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DOTA 2 |OT8| DOTA Asian Championship (1/27-2/9)

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Yeah, this blows my mind. Riot is a skilled company. Shame their PR and culture is in the toilet.

I wouldn't even say they're especially skilled. They're using Adobe Air for their main client, for fucks sake. But they're trying harder than Valve and have a bigger team than Valve has on Dota 2, so here we are. Stuck with our clunky and inefficient main UI and clunky and inefficient in-game UI.

I wonder if Source 2 will allow us to alter the in-game UI to our own preferences like we see in TF2.

It looks like an obsessive Apple fan got a hold of Dota
it looks decidedly more like the more recent Android OS, with heavy influences from modern web design styling like you'd find on dribbble.com.
 

manfestival

Member
I wouldn't even say they're especially skilled. They're using Adobe Air for their main client, for fucks sake. But they're trying harder than Valve and have a bigger team than Valve has on Dota 2, so here we are. Stuck with our clunky and inefficient main UI and clunky and inefficient in-game UI.

I wonder if Source 2 will allow us to alter the in-game UI to our own preferences like we see in TF2.

Yeah I can agree with that. I think that was one of my biggest complaints about dota 2 when I first started playing and its something that I eventually got used to and since... long forgotten about. The UI for dota 2 is horrible. The minimalistic and customizable approach was so nice but each game has its ups and downs.
 

Randdalf

Member
why are you worried about how much time it might or might not take to implement? that's not our job and a professional team of developers don't need you covering and excuse-making for them. "it might be hard" is not a valid excuse to decline better UI design. The UI has looked like this at the main menu and in-game for about 3 years now and they both need updates badly. The main menu wastes too much space and the in-game UI is bigger and bulkier than it ever needed to be. It could shrink by 30% and everyone would appreciate the reclaimed space.

also, I'm sure some faded rocks or some shit can be added to better fit the tone of the game as necessary.

Take notes, Valve. Even Leeg has a better looking landing screen that Dota 2.

Because I work as a game developer and that sort of is my job at the moment, hehe.
 

Hylian7

Member
Am I one of like 3 people who likes the UI we have? I mean for christs sakes remember this?

dota_2_screenshot_2011-11-30_00002.jpg
 

Acinixys

Member
why are you worried about how much time it might or might not take to implement? that's not our job and a professional team of developers don't need you covering and excuse-making for them. "it might be hard" is not a valid excuse to decline better UI design. The UI has looked like this at the main menu and in-game for about 3 years now and they both need updates badly. The main menu wastes too much space and the in-game UI is bigger and bulkier than it ever needed to be. It could shrink by 30% and everyone would appreciate the reclaimed space.

also, I'm sure some faded rocks or some shit can be added to better fit the tone of the game as necessary.

Take notes, Valve. Even Leeg has a better looking landing screen that Dota 2.

There is so much shit that doesn't even make sense any more

Like when u do the tutorial it says you get item drops etc, which we all know is a lie

Also the client is slow as fuck a lot of the time
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
All I want is a minimal HUD, slightly faster client, and stable servers.

I don't care about client redesign at all or changing in game stuff to have fades everywhere. Game is extremely readable as is.

 

Nymerio

Member
I don't mind the menu interface though there is a ton of stuff they could improve. The ingame interface though, I find the size is ridiculous and I wish they'd make it smaller.

e: something like what Hazaro posted, maybe a bit sleeker.
 

Hylian7

Member
All I want is a minimal HUD, slightly faster client, and stable servers.

I don't care about client redesign at all or changing in game stuff to have fades everywhere. Game is extremely readable as is.

Ewwww, those look awful, don't take away the organization of the item squares. I use Alt+QWEASD, don't ruin that for me.
 

Hylian7

Member
You value keybinds that you shouldn't have to look at over being able to see more of the map? Dude please.

Yes, I do actually, I like the way my keybinds are, I can move my damn camera. That small amount of space is not a big deal to me.

Moving my BKB to the upper middle slot and knowing to press Alt+W for it just makes sense to me. I want to keep that.
 

Anbokr

Bull on a Donut
Am I one of like 3 people who likes the UI we have? I mean for christs sakes remember this?

I love the UI (both in-game and the menus), it's perfect as is because it's clean and simple. Any future UI changes should just be more customization options/personalization, but the base UI is what I'm used to and enjoy playing with.
 

Kenaras

Member
So, a little over a year ago, GAF played in a GiantBomb Dota 2 tournament. A friend of mine is looking for a VOD of the first match—"Just Gotta Believe" vs "Titanium Eagles". This match featured some of the most ridiculous-yet-effective shenanigans in Dota tournament history. The old Twitch link no longer works. (http://www.twitch.tv/ajamafalousify/b/420374617)

Any chance someone has a working link saved for this? Or is it gone forever?
 

Hylian7

Member
It's been worse, but that doesn't mean it can't be better. I still want it to use the space more efficiently, there's tons of empty space everywhere.

BTW, for pubs, Blink or Lothars for LC?

Blink.

I used to think in theory SB was better, but actually Blink makes more logical sense. Yes, SB is techincally more damage, however this means you have to Press the Attack, SB, walk to your opponent, hit, then duel. All this takes time and generally you just need to get a duel off instantly. Blink will pay for itself here in the damage you'll get for Duels.
 
Because I work as a game developer and that sort of is my job at the moment, hehe.

haha.

I'm glad I didn't say, "...it's not like you're a developer..." like I was thinking about saying!

All I want is a minimal HUD, slightly faster client, and stable servers.

I don't care about client redesign at all or changing in game stuff to have fades everywhere. Game is extremely readable as is.

Hazaro. Always a man after my own heart.

I wish they'd do this, but I fear that once they started selling HUD skins that ship sailed.
 

manfestival

Member
All I want is a minimal HUD, slightly faster client, and stable servers.

I don't care about client redesign at all or changing in game stuff to have fades everywhere. Game is extremely readable as is.

this is pretty much what I would prefer but more sleek and refined looking of course
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
Until they decide to stop selling HUD skins we will never get a good, minimalist HUD in Dota.
 
I kind of hope they just make the HUDs scalable, and make it apply to all the custom HUDs. Have them all split into parts you can adjust the size of, etc.

making it scalable is not enough. That will make some elements too small to be legible. No, there are gratuitous amounts of *dead space* in the in-game UI. Space that could be reappropriated to give us more in-game real estate. You know what Dota 2 doesn't have enough of? Map real estate. I want to be able to see as much of the map as possible and as little of the HUD as possible. Every modern game design studio is doing their best to *decrease* the footprint of HUDs to as small as possible to give the gamer more of the actual game to see. Leeg has more on-screen real estate (and a scalable HUD). SMITE has more on-screen real estate. HoS has more on-screen real estate. The fucking iOS MOBAS have more on-screen real-estate. Us being used to it doesn't make it acceptable.

Dota 2 has the largest, most offensive UI of any game I've played in the last 5 years. It could be so much better in ways that many a UI designer have made mockups in hopes of facilitating some sort of change. But I'm not sure if Valve gives enough of a fuck to improve it.

Volvo needs to give proper 21:9 support
it needs proper 16:10 support too. You actually get *less* real estate if you're gaming on 16:10/1920x1200 or a derivative of that. Game cuts off a ton of pixels on the sides and zooms in farther to compensate. 16:10 is actually at a disadvantage to 16:9. People on the edge of the screen *will* see you before you see them.
 

twobear

sputum-flecked apoplexy
presumably the UI takes up about that much space because the original dota (war3) ui takes up about that much space?
 

Hylian7

Member
making it scalable is not enough. That will make some elements too small to be legible. No, there are gratuitous amounts of *dead space* in the in-game UI. Space that could be reappropriated to give us more in-game real estate. You know what Dota 2 doesn't have enough of? Map real estate. I want to be able to see as much of the map as possible and as little of the HUD as possible. Every modern game design studio is doing their best to *decrease* the footprint of HUDs to as small as possible to give the gamer more of the actual game to see. Leeg has more on-screen real estate (and a scalable HUD). SMITE has more on-screen real estate. HoS has more on-screen real estate. The fucking iOS MOBAS have more on-screen real-estate. Us being used to it doesn't make it acceptable.

Dota 2 has the largest, most offensive UI of any game I've played in the last 5 years. It could be so much better in ways that many a UI designer have made mockups in hopes of facilitating some sort of change. But I'm not sure if Valve gives enough of a fuck to improve it.


it needs proper 16:10 support too. You actually get *less* real estate if you're gaming on 16:10/1920x1200 or a derivative of that. Game cuts off a ton of pixels on the sides and zooms in farther to compensate. 16:10 is actually at a disadvantage to 16:9. People on the edge of the screen *will* see you before you see them.

Honestly I think another part of the issue is keeping it like Dota 1, where the UI was roughly the same size. I'm guessing for the same reason you can't zoom out while playing.
 
Honestly I think another part of the issue is keeping it like Dota 1, where the UI was roughly the same size. I'm guessing for the same reason you can't zoom out while playing.
presumably the UI takes up about that much space because the original dota (war3) ui takes up about that much space?
yea probably but fuck Dota 1. This is Dota 2. That 2 needs to mean something. They need to be about evolving shit like this. Not taking UI design queues from a game released 13 years ago (WC3). And again, this is far from a new topic. We've been talking about this for 3 years.

Put it on the pile of other things Valve should be doing better for Dota 2 but aren't. UI issues, pace of new hero releases, slowness of porting existing Dota 1 heroes, visual updates to old/bad char designs (Zeus, Viper, etc.), better communication with the community, and so on. You can set your watch to when new hats will be released, but a new hero? Good luck.
 

Madouu

Member
They were far more conservative 2 years ago so to not scare the dota crowd out of dota 2 but now that the game has established itself, they've been a bit more daring. If enough people make a fuss about the UI, I can totally see them make some significant changes.
 
They were far more conservative 2 years ago so to not scare the dota crowd out of dota 2 but now that the game has established itself, they've been a bit more daring. If enough people make a fuss about the UI, I can totally see them make some significant changes.

Maybe it's something we can look for after they finish porting over the Dota1 roster.
 
Maybe it's because I've only been playing the game for a year but I don't really have any complaints

But I guess there is a lot of dissatisfaction amongst certain parts of the community, atleast going by what gets front page on reddit
 
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