Critique: UI and Clarity

Thoughts on the further development of Haven & Hearth? Feel free to opine!

Critique: UI and Clarity

Postby Nektaris » Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:09 am

I'm a new player coming from Salem who started playing two days ago and I want to share how the game is seen from the eyes of a first timer.
First thing I want to say is that I verified my account and paid for 1 month of subscription thus don't take my opinion as an opportunity to shit on the game.

These are my concerns after playing for two days:

- UI too small
I don't know how many times I had to get closer to the monitor to actually understand what was there. I couldn't find an option to scale the UI. Need a resize option.

- Confusing menu icons (Adventure, Build, etc)
After two days of playing I still don't know what are the images on these icons. Partly because the UI is small. Need more simple and intuitive icons with good color contrast.

- Non-interactive objects.
This may seem less obvious but for a first timer there's no way of knowing if you can interact with an object (tree, boulder, etc) until you right-click on it. Need some kind of visual clue when mousing over an object.

- Object names
This is related to the previous point. There are so many type of trees, boulders, herbs and whatnot that memorizing them all is impossible if you've not been playing for a long time! It's even more difficult for non-English natives! Need a small string when mousing over an object.

- Actions time
I was chopping a tree and I think the hourglass is really cool along with the percentage. Wouldn't it be nicer if there was also the option to switch to a small completition bar indicating seconds?

- Crafting preview
Knowing what the final quality of the product will be before crafting it allowing switching between different materials for the best quality.

- Testing dummy
Combat is not intuitive for a beginner. Need to practice with a dummy instead of getting KOed by ants.

- Tooltips on stats
"What does Strength do? And Psyche? What about Will?" are the questions I often asked myself and had to check the wiki for the answers just to forget what they do half an hour later. Need tooltips with short description on stats and abilities.

- Tutorials for core game mechanics
I didn't know how to heal my health or how FEP/LP work until I checked the wiki. Knowledge of core game mechanics should be covered by in-game tutorials.

- Client optimization.
I know it's in the works. Hoping for the best.

Overall, this games needs more clarity. First impression is important!
That's all for now. I'm adding feedback as I play!
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Re: Critique: UI and Clarity

Postby sMartins » Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:22 am

You are basically asking for polishing and I agree that this game at this point requires it badly ... contents are a lot, maybe we have to wait haven 3 for that? Who knows? We'll see.
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Re: Critique: UI and Clarity

Postby Infinity-Production » Wed Dec 27, 2017 6:23 pm

Nektaris wrote:I'm a new player coming from Salem who started playing two days ago and I want to share how the game is seen from the eyes of a first timer.
First thing I want to say is that I verified my account and paid for 1 month of subscription thus don't take my opinion as an opportunity to shit on the game.

These are my concerns after playing for two days:

(too short for learning this game, just saying.)
- UI too small
I don't know how many times I had to get closer to the monitor to actually understand what was there. I couldn't find an option to scale the UI. Need a resize option.

Get a bigger screen? I can see everything perfectly clear and the size is perfect, but that is my opinion)
- Confusing menu icons (Adventure, Build, etc)
After two days of playing I still don't know what are the images on these icons. Partly because the UI is small. Need more simple and intuitive icons with good color contrast.

You will learn, there is also a search option LShift+S to find any item you can currently craft

- Non-interactive objects.
This may seem less obvious but for a first timer there's no way of knowing if you can interact with an object (tree, boulder, etc) until you right-click on it. Need some kind of visual clue when mousing over an object.
- Object names

If you have Amber client you can hold [shift] and you can see the name of boulders, trees etc)
This is related to the previous point. There are so many type of trees, boulders, herbs and whatnot that memorizing them all is impossible if you've not been playing for a long time! It's even more difficult for non-English natives! Need a small string when mousing over an object.

(Personally this would be really annoying, so an option to turn that off would be needed, because your farms, house, etc would be too much, or atleast an option to choose what to show and what not too.)
- Actions time
I was chopping a tree and I think the hourglass is really cool along with the percentage. Wouldn't it be nicer if there was also the option to switch to a small completition bar indicating seconds?

(more options is always nice)
- Crafting preview
Knowing what the final quality of the product will be before crafting it allowing switching between different materials for the best quality.

Why not?
- Testing dummy
Combat is not intuitive for a beginner. Need to practice with a dummy instead of getting KOed by ants.

(so true, would love to fight manikins)
- Tooltips on stats
"What does Strength do? And Psyche? What about Will?" are the questions I often asked myself and had to check the wiki for the answers just to forget what they do half an hour later. Need tooltips with short description on stats and abilities.

Im quite sure you can get linked to the wiki with almost everything in your inventory by pressing CTRL+LShift+LMouseClick. I think it should do the same with your stats, skills, and abilitys.

- Tutorials for core game mechanics
I didn't know how to heal my health or how FEP/LP work until I checked the wiki. Knowledge of core game mechanics should be covered by in-game tutorials.

Dunno, make some guides on youtube
- Client optimization.
I know it's in the works. Hoping for the best.

How to change your client, Full guide!!
1. Download new client folder
2. Place everything from the downloaded folder in your haven hearth folder and replace everything.
3. Start haven and hearth and enjoy
Overall, this games needs more clarity. First impression is important!
That's all for now. I'm adding feedback as I play!

The game is mostly known to have a really steep learning curve, there is enjoyment in learning and discover new things, there is also too much in the game to teach out in tutorials. You discover things, you check them on the wiki, you make them to try them out, you discover more things, this is the beauty of this game. Again just my opinion.
Last edited by Infinity-Production on Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Critique: UI and Clarity

Postby Forest » Wed Dec 27, 2017 6:53 pm

+1 ui is too small
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