UT User Interface ideas

[ШιητεЯΙsСσmιηɡ]

Here are some ideas for improving ut user interface.

• Download Panel:
  • Add download speed / remaining time information. this creates some frustration from users specially when download time is long / have to guess "by eye" with the progress bar when download will be completed. Remaining time used to be in some previous builds but was deleted for some unknown reason.
  • 
  • Make download info non-blocking UI if user is playing. Currently a player can't continue playing in a server while some file is being downloaded. Frustrating as well. While still in game, user will just have to wait until download is completed. This should work as like in UT99/UT2003/4 where there was some non blocking-ui message at top of screen showing download status.
• Server List
  • Go back to server list when server is full. When connecting to a full server (might happen specially when some custom map is being downloaded) user is always redirected back to main menu. User have to go again to the "Play->Find a match" and wait several seconds again to have the server list loaded.
  • Maybe merge somehow the hubs/servers list. Users are lazy by nature they won't click on the "Servers" tabs. Moreover normal servers are 99% of time empty. This will give more visibility to 'normal servers'.
  • Add favorites servers/hubs features. 90% of players always play on the same servers/hubs. For time saving people would prefer go to some "Favorite servers" panel directly rather than loading all server list.
• In-game interface
  • Add mid-game voting. People may have chosen a new custom map which they don't like it after playing it for the first time. People can only wait until map ends to switch to another map or leave the game. This creates some frustration.
  • Notification about enemy team has flag. In some previous build there used to be a red message displayed on top of screen (somethink like: "Enemy has your flag. Get if back."). Sometimes the flag is being taken/dropped so many times in a minute that you may have forgotten enemy has the flag.
  • Add spectator<->player button. Some people go to spec mode to play when server is full. When a player slot becomes available it sometimes a fight against time to quickly connect to server to get this free player spot !
  • Put back rank display in scoreboard. Besides of "prestige", this allows to sort quicker and make balanced teams from start easily.
• Social
  • In-game notifications about invitations. User currently doesn't receive any in-screen notification when some friend invite him unless clicking the social button.
  • In game notifications about messages. Same as above but for messages...
• Main menu
  • In-game browser back linked to twitter UT account. Again this was removed in some previous build. Too bad this was a great idea. It was making the UT community more "alive" by linkink the game directly to social networks.

[Calypto]

Your suggestions are good. Social notifications in-game would be distracting, it should be off by default. The map voting and server loading are by far the worst aspects of the UI. Every time you have to download custom content, it asks you if you want to download. UT99 didn't have this at all, 2004 simply had a checkbox that enabled listing of servers with custom mutators (not even custom maps, just mutators).

Personally I find the interface really confusing and unintuitive. UT2004 had a great interface. Everything was where you expected it; no glyph icons that left you guessing what something did. Here, the interface is following trendy design (i.e. minimalism) and it's a pain to use, especially the giant buttons that waste so much precious screen real estate. The settings are especially bad. You have to close the current window then open another settings window if you want to change your mouse or video settings. At least in UT99 everything was located on a menu bar and clearly labeled.