lamster
12-23-2009, 01:40 AM
We've performed a major overhaul of the UI, so we may have broken a few things here and there, and there are probably a few places that could use some additional tweaking. Let us know what you think and where we need to make additional improvements.
================================================== ===============
December 22nd, 2009
Added framework for "Community Points" system under "Main Menu -> Hangar Deck"
Community Points are still a work in progress, you can earn points by following the directions in the Hangar Deck but there's nothing to spend them on yet.
Community Points will be used to unlock plane skins and custom emblems; share Altitude with friends to earn Community Points.
Added option "Auto-Detect Bind IP and Restart" for users experiencing frequent disconnects due to multiple internet connections on one machine
Added network option (config/options.xml: networkOptions ... bindIp) to manually bind a specific IP address
New skin for all UI elements
Added "Assists" column to scoreboard (gray, in between kills and deaths)
Added current "Map" display to scoreboard
Added "killed by" plane box; take a closer look at whoever shoots you down
Added "you killed" plane box to bottom right
Added "server message" info box to top right, shows every bomb hit, and exactly how much damage (%) it inflicted
Camera text now shows toggle mode hotkey ("Free Camera: C") and fades after 1 second
Reworked Respawn UI for better clarity and full-screen spectating
Reworked Award Screen for better clarity and additional info (Team MVPs, top 3 in FFA)
Updated above-plane HUD (energy meter next to throttle to reinforce afterburner/energy connection, segments for contrast and to help learn energy costs of weapons)
Improved menu navigation for gamepad users:
Move up/down/left/right using the Axis and POV directional pad
Click buttons by pressing FirePrimary/FireSecondary/UsePowerup
Change window focus (e.g. between ServerList and MainMenu) by pressing ChangePlane/ChangeTeam
Tab cycle component focus by pressing Scoreboard
Cancel by pressing Escape
Added "disable controller support" option to Options -> Controls
Added infractions to kick command (a player gains an infraction each time he is kicked from a server, each infraction expires after 24 hours)
Kick times now scale with infractions (2 min, 10 min, 30 min, 60 min, 120 min) to prevent problematic players from continuously rejoining
================================================== ===============
December 22nd, 2009
Added framework for "Community Points" system under "Main Menu -> Hangar Deck"
Community Points are still a work in progress, you can earn points by following the directions in the Hangar Deck but there's nothing to spend them on yet.
Community Points will be used to unlock plane skins and custom emblems; share Altitude with friends to earn Community Points.
Added option "Auto-Detect Bind IP and Restart" for users experiencing frequent disconnects due to multiple internet connections on one machine
Added network option (config/options.xml: networkOptions ... bindIp) to manually bind a specific IP address
New skin for all UI elements
Added "Assists" column to scoreboard (gray, in between kills and deaths)
Added current "Map" display to scoreboard
Added "killed by" plane box; take a closer look at whoever shoots you down
Added "you killed" plane box to bottom right
Added "server message" info box to top right, shows every bomb hit, and exactly how much damage (%) it inflicted
Camera text now shows toggle mode hotkey ("Free Camera: C") and fades after 1 second
Reworked Respawn UI for better clarity and full-screen spectating
Reworked Award Screen for better clarity and additional info (Team MVPs, top 3 in FFA)
Updated above-plane HUD (energy meter next to throttle to reinforce afterburner/energy connection, segments for contrast and to help learn energy costs of weapons)
Improved menu navigation for gamepad users:
Move up/down/left/right using the Axis and POV directional pad
Click buttons by pressing FirePrimary/FireSecondary/UsePowerup
Change window focus (e.g. between ServerList and MainMenu) by pressing ChangePlane/ChangeTeam
Tab cycle component focus by pressing Scoreboard
Cancel by pressing Escape
Added "disable controller support" option to Options -> Controls
Added infractions to kick command (a player gains an infraction each time he is kicked from a server, each infraction expires after 24 hours)
Kick times now scale with infractions (2 min, 10 min, 30 min, 60 min, 120 min) to prevent problematic players from continuously rejoining
Kuja900
12-23-2009, 02:36 AM
The plane skins/emblems things I have been wanting for a while, really exciting to see it finally happen.
*Requests Iron Maiden/Megadeth/Metal Music related anything*
*Requests Iron Maiden/Megadeth/Metal Music related anything*
-MH-CaptainVogez
12-23-2009, 06:20 AM
Looks fantastic and feels great!
Can't wait to see how it all meshes together through play.
You've really outdone it this time =D
Great work!
Can't wait to see how it all meshes together through play.
You've really outdone it this time =D
Great work!
MoxyCrimefighter
12-23-2009, 06:32 AM
the black and white skin gives me a headache
[Y]
12-23-2009, 06:32 AM
All this + prestige mode = altitude heaven
sunshineduck
12-23-2009, 06:37 AM
Not a fan.
King!
12-23-2009, 06:50 AM
Great stuff, looks good. The pop ups after every kill are annoying for me though especially in ffa. And all the animation after each death very 'busy' too.
tals
12-23-2009, 06:58 AM
Not sure if I like it as much as the old one :( The old one was garish but this just seems a little dark. Like the menu options, just not sure I like the colour or the arrow for selecting an item on the left
Tals
p.s great idea re free play till 25th
Tals
p.s great idea re free play till 25th
Stormich
12-23-2009, 07:00 AM
I like the new UI, I kinda still miss the old one since I'm used to it but it will pass. The award screen revamp is awesome. Oh and I agree with Kuja those little splash screens with your kill should be optional either image or text. All in all a very nice patch, looking forward to see custom decals :)
nesnl
12-23-2009, 07:06 AM
I like everything so far. Very good improvements.
Here are my issues thus far:
I have had a bunch of people ask me how to earn community points and what they do. I don't think it's clear enough in game that you should click the link inside the Community Tab in order to be redirected to that webpage that explains it.
When I earned a point and the system recognized it I was in the middle of a game and all the sudden a huge window popped up in my screen that seemed to talk up half of the entire playing field jsut to say "YOU HAVE EARNED 1 POINT." I found it distracting and it was pretty bad for playing because I couldn't see anything. Maybe make that wait until you are dead before it pops up?
I appreciate that you are trying to create a better UI when we are playing with the whole throttle, energy, health thing. But honestly, for people who have played it creates a major headache each time you change this. The last time you changed it was when we had the powerup / vitals in the bottom right corner of the map and then you changed to the current system. I wish you would just let us customize it in game. Maybe have an option that we can arrange the bars how we want above the plane?
Here are my issues thus far:
I have had a bunch of people ask me how to earn community points and what they do. I don't think it's clear enough in game that you should click the link inside the Community Tab in order to be redirected to that webpage that explains it.
When I earned a point and the system recognized it I was in the middle of a game and all the sudden a huge window popped up in my screen that seemed to talk up half of the entire playing field jsut to say "YOU HAVE EARNED 1 POINT." I found it distracting and it was pretty bad for playing because I couldn't see anything. Maybe make that wait until you are dead before it pops up?
I appreciate that you are trying to create a better UI when we are playing with the whole throttle, energy, health thing. But honestly, for people who have played it creates a major headache each time you change this. The last time you changed it was when we had the powerup / vitals in the bottom right corner of the map and then you changed to the current system. I wish you would just let us customize it in game. Maybe have an option that we can arrange the bars how we want above the plane?
mikesol
12-23-2009, 07:08 AM
Really not liking the in game UI. I don't know what happened with health / energy / speed but I think the health and energy changed. Perhaps a color changed too.
Either way it's really confusing and I'm unsure why this was a needed change. I imagine after a couple hours I'll get used to it but I don't see why I'd have to spend the time to re-figure out where health / other things are. As a color blind person I rely on position rather than color to figure out these things and right now this is horribly inconvenient to me.
Furthermore, the popping up of stuff blocks parts of the screen more often than I'd like. Perhaps these things could be more subtle with the way they're done.
I also dislike the new menu. It's too black and dark for my taste. The old menu had a warm and altitude like feel - this one is just meh.
Edit: I also dislike the small letters at the end screen. It's hard to read and just kind of bleh looking. The 2 mvp's is cool but the whole end just looks bad.
Either way it's really confusing and I'm unsure why this was a needed change. I imagine after a couple hours I'll get used to it but I don't see why I'd have to spend the time to re-figure out where health / other things are. As a color blind person I rely on position rather than color to figure out these things and right now this is horribly inconvenient to me.
Furthermore, the popping up of stuff blocks parts of the screen more often than I'd like. Perhaps these things could be more subtle with the way they're done.
I also dislike the new menu. It's too black and dark for my taste. The old menu had a warm and altitude like feel - this one is just meh.
Edit: I also dislike the small letters at the end screen. It's hard to read and just kind of bleh looking. The 2 mvp's is cool but the whole end just looks bad.
Stormich
12-23-2009, 07:22 AM
I don't see the reason why the bars needed to be changed i found them perfect the way they are. Also from reading what Mike said you should look into having colorblind mode add something like small hp/spd/en or something next to the bars. I agree with Maimers idea to just let us be able to switch the configs ourselves.
lamster
12-23-2009, 07:26 AM
Yeah I'll probably swap the order of the bars back in the next patch. I actually added segments to the energy bar since I thought that'd make it easier for color blind people to remember.
mikesol
12-23-2009, 07:31 AM
On a side note it might be nice to change the entire UI and make a number system. Like in the top left have like:
100% HP or 250 HP.
100% Energy or 120 Energy.
100% Speed or 15 m/s.
Also, as far as the dividing of the bars. I can't see that since colors blend together for me. Things have to have more definition for me to be able to notice them although I do appreciate the thought of trying to redo that part.
100% HP or 250 HP.
100% Energy or 120 Energy.
100% Speed or 15 m/s.
Also, as far as the dividing of the bars. I can't see that since colors blend together for me. Things have to have more definition for me to be able to notice them although I do appreciate the thought of trying to redo that part.
nobodyhome
12-23-2009, 07:39 AM
On a side note it might be nice to change the entire UI and make a number system. Like in the top left have like:
100% HP or 250 HP.
100% Energy or 120 Energy.
100% Speed or 15 m/s.
Also, as far as the dividing of the bars. I can't see that since colors blend together for me. Things have to have more definition for me to be able to notice them although I do appreciate the thought of trying to redo that part.
Somewhat similar note: I somehow feel that there is somewhat of an aversion to putting numbers into altitude. You guys seem to refuse to show numerical base hp remaining, and now that base damage hits are shown on screen (which I appreciate a lot), they're expressed in percentages rather than in the hard damage that is shown on the awards screen (this is actually confusing because it doesn't say that you do damage explicitly in percentages, and when you see that you've only gotten one hit for "31 dmg" during the game but the awards screen says you did 1500 dmg, that confuses people).
I mean I know that you want to keep a "simple" feel to altitude and not put numbers everywhere, but putting percentages as opposed to straight up damage is kinda overdoing it. If it's really that important to keep it simple, put in two modes or something: default UI with base hits not even saying damage done (just "full hit" and "partial hit"), and then put hardcore UI with lotsa numbers.
As for other UI, I like the new darker menu style, but it kinda clashes with the background a lot (maybe change it to something darker like middleground instead of lost city), and the altitude logo on top right looks misplaced (I know that it was moved cause of the new menu, but it doesn't look right).
Also, the tick marks on the energy bar is somewhat distracting (it just sorta looks like my screen has scratches on it). Contributing to this problem is the fact that the energy bar is the only thing with tick marks. If you guys absolutely want tick marks (which I don't think is really that great), then you might want to consider putting them on health and throttle too.
100% HP or 250 HP.
100% Energy or 120 Energy.
100% Speed or 15 m/s.
Also, as far as the dividing of the bars. I can't see that since colors blend together for me. Things have to have more definition for me to be able to notice them although I do appreciate the thought of trying to redo that part.
Somewhat similar note: I somehow feel that there is somewhat of an aversion to putting numbers into altitude. You guys seem to refuse to show numerical base hp remaining, and now that base damage hits are shown on screen (which I appreciate a lot), they're expressed in percentages rather than in the hard damage that is shown on the awards screen (this is actually confusing because it doesn't say that you do damage explicitly in percentages, and when you see that you've only gotten one hit for "31 dmg" during the game but the awards screen says you did 1500 dmg, that confuses people).
I mean I know that you want to keep a "simple" feel to altitude and not put numbers everywhere, but putting percentages as opposed to straight up damage is kinda overdoing it. If it's really that important to keep it simple, put in two modes or something: default UI with base hits not even saying damage done (just "full hit" and "partial hit"), and then put hardcore UI with lotsa numbers.
As for other UI, I like the new darker menu style, but it kinda clashes with the background a lot (maybe change it to something darker like middleground instead of lost city), and the altitude logo on top right looks misplaced (I know that it was moved cause of the new menu, but it doesn't look right).
Also, the tick marks on the energy bar is somewhat distracting (it just sorta looks like my screen has scratches on it). Contributing to this problem is the fact that the energy bar is the only thing with tick marks. If you guys absolutely want tick marks (which I don't think is really that great), then you might want to consider putting them on health and throttle too.
Cpt. Slow
12-23-2009, 07:39 AM
New UI (black + white) - I hate it, its ugly and what's more important unreadable. Old-red was not too preetty but was a lot better.
Menu on-hover arrows - are ugly too.
You killed, killed by, bombed base - these windows are too distracting, the appear in many different places (I cannot ignore one part of the screen by not looking there).
They are too colorfull, too big.
Pls make an option to disable them, some (prob. beginners) may like this, but I'm advanced player and this distracts me a lot.
"Base destroyed" window - shouldn't it be on center of the screen, it is GAME OVER, not "a kill"?
Plane edit menu - have background of buttons been in color of the powerup (red, green, blue? now all are red with lines).
Summary screen has more info - I need to get used to read it quickly :)
Menu on-hover arrows - are ugly too.
You killed, killed by, bombed base - these windows are too distracting, the appear in many different places (I cannot ignore one part of the screen by not looking there).
They are too colorfull, too big.
Pls make an option to disable them, some (prob. beginners) may like this, but I'm advanced player and this distracts me a lot.
"Base destroyed" window - shouldn't it be on center of the screen, it is GAME OVER, not "a kill"?
Plane edit menu - have background of buttons been in color of the powerup (red, green, blue? now all are red with lines).
Summary screen has more info - I need to get used to read it quickly :)
tals
12-23-2009, 07:49 AM
Don't like the black and white scheme - i'm finding it quite hard to read. ALl the other changes I love!
CCN
12-23-2009, 07:56 AM
Don't like the black and white scheme - i'm finding it quite hard to read. ALl the other changes I love!
the red screen of death when you die hurts mah eyes.
the red screen of death when you die hurts mah eyes.
Evan20000
12-23-2009, 08:33 AM
Things keep popping up at the edge of my screen right over enemy planes. D: I honestly want my old UI back.
MoxyCrimefighter
12-23-2009, 08:37 AM
the red screen of death when you die hurts mah eyes.
meh too!!! mah eyes hert wen i chat!!!:mad:
meh too!!! mah eyes hert wen i chat!!!:mad:
OjM
12-23-2009, 08:41 AM
I don't hate the new look at all. I did like the last more "childish" look, but this "cool" look is ok too.
EDIT: But I love the fact that the red hud from top is gone!
The thing I hate on this though, is that when I once died, there popped that thing saying I've got 0 community points.
I know I've got 0. I know what they are for, and I know I'll never have any. I don't even care I don't have any. I'm not in steam, not in facebook, and I'm definitely not going to spam forums with my referring link. I hate seeing those everywhere.
Why is there no other ways of getting COMMUNITY points? {ball/*} is creating a nice guide for ball, that should be worth some. People are managing clans, creating guides, reporting bugs and such, and spamming is the thing you want to reward us with skins and emblems? Puh-leeez...
EDIT: But I love the fact that the red hud from top is gone!
The thing I hate on this though, is that when I once died, there popped that thing saying I've got 0 community points.
I know I've got 0. I know what they are for, and I know I'll never have any. I don't even care I don't have any. I'm not in steam, not in facebook, and I'm definitely not going to spam forums with my referring link. I hate seeing those everywhere.
Why is there no other ways of getting COMMUNITY points? {ball/*} is creating a nice guide for ball, that should be worth some. People are managing clans, creating guides, reporting bugs and such, and spamming is the thing you want to reward us with skins and emblems? Puh-leeez...
Beagle
12-23-2009, 08:44 AM
Heh, I saw the patch notes and was about to say "Wow, it's great to see devleopers that listen to the community and their requests". Looked great on paper, stuff people had been asking for like the assists column, and wow, custom skins for these mysterious new community points!
Good thing I actually went in and tried it out. I hate to be one of those guys who complains about change but, well, yeah, I'm going to be, because ignoring the eye-straining new colour scheme, the pop ups are supremely annoying.
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/4638/altitude200912231825098.png
Pretty much sums up my thoughts on that. Seriously, the less intrusive the UI, the better, but even if you're going to take up screen space, having stuff popping in and out is just annoying at its most basic level.
Anyway, the bar thing doesn't seem huge, if you're going to change it back, it doesn't even matter, but even if you don't I can't see it taking a long time to get used to, although I don't think it needed to be changed. The segments thing is interesting, although it'd be nice to be an option to have segmented or not as there's something I just don't like about it personally. Having little segments kind of dumbs down energy estimation to the point that I couldn't really do it as well on my quick playtest, as odd as that sounds. But that's just familiarisation and not a big deal.
Anyway, the big thing that disappoints me about this update is the Community Points. In the notes, the skins thing looked great. "Holy jumping ****crepes" I screamed, "Skins and decals are finally coming!"
I figured the Community Points would be a fun new thing to accumulate. As in, you'd do achievements for them, or you'd get them for bombing enemy bases and helping your team, or for coming first in matches.
Then I actually, you know, clicked on the Community Points page. So, you took something everybody's wanted for a while, skins and decals, and you dangle it in front of our noses saying "if you want it, get your friends to buy Altitude by spamming those referral links everybody on the internet loves and respects!"
What
The
****
So we whore ourselves out as viral marketers to pay for our dirty customization habit? Sorry guys, I didn't think this was that kind of game, and I didn't think you were that kind of developer. Let me know when the microtransactions are coming so I can get ready to stop playing. I'd rather not be around when I die and a giant flashing pop-up slides into place advertising the Fierce Tiger Biplane (Sponsored by Mountain Dew™) skin for $1.50.
Anyway, I hate to be that guy who complains about updates. I'm not trying to be ungrateful for the work you guys are doing on the game, its just, I don't think this is the way to go. At least, I really hope it isn't.
Good thing I actually went in and tried it out. I hate to be one of those guys who complains about change but, well, yeah, I'm going to be, because ignoring the eye-straining new colour scheme, the pop ups are supremely annoying.
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/4638/altitude200912231825098.png
Pretty much sums up my thoughts on that. Seriously, the less intrusive the UI, the better, but even if you're going to take up screen space, having stuff popping in and out is just annoying at its most basic level.
Anyway, the bar thing doesn't seem huge, if you're going to change it back, it doesn't even matter, but even if you don't I can't see it taking a long time to get used to, although I don't think it needed to be changed. The segments thing is interesting, although it'd be nice to be an option to have segmented or not as there's something I just don't like about it personally. Having little segments kind of dumbs down energy estimation to the point that I couldn't really do it as well on my quick playtest, as odd as that sounds. But that's just familiarisation and not a big deal.
Anyway, the big thing that disappoints me about this update is the Community Points. In the notes, the skins thing looked great. "Holy jumping ****crepes" I screamed, "Skins and decals are finally coming!"
I figured the Community Points would be a fun new thing to accumulate. As in, you'd do achievements for them, or you'd get them for bombing enemy bases and helping your team, or for coming first in matches.
Then I actually, you know, clicked on the Community Points page. So, you took something everybody's wanted for a while, skins and decals, and you dangle it in front of our noses saying "if you want it, get your friends to buy Altitude by spamming those referral links everybody on the internet loves and respects!"
What
The
****
So we whore ourselves out as viral marketers to pay for our dirty customization habit? Sorry guys, I didn't think this was that kind of game, and I didn't think you were that kind of developer. Let me know when the microtransactions are coming so I can get ready to stop playing. I'd rather not be around when I die and a giant flashing pop-up slides into place advertising the Fierce Tiger Biplane (Sponsored by Mountain Dew™) skin for $1.50.
Anyway, I hate to be that guy who complains about updates. I'm not trying to be ungrateful for the work you guys are doing on the game, its just, I don't think this is the way to go. At least, I really hope it isn't.
Sarah Palin
12-23-2009, 08:44 AM
This is graphically a step in the wrong direction. Similar to the last update where the sounds were "updated" to be more sci-fi. I don't know why the Devs think this will make Alti more popular. Look at your own Steam advertising. Alti is a retro steampunk dogfight game. Not LAZOR SPAECE BATTLES 4000.
The global alert when a base or turret is hit is the only step forward in this update. The rest of the popups are busy, annoying and not even useful. You get a popup if you crashed. You know, to let you know that you crashed....
A lot of players are still waiting for you to provide that "Old Sounds" option. I expect you will get a lot of players requesting "Old UI" or at least an option to turn off the death popups.
Aside from not counting your assists, the old UI was perfectly serviceable. No update needed.
The global alert when a base or turret is hit is the only step forward in this update. The rest of the popups are busy, annoying and not even useful. You get a popup if you crashed. You know, to let you know that you crashed....
A lot of players are still waiting for you to provide that "Old Sounds" option. I expect you will get a lot of players requesting "Old UI" or at least an option to turn off the death popups.
Aside from not counting your assists, the old UI was perfectly serviceable. No update needed.
Evan20000
12-23-2009, 08:48 AM
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/4638/altitude200912231825098.png
I see you liked my little joke. :p
Anyway, I agree about the community points thing. I was expecting to get points from completing challenges and stuff. What about getting a skin for passing 1 Million XP? Or getting a 30 kill streak in an all level 60 server? I think these remarkable achievements should be what gives us skins, not advertising. Just my 2 cents.
I see you liked my little joke. :p
Anyway, I agree about the community points thing. I was expecting to get points from completing challenges and stuff. What about getting a skin for passing 1 Million XP? Or getting a 30 kill streak in an all level 60 server? I think these remarkable achievements should be what gives us skins, not advertising. Just my 2 cents.
Stormich
12-23-2009, 08:50 AM
Thanks for promptly putting the bars back the way they were! <3 you guys :D
Sarah Palin
12-23-2009, 08:52 AM
Bagels, shame on you for even mentioning microtransactions. No need to give them ideas... :p
Beagle
12-23-2009, 08:55 AM
I see you liked my little joke. :p
I censored your name just in case you didn't want your opinion used in such a direct way!
And yeah, its disappointing because I'm not going to want any skins if its this advertising crap. Flying around with a skin on would just make me feel dirty if that's how you get them.
I censored your name just in case you didn't want your opinion used in such a direct way!
And yeah, its disappointing because I'm not going to want any skins if its this advertising crap. Flying around with a skin on would just make me feel dirty if that's how you get them.
OjM
12-23-2009, 09:01 AM
You know there are plenty of flash games that are played sick amounts, just because there are achievements there that you just neeeeed to achieve.
Making some cool achievements ingame would be sweet. Like that 1Million exp, sick killstreak, hattrick in ball, 1000 wallkills and such, and those would give us skins and whatever. Happy players are good advertisers and achievements get players in that fuzzy warm state...
And call that referralthing off, now if you don't think you need the bad kind of advertisement. I'll never play gladiator, for example, just because there are sick amounts of fake links that lead to someones referral page there, in addition to those totally sick amounts of "hey there is this cool game, join and play http://referral" messages in forums... I so hate those.
Making some cool achievements ingame would be sweet. Like that 1Million exp, sick killstreak, hattrick in ball, 1000 wallkills and such, and those would give us skins and whatever. Happy players are good advertisers and achievements get players in that fuzzy warm state...
And call that referralthing off, now if you don't think you need the bad kind of advertisement. I'll never play gladiator, for example, just because there are sick amounts of fake links that lead to someones referral page there, in addition to those totally sick amounts of "hey there is this cool game, join and play http://referral" messages in forums... I so hate those.
akuralyronat
12-23-2009, 09:50 AM
Hate to post just to complain, but I gotta say that the new UI is a huge distraction for me. I was totally satisfied with the original UI, and this new one is just bothersome. The transparency and animation effects make it feel too chaotic and unclear, I feel like I never know where to look for the information I want. I miss having just a simple text line telling me what just happened, the new pop-ups are maddening. That, and it seems like all the text disappears quicker, so I never catch what just happened. It doesn't seem to fit with the game at all, I feel like I'm playing Altitude through a third party game lobby program or something. Is there any way you can add the option to go back to the classic UI? I know some people like the new one, but it's just not doing it for me. A choice of UI skins would be... well, choice.
lamster
12-23-2009, 09:58 AM
You can go back to the old kill log by editing ~Altitude/config/options.xml and changing
showKillPopups="true" showExpLog="false"
to
showKillPopups="false" showExpLog="true"
showKillPopups="true" showExpLog="false"
to
showKillPopups="false" showExpLog="true"
nobodyhome
12-23-2009, 10:22 AM
another minor thing that might be confusing for newer players. when you kill planes/hitbases/hitturrets, a yellow +10/30 or whatever pops up. It used to be that there was a little message on the bottom of the screen that told you that the +10 meant 10 xp gained. now there is no such message--newer players are left wondering what those +numbers mean.
Beagle
12-23-2009, 10:24 AM
Is there any way you can add the option to go back to the classic UI? I know some people like the new one, but it's just not doing it for me. A choice of UI skins would be... well, choice.
This brings up a cool idea: Maybe instead of replacing UIs you could just provide new choices to choose, so everyone's happy.
This brings up a cool idea: Maybe instead of replacing UIs you could just provide new choices to choose, so everyone's happy.
Jayfourke
12-23-2009, 11:00 AM
Riiight, my opinions...
The new menu, while supremely spiffy, doesn't fit the style of either the game or the background. It's too sleek and future-y, IMO.
I don't mind the "you killed xxx" boxes that pop up, and the base damage/turret destroyed ones are cool. They are rather big, though.
Similarly, I don't mind that you moved our current perk lineup to the top-left as opposed to bottom right, and the streamlining of everything into that little red bar from the giant HUD is quite well done. I just think the UI needs to be more WWI/WWII with a hint of steampunkishness about it.
Many thanks for updating the end of game scores and whatnot, but the text is plain and dull. Be cheerful, it's meant to be celebrating the best players in the match.
With regards to this community thingy, I say meh. I don't do facebook and I don't know what a steam valve is or how to play games with it, so that's me at a disadvantage. That being said, I have no reservations about passing on the link to my interweb minions (friends).
I do, however, think that these points for skins, etc (that I really want and support), could be earned by doing altitude things, and not just linkspamming the internet to death.
That being said, the whole community idea is a good one, it's just not suited for me.
So yeah, a few complaints, but you can't please us all. Good work nonetheless.
The new menu, while supremely spiffy, doesn't fit the style of either the game or the background. It's too sleek and future-y, IMO.
I don't mind the "you killed xxx" boxes that pop up, and the base damage/turret destroyed ones are cool. They are rather big, though.
Similarly, I don't mind that you moved our current perk lineup to the top-left as opposed to bottom right, and the streamlining of everything into that little red bar from the giant HUD is quite well done. I just think the UI needs to be more WWI/WWII with a hint of steampunkishness about it.
Many thanks for updating the end of game scores and whatnot, but the text is plain and dull. Be cheerful, it's meant to be celebrating the best players in the match.
With regards to this community thingy, I say meh. I don't do facebook and I don't know what a steam valve is or how to play games with it, so that's me at a disadvantage. That being said, I have no reservations about passing on the link to my interweb minions (friends).
I do, however, think that these points for skins, etc (that I really want and support), could be earned by doing altitude things, and not just linkspamming the internet to death.
That being said, the whole community idea is a good one, it's just not suited for me.
So yeah, a few complaints, but you can't please us all. Good work nonetheless.
Scythrop
12-23-2009, 11:03 AM
This is graphically a step in the wrong direction. Similar to the last update where the sounds were "updated" to be more sci-fi. I don't know why the Devs think this will make Alti more popular. Look at your own Steam advertising. Alti is a retro steampunk dogfight game. Not LAZOR SPAECE BATTLES 4000..
This may be the first time I've ever agreed 100% with Sarah Palin.
The basic gameplay is still fantastic, but artistically, Altitude is becoming an ugly mish-mash of confused styles and losing its charm.
This may be the first time I've ever agreed 100% with Sarah Palin.
The basic gameplay is still fantastic, but artistically, Altitude is becoming an ugly mish-mash of confused styles and losing its charm.
Bukem
12-23-2009, 12:11 PM
I think the update is awesome, are there other ways to get community points planned? I've already introduced altitude to my friends and the 3 that were interested have bought accounts... I don't like the idea of spamming the link around or spamming my facebook to get new content :\
Triped
12-23-2009, 12:15 PM
I really love the new UI and the in-game displays. My only suggestion, if you can pull this off, is to show a tiny video of what the plane is currently doing, zoomed in, instead of just the static sprite.
wolf'j'max
12-23-2009, 12:41 PM
this is so good. everyone wanted this for a while. keep up the good work and let's hope more people join the community!
malkin
12-23-2009, 12:48 PM
I like this update
eth
12-23-2009, 12:51 PM
I'm gonna read this thread but I just wanted to say THANK YOU! This is like my best christmas present for sure lol. Screw you naysayers the new GUI looks amazing!
edit: Thoughts:
- The whole retro vs sci-fi is kinda dumb at this point.. can't we just embrace that it's a bit of both?
- The thin black lines going up the left menu are detrimental to the feel, because they make it look a lot more cluttered than it really is. I'd suggest just changing it to a regular, transparent black.
- The left hover's could use some work.. at the moment, it doesn't look too good, since the colors/shapes blend together and it looks somewhat random.
- Right hover's have 2 highlight stages, I'd suggest cutting the one that blinks in the center - it contributes only to a cluttered feel. 1 highlight is enough!
- The base health bars still have the old UI feel, should be updated to new.
- Getting points for spamming referral links is(as other players have said) a fairly bad idea.. it should at least be complemented by getting points from 1mill xp, megakill x10 and stuff like that.
- The kill/death boxes should probably be smaller, since they take up a lot of space atm. As king! says, there's a lot of animation going on that can be confusing. Maybe it's just something to get used to though.
- Base damage doesn't make a whole lot of sense - when you get a hit, you get 30-38 damage, but in the award screen it says something like 6500 base damage(for full).
I whined a lot but don't take it wrong - I still ****ing love this!
edit: Thoughts:
- The whole retro vs sci-fi is kinda dumb at this point.. can't we just embrace that it's a bit of both?
- The thin black lines going up the left menu are detrimental to the feel, because they make it look a lot more cluttered than it really is. I'd suggest just changing it to a regular, transparent black.
- The left hover's could use some work.. at the moment, it doesn't look too good, since the colors/shapes blend together and it looks somewhat random.
- Right hover's have 2 highlight stages, I'd suggest cutting the one that blinks in the center - it contributes only to a cluttered feel. 1 highlight is enough!
- The base health bars still have the old UI feel, should be updated to new.
- Getting points for spamming referral links is(as other players have said) a fairly bad idea.. it should at least be complemented by getting points from 1mill xp, megakill x10 and stuff like that.
- The kill/death boxes should probably be smaller, since they take up a lot of space atm. As king! says, there's a lot of animation going on that can be confusing. Maybe it's just something to get used to though.
- Base damage doesn't make a whole lot of sense - when you get a hit, you get 30-38 damage, but in the award screen it says something like 6500 base damage(for full).
I whined a lot but don't take it wrong - I still ****ing love this!
tals
12-23-2009, 12:59 PM
I'm gonna read this thread but I just wanted to say THANK YOU! This is like my best christmas present for sure lol. Screw you naysayers the new GUI looks amazing!
I like everything except the black/white - as has been said earlier I don't think it's in keeping with the game. The rest of the changes are great, but I can see that black/white setup putting people off
I like everything except the black/white - as has been said earlier I don't think it's in keeping with the game. The rest of the changes are great, but I can see that black/white setup putting people off
[Y]
12-23-2009, 01:10 PM
Say it like it is, eth.
My only issue is with the community points. I love the idea, but I don't like the idea of having us advertise Altitude for them. I think Beagle explains it better, tho.
Community points should be earned from in-game achievements:
+1 for mega-kill x 5
+1 for killstreak 10/15/20
+1 MVP in a game
etc.
My only issue is with the community points. I love the idea, but I don't like the idea of having us advertise Altitude for them. I think Beagle explains it better, tho.
Community points should be earned from in-game achievements:
+1 for mega-kill x 5
+1 for killstreak 10/15/20
+1 MVP in a game
etc.
DMCM
12-23-2009, 01:14 PM
I like the new layout in the menus and I love the assists column, but there's way too many information boxes popping up everywhere during the game. It's kind of annoying. So... yeah, just leaving my input here
NomNom
12-23-2009, 01:15 PM
I like the new GUI but all the kill and death pop ups are too distracting and unnecessary, those boxes block half the screen lol. Also the award screen needs work, those black boxes with the extra small text look really out of place.
Lastly, it'd be awesome if we can remove the perks shown at the top left corner completely. I know what perks I'm using and I can check using tab if I ever forget, really not needed to be up there during the whole round.
Lastly, it'd be awesome if we can remove the perks shown at the top left corner completely. I know what perks I'm using and I can check using tab if I ever forget, really not needed to be up there during the whole round.
tals
12-23-2009, 01:19 PM
I like the new GUI but all the kill and death pop ups are too distracting and unnecessary, those boxes block half the screen lol. Also the award screen needs work, those black boxes with the extra small text look really out of place.
Lastly, it'd be awesome if we can remove the perks shown at the top left corner completely. I know what perks I'm using and I can check using tab if I ever forget, really not needed to be up there during the whole round.
All these, people are either going to love or hate. I love the pop ups but I can understand people not liking them. Maybe have an option to have small text information alerts or the popups as they are.
I like the top left corner display as well :)
Lastly, it'd be awesome if we can remove the perks shown at the top left corner completely. I know what perks I'm using and I can check using tab if I ever forget, really not needed to be up there during the whole round.
All these, people are either going to love or hate. I love the pop ups but I can understand people not liking them. Maybe have an option to have small text information alerts or the popups as they are.
I like the top left corner display as well :)
Pax
12-23-2009, 01:22 PM
I support Beagles view.
However the most irritating parts are these pop-ups. I totally liked the plain old statement of the last version, which just wrote "Pax killed ..."
Now these pop ups are really annoying, maybe Noobs may feel honored seeing that stuff, but I prefer a more subtle way.
The community points are without a disguise just a way to get more people buying the game. I totally understand that, if I would be the producer my intention would be the same. It still would be nice to get these points through other means too.
However the most irritating parts are these pop-ups. I totally liked the plain old statement of the last version, which just wrote "Pax killed ..."
Now these pop ups are really annoying, maybe Noobs may feel honored seeing that stuff, but I prefer a more subtle way.
The community points are without a disguise just a way to get more people buying the game. I totally understand that, if I would be the producer my intention would be the same. It still would be nice to get these points through other means too.
tals
12-23-2009, 01:24 PM
I support Beagles view.
However the most irritating parts are these pop-ups. I totally liked the plain old statement of the last version, which just wrote "Pax killed ..."
Now these pop ups are really annoying, maybe Noobs may feel honored seeing that stuff, but I prefer a more subtle way.
I don't think it has anything todo with how long you have played it :) I'm sure this is how MW2 does it, just looks nicer imho.
** you definitely should have the option to disable them though
However the most irritating parts are these pop-ups. I totally liked the plain old statement of the last version, which just wrote "Pax killed ..."
Now these pop ups are really annoying, maybe Noobs may feel honored seeing that stuff, but I prefer a more subtle way.
I don't think it has anything todo with how long you have played it :) I'm sure this is how MW2 does it, just looks nicer imho.
** you definitely should have the option to disable them though
Axil
12-23-2009, 02:25 PM
I highly dislike the fact that it's impossible to gain community points from ingame achievements, even if it were hard to get it from ingame achievements, it would be fine.
tgleaf
12-23-2009, 03:24 PM
I support Beagles view.
However the most irritating parts are these pop-ups. I totally liked the plain old statement of the last version, which just wrote "Pax killed ..."
Now these pop ups are really annoying, maybe Noobs may feel honored seeing that stuff, but I prefer a more subtle way.
The community points are without a disguise just a way to get more people buying the game. I totally understand that, if I would be the producer my intention would be the same. It still would be nice to get these points through other means too.
Agree about the pop-ups. Please give us the option of disabling them and reverting to text alerts. It clutters the screen and looks cheesy. Why do I need a closeup view of my plane or other planes?
I'm not so fond of the new color scheme, but I'm sure I'll get used to it, so no big deal.
Thank you for two things: the MVP addition to the results screen is a fun stat. I hope you'll add about one second to the delay after that screen finishes rendering. With MVP added on, my attention is often there and I miss some of the other awards. I also am happy to have incrementing kick times. This has been dearly needed.
The assists column is also nice... had no idea I had so many assists. =)
Next go round, please add goal assists, as that is one final stat that would be great to see.
However the most irritating parts are these pop-ups. I totally liked the plain old statement of the last version, which just wrote "Pax killed ..."
Now these pop ups are really annoying, maybe Noobs may feel honored seeing that stuff, but I prefer a more subtle way.
The community points are without a disguise just a way to get more people buying the game. I totally understand that, if I would be the producer my intention would be the same. It still would be nice to get these points through other means too.
Agree about the pop-ups. Please give us the option of disabling them and reverting to text alerts. It clutters the screen and looks cheesy. Why do I need a closeup view of my plane or other planes?
I'm not so fond of the new color scheme, but I'm sure I'll get used to it, so no big deal.
Thank you for two things: the MVP addition to the results screen is a fun stat. I hope you'll add about one second to the delay after that screen finishes rendering. With MVP added on, my attention is often there and I miss some of the other awards. I also am happy to have incrementing kick times. This has been dearly needed.
The assists column is also nice... had no idea I had so many assists. =)
Next go round, please add goal assists, as that is one final stat that would be great to see.
Tosconi
12-23-2009, 03:34 PM
it's been mostly everything mentioned yet. So just a short input
I can cope (get used to) the new black/white look (although it's too dark imho)
I like the assists line, as well as the 2-3 mvp places in the end. But here I should say, that the award screen lines look pretty small, so that I have to really load my eyes to read this (plz make it bigger, otherwise I'll have to wear glasses in a couple of weeks).
I hate the new pop-ups - they're too big, too disturbing, too annoying. I'd really love the simple line to come back...if this is not to happen - then please make them smaller and with less info (I don't really care which plane killed me or perks/level - name's all what's needed).
The base hit points is a good idea - but also, please, make them smaller
I can cope (get used to) the new black/white look (although it's too dark imho)
I like the assists line, as well as the 2-3 mvp places in the end. But here I should say, that the award screen lines look pretty small, so that I have to really load my eyes to read this (plz make it bigger, otherwise I'll have to wear glasses in a couple of weeks).
I hate the new pop-ups - they're too big, too disturbing, too annoying. I'd really love the simple line to come back...if this is not to happen - then please make them smaller and with less info (I don't really care which plane killed me or perks/level - name's all what's needed).
The base hit points is a good idea - but also, please, make them smaller
Tank
12-23-2009, 03:55 PM
I like everything, except the way to earn Community points. maybe you can also earn them by completing challenges with the planes, or for the amount ox xp earned.
STACK
12-23-2009, 04:01 PM
Sooooooo when am I gonna be in the credits? :D First ball mode, now my UI?
I would like to see nice sleek, semi-transparent windows.
^^ Posted this like 3 yrs ago
I would like to see nice sleek, semi-transparent windows.
^^ Posted this like 3 yrs ago
phong
12-23-2009, 04:06 PM
I think the UI changes are a step in the right direction, although they still need some work. I'm noticing on a small windowed res the fonts/graphics become distorted a bit and mouse-overs become unreadable.
http://content.screencast.com/users/jaredo/folders/Jing/media/53e3acfa-5a16-406a-80f9-27b348c93760/2009-12-23_1006.png
I also think the way columns and buttons are displayed needs to change (this oval hexagonal thing needs to go).
http://content.screencast.com/users/jaredo/folders/Jing/media/53e3acfa-5a16-406a-80f9-27b348c93760/2009-12-23_1006.png
I also think the way columns and buttons are displayed needs to change (this oval hexagonal thing needs to go).
Kuja900
12-23-2009, 04:46 PM
My main three gripes so far:
1. The red screen of death blind siding me every time I die, its just not nice on the eyes.
2. The main menu has lost its charm, not a fan of the black and white thing or at least how it is currently implemented.
3. Too many popups when I'm trying to play. I find my eyes wandering and crashing there is so much crap going on in my screen.
1. The red screen of death blind siding me every time I die, its just not nice on the eyes.
2. The main menu has lost its charm, not a fan of the black and white thing or at least how it is currently implemented.
3. Too many popups when I'm trying to play. I find my eyes wandering and crashing there is so much crap going on in my screen.
Flyngbanana
12-23-2009, 05:15 PM
My main three gripes so far:
1. The red screen of death blind siding me every time I die, its just not nice on the eyes.
2. The main menu has lost its charm, not a fan of the black and white thing or at least how it is currently implemented.
3. Too many popups when I'm trying to play. I find my eyes wandering and crashing there is so much crap going on in my screen.
+1
These are my main gripes as well but thanks for the new content :)
1. The red screen of death blind siding me every time I die, its just not nice on the eyes.
2. The main menu has lost its charm, not a fan of the black and white thing or at least how it is currently implemented.
3. Too many popups when I'm trying to play. I find my eyes wandering and crashing there is so much crap going on in my screen.
+1
These are my main gripes as well but thanks for the new content :)
MonstaFondla
12-23-2009, 05:28 PM
UI is now more 'grown up' and I, for one, love it.
Addition of bombing and turret destruction notifications is pretty sweet. I would perhaps add a combo (x2, x3 etc.) identifier for people who have done this multiple times in one game. Let's celebrate those single-minded turret/base kamikazes!!!
My dream addition would be a selection of snapshots that collage the end game screen. Let's say four of 'em - one to illustrate the final base destruction, one to illustrate a megakill, that sort of thing. This would probably take some serious programming (and server memory usage) so it's only a pipedream.
Addition of bombing and turret destruction notifications is pretty sweet. I would perhaps add a combo (x2, x3 etc.) identifier for people who have done this multiple times in one game. Let's celebrate those single-minded turret/base kamikazes!!!
My dream addition would be a selection of snapshots that collage the end game screen. Let's say four of 'em - one to illustrate the final base destruction, one to illustrate a megakill, that sort of thing. This would probably take some serious programming (and server memory usage) so it's only a pipedream.
Massi
12-23-2009, 05:43 PM
First off The main screen is to dark.
Second the community points as said tons and tons of times are horrid. Having to spam a link to get points. I mean really.
Third, as I posted here http://altitudegame.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1575 my escape key doesn't work and now there is no menu button in the corner so once I'm in a server only way to get out is to restart Altitude, Not fun.
Second the community points as said tons and tons of times are horrid. Having to spam a link to get points. I mean really.
Third, as I posted here http://altitudegame.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1575 my escape key doesn't work and now there is no menu button in the corner so once I'm in a server only way to get out is to restart Altitude, Not fun.
AtomikPi
12-23-2009, 05:43 PM
From that image, the new UI looks great, although I haven't seen it in-game yet.
Linking decals to referrals really horrifies me. I was really hoping Altitude wouldn't go down this path.
Linking decals to referrals really horrifies me. I was really hoping Altitude wouldn't go down this path.
nesnl
12-23-2009, 05:50 PM
I think this has been mentioned by other people, but when I am waiting to spawn I like to watch the action and having that big red bar across the screen makes it very hard and distracting to watch. I like that you removed the whole thing that used to cover the top of the screen, but I wish the whole "press f to spawn" along with the other instructions, "e for planes" "t for teams" was more subtle and out of the way.
Also, when I log in it says "Community Points" in a window that is covering my friends list. I am not able to move that window and it seems out of place. If I click on it to try to move it, it brings me to the Community Points sections. I suggest having this window pop up below the "news and updates" window and allow the user to close it like the news and updates window.
Also, when I log in it says "Community Points" in a window that is covering my friends list. I am not able to move that window and it seems out of place. If I click on it to try to move it, it brings me to the Community Points sections. I suggest having this window pop up below the "news and updates" window and allow the user to close it like the news and updates window.
Kafka
12-23-2009, 06:28 PM
I like the shown assists and more stats shown on the end game screen, but the new menu look is just plain awful and the box that pops up in the bottom right after a kill is rather annoying.
lamster
12-23-2009, 06:57 PM
Please keep the feedback coming, specific feedback like phong's post with a picture is especially helpful. This UI is a work in progress, constructive feedback is appreciated.
Regarding Community Points, the current implementation is incomplete, but I want to clear up any misconceptions about where we're going with this. The idea is to reward actions that keep Altitude's community healthy and strong. We are still working out the details for the various bonuses, but here are a couple key points:
1) The max bonus for link clicks will be relatively easy to achieve (somewhere between 10-100 clicks), we do not want, and will not reward, spamming every corner of the internets. The idea behind the personalized link is to help players share Altitude with any online communities they are involved in. Players who find Altitude from a personalized link will automatically send the referrer a friend request when they create their account, allowing referrers to organize and mentor members of their online communities. And yes, you get a small reward for sharing the link with friends (we don't want you to spam it everywhere, the max bonus will be easy to achieve through organic sharing).
2) We would would love to reward ALL types of activities that help keep Altitude's community vibrant and strong. Writing guides, making cool Altitude videos, and creating new maps are major undertakings of huge value to the community. We would like to provide major Community Point rewards (way beyond sharing a link, for example) for these outstanding contributions to the community, but obviously that's a bit harder to automate so I can't say exactly how we'll be managing that just yet.
Agree about the pop-ups. Please give us the option of disabling them and reverting to text alerts.You can revert to text alerts by editing your ~Altitude/config/options.xml
Change:
showKillPopups="true" showExpLog="false"
to
showKillPopups="false" showExpLog="true"
Regarding Community Points, the current implementation is incomplete, but I want to clear up any misconceptions about where we're going with this. The idea is to reward actions that keep Altitude's community healthy and strong. We are still working out the details for the various bonuses, but here are a couple key points:
1) The max bonus for link clicks will be relatively easy to achieve (somewhere between 10-100 clicks), we do not want, and will not reward, spamming every corner of the internets. The idea behind the personalized link is to help players share Altitude with any online communities they are involved in. Players who find Altitude from a personalized link will automatically send the referrer a friend request when they create their account, allowing referrers to organize and mentor members of their online communities. And yes, you get a small reward for sharing the link with friends (we don't want you to spam it everywhere, the max bonus will be easy to achieve through organic sharing).
2) We would would love to reward ALL types of activities that help keep Altitude's community vibrant and strong. Writing guides, making cool Altitude videos, and creating new maps are major undertakings of huge value to the community. We would like to provide major Community Point rewards (way beyond sharing a link, for example) for these outstanding contributions to the community, but obviously that's a bit harder to automate so I can't say exactly how we'll be managing that just yet.
Agree about the pop-ups. Please give us the option of disabling them and reverting to text alerts.You can revert to text alerts by editing your ~Altitude/config/options.xml
Change:
showKillPopups="true" showExpLog="false"
to
showKillPopups="false" showExpLog="true"
lamster
12-23-2009, 07:04 PM
I think this has been mentioned by other people, but when I am waiting to spawn I like to watch the action and having that big red bar across the screen makes it very hard and distracting to watch.
The idea was to make it much easier to spectate! The red UI blocking the top 15% of the screen is gone now. You can easily dismiss the new red strip, either by tapping Tab to show the scoreboard or pressing F to confirm your desire to respawn (maybe you're playing 1DM where this isn't quite as clear, but F still works). In the next patch it'll also auto-minimize if you're chatting.
The idea was to make it much easier to spectate! The red UI blocking the top 15% of the screen is gone now. You can easily dismiss the new red strip, either by tapping Tab to show the scoreboard or pressing F to confirm your desire to respawn (maybe you're playing 1DM where this isn't quite as clear, but F still works). In the next patch it'll also auto-minimize if you're chatting.
tyr
12-23-2009, 07:10 PM
As many other people, the red bar is kinda annoying but I guess I can get used to it.
What really bother me though is that I don't see when I get an assist anymore. Or maybe I'm missing something but I think I looked everywhere and I don't see it. It's really something helpful, at least for me. I sometime count how many xp I have during that life for veteran bar optimization, and not being able to see when I get an assist obviously totally prevents from doing it anymore.
What really bother me though is that I don't see when I get an assist anymore. Or maybe I'm missing something but I think I looked everywhere and I don't see it. It's really something helpful, at least for me. I sometime count how many xp I have during that life for veteran bar optimization, and not being able to see when I get an assist obviously totally prevents from doing it anymore.
nesnl
12-23-2009, 07:17 PM
As many other people, the red bar is kinda annoying but I guess I can get used to it.
What really bother me though is that I don't see when I get an assist anymore. Or maybe I'm missing something but I think I looked everywhere and I don't see it. It's really something helpful, at least for me. I sometime count how many xp I have during that life for veteran bar optimization, and not being able to see when I get an assist obviously totally prevents from doing it anymore.
Another thing about the assists is that it gives you an indication of when someone dies, which is very helpful in an overall game sense. If I am attacking someone and they go off screen and then it pops up a second later that I got an assist it helps me keep mental track of who is alive, dead, smoking, respawning, etc.
What really bother me though is that I don't see when I get an assist anymore. Or maybe I'm missing something but I think I looked everywhere and I don't see it. It's really something helpful, at least for me. I sometime count how many xp I have during that life for veteran bar optimization, and not being able to see when I get an assist obviously totally prevents from doing it anymore.
Another thing about the assists is that it gives you an indication of when someone dies, which is very helpful in an overall game sense. If I am attacking someone and they go off screen and then it pops up a second later that I got an assist it helps me keep mental track of who is alive, dead, smoking, respawning, etc.
nobodyhome
12-23-2009, 07:23 PM
The idea was to make it much easier to spectate! The red UI blocking the top 15% of the screen is gone now. You can easily dismiss the new red strip, either by tapping Tab to show the scoreboard or pressing F to confirm your desire to respawn (maybe you're playing 1DM where this isn't quite as clear, but F still works). In the next patch it'll also auto-minimize if you're chatting.
I actually don't think the red bar is very annoying at all, because most of the time when I die I insta-press f, so it automatically minimizes to the top left. However, I can see instances where it might be a problem, such as when you want to just watch the game without actually changing your team to "spectate" (rare, but it happens). In that case there isn't quite a way to minimize the red bar without having an imminent respawn.
I actually don't think the red bar is very annoying at all, because most of the time when I die I insta-press f, so it automatically minimizes to the top left. However, I can see instances where it might be a problem, such as when you want to just watch the game without actually changing your team to "spectate" (rare, but it happens). In that case there isn't quite a way to minimize the red bar without having an imminent respawn.
Jacques Strap
12-23-2009, 07:30 PM
I liked this update, although there were some things that I think did not help the game.
New UI:
It seems bad now, but people will get used to it. The black menus and buttons don't really blend well with the colorful planes and maps. The red glowing stripes in the chat box hurt my eyes.
Pop up kill notifications:
Very distracting. Many people don't like them. I am very glad that they can be turned off.
Community points:
This was a great idea, but I'd rather get points by doing things in the game than spamming a link all over the Internets. I would also like to know what kinds of skins there will be, if there will be other things to buy, and when the skins will be
available.
Also, I allowed my FaceBook account to publish Altitude messages to get the 100 community points, but it has been 3 hours and I still haven't got the points yet. Is this a glitch?
New UI:
It seems bad now, but people will get used to it. The black menus and buttons don't really blend well with the colorful planes and maps. The red glowing stripes in the chat box hurt my eyes.
Pop up kill notifications:
Very distracting. Many people don't like them. I am very glad that they can be turned off.
Community points:
This was a great idea, but I'd rather get points by doing things in the game than spamming a link all over the Internets. I would also like to know what kinds of skins there will be, if there will be other things to buy, and when the skins will be
available.
Also, I allowed my FaceBook account to publish Altitude messages to get the 100 community points, but it has been 3 hours and I still haven't got the points yet. Is this a glitch?
spc
12-23-2009, 08:28 PM
-
- Base damage doesn't make a whole lot of sense - when you get a hit, you get 30-38 damage, but in the award screen it says something like 6500 base damage(for full).
i love this update :D i agree about the base damage units used cause it is confusing and maybe the award screen should have a background that relates to the UI but that is about all. overall this update made everything better. thx!
- Base damage doesn't make a whole lot of sense - when you get a hit, you get 30-38 damage, but in the award screen it says something like 6500 base damage(for full).
i love this update :D i agree about the base damage units used cause it is confusing and maybe the award screen should have a background that relates to the UI but that is about all. overall this update made everything better. thx!
Sarah Palin
12-23-2009, 09:21 PM
Lam, thanks very much for giving us the option to go back to the old kill log. ;) It was working fine for me (in fact I used to watch that and the red exxes to develop "battlespace sense").
If you could at some point upload the old sound folder in an update, twould be awesome. :D Even if we have to mess with the XML to redirect to that folder. It's only a few megs and it's still your intellectual property I assume.
The direction you take this game art-wise is your decision*; but providing options to people who want to stay with old versions doesn't impede gameplay and is a nice gesture.
*EDIT: and it seems a bunch of people like it, so maybe you're onto something.
If you could at some point upload the old sound folder in an update, twould be awesome. :D Even if we have to mess with the XML to redirect to that folder. It's only a few megs and it's still your intellectual property I assume.
The direction you take this game art-wise is your decision*; but providing options to people who want to stay with old versions doesn't impede gameplay and is a nice gesture.
*EDIT: and it seems a bunch of people like it, so maybe you're onto something.
Evan20000
12-23-2009, 09:25 PM
Also, I allowed my FaceBook account to publish Altitude messages to get the 100 community points, but it has been 3 hours and I still haven't got the points yet. Is this a glitch?
Same. I set my FB to publish last night and I haven't recieved my points.
Same. I set my FB to publish last night and I haven't recieved my points.
Ajuk999
12-23-2009, 09:31 PM
Great Job Karl and Eric, I love it!
It is no more a cartoonish game interface but a high-tec sci-fi look. Thanks, I love all of the new improvements you guys have made, looking forward to the new ones!
It is no more a cartoonish game interface but a high-tec sci-fi look. Thanks, I love all of the new improvements you guys have made, looking forward to the new ones!
DiogenesDog
12-23-2009, 10:15 PM
Could someone maybe post a couple screens of the new UI? I'm super curious, but I'm on vacation so I won't have Alt available until the 31st. :o
innerlyte
12-23-2009, 10:28 PM
Before I get into my gripes with the latest update, I'd like to say thanks (Lam and Karl) for the work you guys put into it. We, the Altitude community, certainly appreciate your effort no matter how much we complain :cool:
Here are the positives:
>> I like how you got rid of the top HUD when spectating. I always had problems viewing action in the upper section of a map with the old UI.
>> The new UI theme is certainly slicker than the old one. It makes the game feel more lightweight.
>> Bomb alerts are great.
>> Awards screen is a step in the right direction.
Now, the negatives:
>> The new UI feels kind of dark and monochromatic. It doesn't complement the overall feel of the game as well as the old UI. I may just have to become more accustomed to it.
>> The red animated selection arrow used on the main (left) menu looks kind of cruddy. It has a weird shape and the animation seems kind of arbitrary.
>> There may be an XML fix for this, but I would like to see the fps/ping display back in game. I've been having connection issues lately (Comcast, not you guys) and would like to be able to see my ping without pressing tab.
>> Switching planes has become slightly more difficult. You have to remember to press "e" to do so.
>> I don't like the picture alerts for kills, so thank you for the XML fix (haven't tried it yet). With the default set-up, when you kill multiple people within a short time period, only one can be displayed at a time. This is kind of annoying if you miss one. Also, friend alerts (signing on and off, etc) appear in the same area. I noticed one would obscure the other at times.
>> I agree with Tyr. I like having assist alerts. It lets me know if I even hit someone (it helps with playing adjustments). I can't remember my assist numbers throughout the game and press tab to see.
>> I have pop-ups disabled, but I got a Community Points pop-up in game. Not sure how to disable that.
>> Still not sure how I feel about the perks at the top left. I don't really need to know what I'm using after playing that set-up for a while.
>> The red options bar/span is so-so, but it doesn't seem to go with the UI. Maybe switching that to the transparent black would look better.
>> The awards screen still needs some work. The stats boxes don't really mesh well with the background. Perhaps the BG needs to be redesigned too.
Additional suggestions:
>> This doesn't have to do with the latest update, but I don't like the "Now Playing" friend alert. I don't really need to know every time someone joins a game. One thing you could add is the name of the server in that pop-up. I don't like having to go to my friends list and then hover over the left portion to see what server they are in.
>> On a related note (and has been mentioned before), it would be nice to see who is in a server before joining.
>> One more thing. Perhaps opening up UI design to the Altitude community (selectively) would be nice. Maimer and I have experience in webdesign, and I'm guessing UI design is not unlike CSS in terms of piecing things together. I'm sure there are more competent programmers out there as well. Just a thought :)
Here are the positives:
>> I like how you got rid of the top HUD when spectating. I always had problems viewing action in the upper section of a map with the old UI.
>> The new UI theme is certainly slicker than the old one. It makes the game feel more lightweight.
>> Bomb alerts are great.
>> Awards screen is a step in the right direction.
Now, the negatives:
>> The new UI feels kind of dark and monochromatic. It doesn't complement the overall feel of the game as well as the old UI. I may just have to become more accustomed to it.
>> The red animated selection arrow used on the main (left) menu looks kind of cruddy. It has a weird shape and the animation seems kind of arbitrary.
>> There may be an XML fix for this, but I would like to see the fps/ping display back in game. I've been having connection issues lately (Comcast, not you guys) and would like to be able to see my ping without pressing tab.
>> Switching planes has become slightly more difficult. You have to remember to press "e" to do so.
>> I don't like the picture alerts for kills, so thank you for the XML fix (haven't tried it yet). With the default set-up, when you kill multiple people within a short time period, only one can be displayed at a time. This is kind of annoying if you miss one. Also, friend alerts (signing on and off, etc) appear in the same area. I noticed one would obscure the other at times.
>> I agree with Tyr. I like having assist alerts. It lets me know if I even hit someone (it helps with playing adjustments). I can't remember my assist numbers throughout the game and press tab to see.
>> I have pop-ups disabled, but I got a Community Points pop-up in game. Not sure how to disable that.
>> Still not sure how I feel about the perks at the top left. I don't really need to know what I'm using after playing that set-up for a while.
>> The red options bar/span is so-so, but it doesn't seem to go with the UI. Maybe switching that to the transparent black would look better.
>> The awards screen still needs some work. The stats boxes don't really mesh well with the background. Perhaps the BG needs to be redesigned too.
Additional suggestions:
>> This doesn't have to do with the latest update, but I don't like the "Now Playing" friend alert. I don't really need to know every time someone joins a game. One thing you could add is the name of the server in that pop-up. I don't like having to go to my friends list and then hover over the left portion to see what server they are in.
>> On a related note (and has been mentioned before), it would be nice to see who is in a server before joining.
>> One more thing. Perhaps opening up UI design to the Altitude community (selectively) would be nice. Maimer and I have experience in webdesign, and I'm guessing UI design is not unlike CSS in terms of piecing things together. I'm sure there are more competent programmers out there as well. Just a thought :)
DiogenesDog
12-23-2009, 11:27 PM
Thanks, Tals.
Vi*
12-24-2009, 12:58 AM
(didn't read the thread)
I think the new interface is a big improvement. Good update. The only thing I don't like is the big red bar across your screen that says "press f to spawn" or whatever. It looks annoying and cluttery, and it kills obs mode. Maybe make it immediately scoot to the upper left like it would if you had pressed F, only it'd still say the original message.
I think the new interface is a big improvement. Good update. The only thing I don't like is the big red bar across your screen that says "press f to spawn" or whatever. It looks annoying and cluttery, and it kills obs mode. Maybe make it immediately scoot to the upper left like it would if you had pressed F, only it'd still say the original message.
[Y]
12-24-2009, 01:34 AM
Because I forgot to do so before
THANK YOU LAM/KARL
Despite our negative feedback, all of us appreciate all the effort you guys put into Altitude. =)
THANK YOU LAM/KARL
Despite our negative feedback, all of us appreciate all the effort you guys put into Altitude. =)
pig_bomb
12-24-2009, 02:01 AM
Love the update.
akuralyronat
12-24-2009, 02:24 AM
Hey thanks for the tip on how to change the pop ups. I switched back to text and I feel like 90% better about the new UI already. Feel like I actually know what's going on again.
It seems there's a duel going on between the retro and the sci-fi feel of the game. Old against new. Steampunk versus Star Wars. Biplane versus Miranda. It's dramatic, it's engaging... It is Altitude.
Also I wanted to say thank you for all the hard work you guys do on the game. My first post was all whining, but I was simply disgruntled at having something come between me and dogfighting goodness. This game is amazing, and I love that you guys listen to your fans.
It seems there's a duel going on between the retro and the sci-fi feel of the game. Old against new. Steampunk versus Star Wars. Biplane versus Miranda. It's dramatic, it's engaging... It is Altitude.
Also I wanted to say thank you for all the hard work you guys do on the game. My first post was all whining, but I was simply disgruntled at having something come between me and dogfighting goodness. This game is amazing, and I love that you guys listen to your fans.
Pieface
12-24-2009, 03:05 AM
I know there have been mixed feelings about the new UI, but in general I think it's an improvement.
Things I love:
The new UI. I really like the new feel to all the menus and everything.
The popup showing when the base has been damaged.
Kicks scaling with time and new infractions that keep track of this.
The new information provided in the award screen.
Respawn UI bar works much better now for spectating and doesn't take up useful space.
Things I think could use a bit of reworking:
Now that the windows are transparent, they seem to blend together almost too easily. I think you should make the Patch window a bit more opaque to separate it from the friends list, and similarly make the Autoconnect window more opaque to separate it from the server list.
While I like the idea and the implementing of the popup windows, I think they take up too much room. I also don't really need to see the perk setup of the plane I just killed. I think it would be great to have those windows show up, but maybe just show the player's name and plane without the perks so as to minimize the space it takes up.
Similarly, I feel that the base hit and other such popup windows could be made slightly smaller so that they are less intrusive. I like the idea but I think it could be implemented a bit better.
Why do we need a global popup saying that a player has destroyed a turret? Seems pretty unnecessary imo and just wastes space while encouraging newer players to kamikaze at turrets in order to get recognized.
Totally agree with Tyr on the assist text line. While it's nice that the tab screen is now tracking assists, it really helps to be able to tell when a player you hit has died in-game.
I know everyone's been saying this, but the Community Points system really needs to be figured out better. I'd love to see community points awarded for creating an official map, writing a good guide, etc. Not sure how this could be worked out at the moment but it seems that there should be another way to unlock skins without having to post links everywhere or bother your friends about it (the friends of mine who would be interested I've already told in person, and not by posting links on their personal web pages).
Even if you keep the Community Points system as it is now, I do think that the CP window on the main Altitude home page could be reworked. For those who are focused on points, they know where to look for them. For those who aren't going to bother posting links around in order to unlock new skins/emblems, this window is really annoying and is inconveniently located. I'd love to see it moved to another part of the screen or optimally an option to disable it showing up in the first place.
Respawn bar takes a while to minimize and is a bit annoying. I'd support having the bar minimize after just a couple of seconds, but show all the options in the upper left instead of the current "Press F to Spawn"
I agree that the new award animations at the end of each match don't really fit in, I think some text changes, text enlargements, and general styling could be improved a bit here.
Sorry for the wall of text, but I hope that feedback helps a bit when considering how to move forward from here.
Things I love:
The new UI. I really like the new feel to all the menus and everything.
The popup showing when the base has been damaged.
Kicks scaling with time and new infractions that keep track of this.
The new information provided in the award screen.
Respawn UI bar works much better now for spectating and doesn't take up useful space.
Things I think could use a bit of reworking:
Now that the windows are transparent, they seem to blend together almost too easily. I think you should make the Patch window a bit more opaque to separate it from the friends list, and similarly make the Autoconnect window more opaque to separate it from the server list.
While I like the idea and the implementing of the popup windows, I think they take up too much room. I also don't really need to see the perk setup of the plane I just killed. I think it would be great to have those windows show up, but maybe just show the player's name and plane without the perks so as to minimize the space it takes up.
Similarly, I feel that the base hit and other such popup windows could be made slightly smaller so that they are less intrusive. I like the idea but I think it could be implemented a bit better.
Why do we need a global popup saying that a player has destroyed a turret? Seems pretty unnecessary imo and just wastes space while encouraging newer players to kamikaze at turrets in order to get recognized.
Totally agree with Tyr on the assist text line. While it's nice that the tab screen is now tracking assists, it really helps to be able to tell when a player you hit has died in-game.
I know everyone's been saying this, but the Community Points system really needs to be figured out better. I'd love to see community points awarded for creating an official map, writing a good guide, etc. Not sure how this could be worked out at the moment but it seems that there should be another way to unlock skins without having to post links everywhere or bother your friends about it (the friends of mine who would be interested I've already told in person, and not by posting links on their personal web pages).
Even if you keep the Community Points system as it is now, I do think that the CP window on the main Altitude home page could be reworked. For those who are focused on points, they know where to look for them. For those who aren't going to bother posting links around in order to unlock new skins/emblems, this window is really annoying and is inconveniently located. I'd love to see it moved to another part of the screen or optimally an option to disable it showing up in the first place.
Respawn bar takes a while to minimize and is a bit annoying. I'd support having the bar minimize after just a couple of seconds, but show all the options in the upper left instead of the current "Press F to Spawn"
I agree that the new award animations at the end of each match don't really fit in, I think some text changes, text enlargements, and general styling could be improved a bit here.
Sorry for the wall of text, but I hope that feedback helps a bit when considering how to move forward from here.
volatile
12-24-2009, 04:16 AM
Love the game, thanks for the continued work on it.
The popups for kills are very distracting. How about allowing these to be turned off/on in the options?
Regarding the menu colors... I like the new one... I liked the old one... how about allowing users to customize the color scheme? Like 2-3 main colors. You can have a default (for whatever you prefer), a classic (for the last one... the red), and custom ones.
Can you tell I like options?
How about allowing users to force team/enemy colors in TDM? I personally find it annoying to re-adjust each map.
Well I got tons more suggestions, etc, but I'll pace myself... lol.
The popups for kills are very distracting. How about allowing these to be turned off/on in the options?
Regarding the menu colors... I like the new one... I liked the old one... how about allowing users to customize the color scheme? Like 2-3 main colors. You can have a default (for whatever you prefer), a classic (for the last one... the red), and custom ones.
Can you tell I like options?
How about allowing users to force team/enemy colors in TDM? I personally find it annoying to re-adjust each map.
Well I got tons more suggestions, etc, but I'll pace myself... lol.
nesnl
12-24-2009, 04:35 AM
Just gonna save lamster some time because he has said this three times already and people post without reading the thread:
IF YOU WANT TO REMOVE THE POP-UPS FOR KILLS DO THIS:
You can revert to text alerts by editing your ~Altitude/config/options.xml
Change:
showKillPopups="true" showExpLog="false"
to
showKillPopups="false" showExpLog="true"
IF YOU WANT TO FORCE COLORS IN GAME DO THIS:
Go to Options in game and select the Graphics tab and then check the box that says "Color Blind Mode" This will force the planes to be red/blue no matter what map or what mode or what server you are on.
IF YOU WANT TO REMOVE THE POP-UPS FOR KILLS DO THIS:
You can revert to text alerts by editing your ~Altitude/config/options.xml
Change:
showKillPopups="true" showExpLog="false"
to
showKillPopups="false" showExpLog="true"
IF YOU WANT TO FORCE COLORS IN GAME DO THIS:
Go to Options in game and select the Graphics tab and then check the box that says "Color Blind Mode" This will force the planes to be red/blue no matter what map or what mode or what server you are on.
bong
12-25-2009, 02:06 PM
love this! but still need time to get used to. oh btw, can u put the ping indicator back? they used to be on bottom left corner. Thx
mtthrvy
12-25-2009, 06:15 PM
this has to be some of the worst UI ever :eek:
You need some designers on board, i could probably do a better job although it wouldnt be perfect, im only 18! i havnt had the practise and im actually an illustrator
needs work.
You need some designers on board, i could probably do a better job although it wouldnt be perfect, im only 18! i havnt had the practise and im actually an illustrator
needs work.
[Y]
12-25-2009, 08:10 PM
this has to be some of the worst UI ever :eek:
You need some designers on board, i could probably do a better job although it wouldnt be perfect, im only 18! i havnt had the practise and im actually an illustrator
needs work.
Maybe you should give some suggestions as to what to improve isntead of just posting what could be summarized as "UI sux i can do better"
You need some designers on board, i could probably do a better job although it wouldnt be perfect, im only 18! i havnt had the practise and im actually an illustrator
needs work.
Maybe you should give some suggestions as to what to improve isntead of just posting what could be summarized as "UI sux i can do better"
volatile
12-25-2009, 10:30 PM
Thanks for the info!
It would be nicer to have these options in-game as opposed to having to edit the XML file.
Is there an option to turn off the popup you get when you die?
About the plane colors... would be nice to pick which ones you want to force. :)
It would be nicer to have these options in-game as opposed to having to edit the XML file.
Is there an option to turn off the popup you get when you die?
About the plane colors... would be nice to pick which ones you want to force. :)
nesnl
12-26-2009, 06:53 AM
A small detail here, but on the friends list I think the color scheme should be reversed so that the friends that are online are that whitish color and opaque while the friends that are offline are the black and transparent color. Just seems like it would work better that way.
bong
12-27-2009, 02:22 PM
Can you put the ping and fps indicator back please? :o So i know whether or not i lag or just fps dropping. Thx for this beautiful game, truly a gift from heaven! ;)
A small detail here, but on the friends list I think the color scheme should be reversed so that the friends that are online are that whitish color and opaque while the friends that are offline are the black and transparent color. Just seems like it would work better that way.
I agreed with Maimer here, with the current friends list color scheme it's a little bit confusing on who's online and who's not.
A small detail here, but on the friends list I think the color scheme should be reversed so that the friends that are online are that whitish color and opaque while the friends that are offline are the black and transparent color. Just seems like it would work better that way.
I agreed with Maimer here, with the current friends list color scheme it's a little bit confusing on who's online and who's not.
Beagle
12-29-2009, 01:08 PM
So, is there any intention to provide a choice for the old UI?
In future updates, will current settings be preserved as options instead of being purged for new, untested alternatives?
In future updates, will current settings be preserved as options instead of being purged for new, untested alternatives?
Cpt. Slow
01-02-2010, 04:11 PM
After some time playing new version - popups stopped being so annoying.
Spawn screen - moving to left upper cornder is nice.
Kill popups - now show good info - and dont irritate me :)
Spawn screen - moving to left upper cornder is nice.
Kill popups - now show good info - and dont irritate me :)
rere
01-02-2010, 06:16 PM
This dec 22nd patch added some very noticeable popups to the interface. That got me thinking on an idea I had even prior to that patch: consider adding an option for a minimal GUI mode that strips away many popups, instructions etc that people who have played the game a lot probably don't need (things that are visible even when options>gameplay>tips is disabled).
Three examples:
- text that give hints for keyboard shortcuts: T for teams and so on.
- text at the start of ball matches that describe the purpose of the ball mode saying shoot the ball into the the opposing teams goal
- popup saying you died, press F to respawn
Anyone who have played a while will know all those things by heart and do not need reminders.
devs: what do you think about this idea?
others: can you give some more examples of things such a minimal mode could strip away?
Three examples:
- text that give hints for keyboard shortcuts: T for teams and so on.
- text at the start of ball matches that describe the purpose of the ball mode saying shoot the ball into the the opposing teams goal
- popup saying you died, press F to respawn
Anyone who have played a while will know all those things by heart and do not need reminders.
devs: what do you think about this idea?
others: can you give some more examples of things such a minimal mode could strip away?
Cpt. Slow
01-03-2010, 08:59 AM
others: can you give some more examples of things such a minimal mode could strip away?
- smaller chat (smaller font) and move it more to the left (close to the border), so it wont take up the important part of the screen
- smaller chat (smaller font) and move it more to the left (close to the border), so it wont take up the important part of the screen
Obama
01-03-2010, 08:22 PM
i dont like the UI nether but it sucks that u have to do that point **** do get the skins lol------->>>>> they need to make this game 3d it would be sick as **** awesome idea right there
Element
01-04-2010, 10:15 AM
why do we need to unlock emblems and skins with community points?? cant we use something else???
[Y]
01-06-2010, 11:17 PM
What would you like to buy them with? Money from paypal?
jetfire
01-30-2010, 05:47 PM
it tell you to go on face book but it takes a really long time:mad: then ihave aproblem tere on howt get community points. My friend a dougnut has a 130 comunityoints and how is that possible thounght in total you can only get 100cmmunit points to buy one of of the plane skin in altuide. I am so confused?.........:confused::confused:::confused:
Loli.ta
01-31-2010, 09:21 PM
Not sure if it was ever suggested, but could we get the "death camera" to have an option to go to (instead of following the person who killed you) the "important object", say like the bomb? It would be really useful to know what's the current situation of the bomb / ball in a match.
Edited: For some reason I misread the date.
Edited: For some reason I misread the date.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét