe about the compass is that the heading markers are tiny now and it makes it hard to see sometimes. If they could lengthen the lines and increase the text size a wee bit more my eyeballs would appreciate it a lot. :D
  • L4NDSL1DEL4NDSL1DE Planet 4546B Join Date: 2017-04-22 Member: 229850Members
    nesrak1 wrote: »
    I don't know where else to put the number at. I could just replace the image and make it like that open PDA thing.

    What about swapping the numbers there with the symbol, so those are on the outside next to the meter...kind of like the old meter but with roundness.
  • nesrak1nesrak1 Places Join Date: 2016-12-04 Member: 224536Members
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    @nesrak1 Try making the numbers part of the colored circle, at the top-center of the dial. Then you can have the symbol in the center still. You might have to make the colored circle bars a bit thicker to make the text readable. Or maybe have the text protruding out a bit if you can make that aesthetic.
  • L4NDSL1DEL4NDSL1DE Planet 4546B Join Date: 2017-04-22 Member: 229850Members
    Aww it's not hideous, lol. :)
    0x6A7232 wrote: »
    @nesrak1 Try making the numbers part of the colored circle, at the top-center of the dial. Then you can have the symbol in the center still. You might have to make the colored circle bars a bit thicker to make the text readable. Or maybe have the text protruding out a bit if you can make that aesthetic.

    That would work, or my mind thinks it would too.
  • nesrak1nesrak1 Places Join Date: 2016-12-04 Member: 224536Members
    0x6A7232 wrote: »
    @nesrak1 Try making the numbers part of the colored circle, at the top-center of the dial. Then you can have the symbol in the center still.

    So curved text?
    I'm starting to see why the devs made it the way it is.
  • pie1055pie1055 Join Date: 2016-12-05 Member: 224603Members
    Would be kinda awkward but you could put the numbers in the center and they periodically fade to the icon and back over time. Or, as was mentioned somewhere before the fade occurs when opening/closing the PDA so that you have numbers while open and icons while closed.
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