Spiral Knights - First Impressions of the New Graphics after 40 days off

First Impressions of the New Graphics after 40 days off

6 replies [Last post]

Wed, 05/15/2013 - 16:30

Mayaura

I took a nice break from the game shortly before they instituted the new user interface, so I'd like to post my impressions of everything.

Although the new layout takes some getting used to, there are a lot of positives.

1) I luv the new concussion graphics when you hit an enemy

2) great fire ball graphic on heat gained

3) we finally got the enemy health meter - yay

4) like the new vials looks

5) like the new group poses after missions

6) the health bar is better (more accurate, with %)

7) a nice new shield strength bar, thank you

A few negatives.

1) With three lines of white fonts displaying rank, name and guild, it's just tuff to see who players are. Perhaps you could make each line a different colored font?

2) I always liked knowing how many crowns and energy I had visible on the screen. Now i have t pull up that info, oh well.

3) There is a lot less being sold in the Auction House. Have players been quitting?

But here's the killer - I'm lagging and screen freezing, and loading-but-not-loading just like the bad ole days before the new servers were added.
It sure makes the game a lot less fun. Perhaps it's finally time to get that server in Asia.

The great art and graphics are a strong attraction point for this game, but if it means more lag and waiting time, well, then it's not really worth it.

Wed, 05/15/2013 - 16:33

Neodasus

Then you will absolutely love

Then you will absolutely love the changes made earlier in the test server ;)

You graphics-hound you--get hyped!

Wed, 05/15/2013 - 17:42

Johnthegreenguy

To anyone who thinks that the new health bar is better...

You're missing a couple things. You probably haven't even realized them yet. I know it took me a while.

1) Once you're into silver health, you can't even see your own max health. Sure, you get a percentage, but nothing that tells you how many pips you need to top off.

2) You can't see the exact health of allies, either. They don't have enough health to revive you? You can't tell! You get an inexact red bar. Lockdown about to start and you wanna check out your teammates? Good luck telling the difference between a 5-pip noob and a 40-pip pro. They both get the exact same 1-inch red bar.

(Also I don't like that they took away the "Waiting at Lift" message, and I really don't need my shield meter blinking at me and distracting me if I use my shield a lot, but this post was supposed to be about the health bar.)

Wed, 05/15/2013 - 18:53

Klipik

Some things

Concussion graphics - screen shake is disorienting. :/

Heat - yay.

Enemy HP - yay.

Vials look - opinion. I personally dislike them. Same with poses.

Health bar - more accurate, but harder to count and/or read at a glance. Plus it's in a harder-to-see position on high resolutions, and obstructive on low ones.

Shield bar - it's a little bit bland in contrast with the new beveled, shiny look.

You can turn off ranks in the options somewhere, but seeing personal colors outside of armor highlights and prestige icons (which not everyone has anyway) would be nice.

Yes, I think people have been quitting. Mostly old players who have been around for a while and didn't like the recent changes.

Some other things you're missing:

-You can't see what weapons are cursed without switching them.

-You can't see what weapon is selected anywhere on the UI, only in your hand. Trust me, this is a problem when you're using a plate shield.

Thu, 05/16/2013 - 08:22

Yvanblo

Three things

I have only three major gripes about the new UI;

1. I can't see my crowns and CE at all times. Not a fan of this "feature"

2. The health bar is in a terrible spot. I use a widescreen 24" monitor (not huge, but big enough), and half the time when in heavy combat, a look at the health bar will get me killed. Why would it get me killed? Because I have to completely refocus my eyes nearly a foot from where my knight is.

3. The vials are hard to recognize at a glance. Some of them are easy, stun is yellow, health vials are red and white and remedy pills are blue and white. However, the others are tough, especially the sleep pills (which are useless, by the way. Why would I want to allow the enemy to heal?). Fire and curse can look similar as well.

Otherwise, I have no major gripes with the new UI.

Oh, my mouse jumps to the far upper left when another night is killed, or revived... not good when my cursor is instantly pointed to the upper left when I'm about to release my charge on a group of zombies!

Thu, 05/16/2013 - 10:59

Asthix

Also

Also, the enemy icons on the minimap are really the enemy health bars. So if you don't like the health bars, you're minimap is useless.

Thu, 05/16/2013 - 15:54

Rich-Tbiscuit

/wave

@Mawa

I think some people may have been rage-quitting and things after the UI update, but I also think this time of year is quite slow in general as for a lot of people this is exam season. I'd imagine things will pick up again over the next month or so as people have more free time.

Yeah, I've noticed a bit more lag and things too, mainly in Lockdown and for loading screens in general. I'm thinking these might just be kinks in the UI overhaul that might be ironed out in the future.

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First Impressions of the New Graphics after 40 days off