Thread 724652313

How come every game in the last decade has the exact same minimalist black/white/grey UI? Remember when games had cool custom UI graphics that fit the feel of the game? It's like they're using the default UI graphics that come with the engine tools.

ok so what's a UI with "soul"?

In older games such as picrel (Oblivion) the UI design was relevant to the games theme (medieval/fantasy game).

What happened?

>>724652313 (OP)
I've played hundreds of shovelware games and that's no "default ui graphics". You've seen absolutely nothing at all. You're like some little baby that has no idea what kind of beasts exists in the world.

>>724652492
I've been gaming since 1996 buddy, so I'm qualified to know what I'm talking about.

>>724652450
KC:D
Diablo 2
Fallout 3d games (pip boy)
Dead Space

>>724652450
>what's a UI with "soul"?

>>724652313 (OP)
even the level itself looks like typical copypasted assetflip prefab quixel megascans slop

>>724652552
You absolutely know nothing if you somehow think that ui in the picture is default ui graphics that come with the engine tools.

>>724652552
playing games doesn't make you qualified son

>>724652662
Not whatever that is

>>724652450
Kingdom Hearts 2 had different animated command menus for each individual world. sometimes multiple for the same world like with olympus/underworld.

>>724652703
Except I don't think that. I said it looks as if that is the case, which is not a statement of fact but my opinion, which can be wrong. Either way, to my eyes it looks very low effort and basic. I understand that is the appeal of minimalism, but I reject the concept wholeheartedly.

They started applying design guidelines for mobile apps to video games

>>724652476
idk what that UI is but in the original oblivion your character sheet had a clipboard border because it was meant to convey a tabletop rpg idea

>>724652662
No that's the anti soul gas of ui

>>724652450
Some old PC games OP has never played because he's an underage third worlder who doesn't play games.

>>724653178
It's not a tabletop RPG retard it's supposed to be an in-game sheaf of parchment

>>724653173
i still remember reading some article about Skyrim's UI design and how the designer took direct inspiration from iTunes' cover flow concept and that's why it looks so bloated with huge item models and gated behind submenus

>>724653320
a sheet of parchment
with your stats on it
like a tabletop rpg

>>724652476
Oblivion's UI is notoriously bad without Darnified UI. You should have posted The Witcher or something.

>>724652313 (OP)
it's shrimple really

>>724652450
>gems in the corner light up when elemental protection spells are active
>gem in center tells you direction
>swords fill up with buff spell icons
>gargoyle on top moves jaw when danger is around
>left gargoyle flaps wings when levitation spell is active
>right gargoyle scratches screen to indicate breakable walls
>faces on both sides move and give you advice with yes/no questions when you have
Clairvoyance active

I don't want a user interface. I want a gamer interface.

>>724653324
Skyrim's UI was designed for consoles and even then it was terrible. It looks like it was developed in a couple hours for testing purposes and was never touched again.

The SkyUI mod made it bearable, and put the developers to absolute shame. In fact Bethesda should have paid the SkyUI developer a bit of cash and implemented the mod into the vanilla version.

Default Skyrim UI is what this thread is all about. Absolute slop low-effort garbage.

>>724653764
>nice grafix
>shit game
modern games really nailing that contrast

>>724653794
based

>>724653764
Well they could just put yellow paint on the 3rd example UI to fix it!

>>724654096
SkyUI looks bad as well, soulless font, simple black and white icons, no textures or art anywhere

>>724654096
>It looks like it was developed in a couple hours for testing purposes and was never touched again.

>>724654245
this
clutter the screen with useless shit

>>724654260
But you can read this on a CRT TV unlike any modern trash

>>724652313 (OP)
this started happening right around the same time as colleges started to offer game design courses.

>>724654260
I can't think of a single castlevania game with a noteworthy UI, they're all serviceable at best.

>>724652450
Every Bioshock, even Infinite

>>724652450
i cant think of an example personally but as a designer i imagine a soulful UI is one that understands and expresses the experience the game wants to give. while also following usability best practices. i havent spent the time doing research on it yet but i think a solid ui should be flavourful, and have a feeling of weight. the physical 3d elements of hearthstone are a good example.

>>724654704
i do like how this captures the art deco style neatly

>>724652313 (OP)
say what you will about death stranding but it's basically "soulful UI the game." the look and feel is unmatched

>>724653764
Just because the UI is simple doesn't mean it has to be soulless.

>noone posted goat
ISCBYGDDT

>>724652662
Forced soul

>>724654260
Why is navy blue such a common menu colour for old games?

>>724652662
way too cluttered

>>724654990
Few are as soulless as that piece of shit

>>724652313 (OP)
i knew i wasn't the only one that dislike the UI in the game. it feels like a Google website

>>724655224
readibilty

>>724652450
whatever they played as a child

>>724653037
The themed command menus in KH2 and 3 are wonderful. I even wish there was a mod or something to put them into KH1.

>>724652552
>I've been gaming since 1996 buddy
No one knows less about game dev than gamers, so what's your point?

I have a confession to make
I was also a sucker for the sleek striaght designs back then
And vastly preferred sans serifs fonts
I was comlletely helvetica pilled

Im sorry bros i didnt know how good we had it

>>724656517
My dad works at nintendo, buddy. Sit your ass down when grownups are talking.

>>724652450
I liked PSO's HUD. For a no pausing type of game it was nice that bringing up the menus pushed your game screen to the top right rather than overlaying it with semi transparent windows.

>>724652450
horrendous to use but awesome to look at

>>724656517
>gamers
What you think is "gamers" are hobbyist zoomers that casually play gacha-level games 1 hour a week and call themselves gamers for that

>>724652313 (OP)
Everything is always better before the formula has been figured out.

>>724652450
Since no retard in this thread or board can define it or give concrete examples ill give you one

Basically the antithesis of corporate flatshit design, UI that has depth and expresses more than just information.
"Soulless" UI is purely quantitative with nothing qualitative
Arc Raiders UI looks like something that could be made in excel spreadsheets

>>724657637
>boring ass text on background
>BUT RED
This is the death of sovl

>>724654245
so basically the vanilla ui, but more readable and easier to use

>>724652313 (OP)
Every nintendo game since the Switch 1. Absolutely tragic how playful they used to be, and now they are just copy-pasted and look like google/youtube/apple mobile website minimalist cancer + fonts.
Absolutely disgusting.

Realistic, boring visuals make for boring UI.
The only devs that still put effort into their UI are also making stylized visuals in game.

>>724658195
10 million budget games sold for 80 and 90 dollars

>>724658258
Plus DLC now, too. It was unthinkable for series like Pokemon to have their mainline games be shipped out with large swathes of cut content from previous games, and then repackaged (but still missing shit) months later for an additional 30-40 dollars.

>>724653173
Apple and Iphones truly ruined electronics forever

People don't talk about it enough but variable resolutions and aspect ratios is mainly why UIs are boring now.
You could design anything when you only had to worry about 640x480. But now your fonts and graphics need to scale to fit any UI.
It's why Persona 5 is hard locked to 16:9, 1080p.

>>724658447
literally skill issue

visibility comments are bullshit

same for Windows really. coloured icons were MUCH more readable, visible and recognizable. Monochrome UIs ar emuch less readable.

i guess it costs them less 0.0001% budget, and makes the game 10% worse, which is a good trade for the director who is goign to steal these extra thousand dollars somehow

I ont see any other possibility than corruption

>>724658447
>make a version for the most common resolution ratio's highest common resolution, 4k
>have the rest downscale dynamically
problem solved, waow that was hard!
back in the day they made a certain version and everyone who had higher could go fuck themselves, which is why 90% of old games have some modern resolution patch

>>724658447
Agree with the other anon, literally just a skill issue and a copout. Several other games have already had self-scaling or user-changeable UI.
Gay minimalist faggotry is just because the people working in games now are all creative voids dying from AIDS.

The new digimon game was pretty notable.

>>724658845
Notable as being boring as fuck
Shit looks like it's ripped out of Palworld

>>724658809
Try scaling up fully animated backgrounds like Persona 5 does.
Literally wouldn't work in ultrawide.

>>724652313 (OP)
>How come every game in the last decade has the exact same minimalist black/white/grey UI? Remember when games had cool custom UI graphics that fit the feel of the game? It's like they're using the default UI graphics that come with the engine tools.
Most UI is thrown together at the last minute or could potentially be thrown out at the last minute.
You can't make an intricate UI if you have to operate under the assumption that you might need to include stats and icons for "+6% chance to hiphop when wet", because RPG elements are currently trending or the local consultant wants to feel useful by telling you to scrap your work.
For the most part they are literally just customizing a basic example, template or tutorial, because there isn't time for anything else and they're already sleeping under their desks.
>>724653764
Modern UI doesn't even manage to be simple and readable, and more complex graphics can still be highly readable when approached correctly.
>>724654990
Character render in a void with equipment and lists is archetypal soulless design.

>>724652313 (OP)
publishers have come up with a wonderful system where developers all are trained on UE5 then farmed around to different studios, so they can be hired for minimum wage then simply shuffled out to start over again at a new place.
no messy specialized skills, no pretence of being a 'creative', no climbing the corporate ladder and getting above thoughts your station.
if that was you career path why would you strive to do any better? just get the job done like a typical passionless wagie, project gets finished, you get fired and move on to the next studio to do it all again.

>>724659026
>try
That's the issue, AIDS addled faggots can't do that. There's far more technically impressive stuff in gaming over the years than making UIs that work at any resolution, retardbro. You don't have to keep dicksucking devs that don't put in any effort, you know?

>>724652450
a game without it.
as in, the ui is seamlessly weaved into the game.
fallout's pipboy comes to mind.

that remastered horror game, where your blue spine glow is your health or something

the moment you see bars or numbers on top of the gameworld, developers lost.

Is BF3 soul or anti-soul?

>>724659749
pioneers in antisoul
https://youtu.be/nC7EHaJZtMQ

>>724659191
Damn what game is that, looks gay as shit (endearing)

>>724652313 (OP)
I always prefer minimal UI but this common "minimalist UI" design is always soulless. It's possible to inject some flavor without taking up the screen.

>>724652450
the moon is your health bar that is waning more and more with each hit

>>724652313 (OP)
it scales well across multiple resolutions and devices
it's "familiar" for retards to feel comfortable with

I just prefer minimal UI with slight decorations instead of this transparency rectangle crap that lags behind the camera movement, is that so hard to ask?

>>724657956
and just as soulless

>>724652662
>the actual relevant information, the HP/SP indicators, is the smallest part of the whole hud
>English & Japanese on the action wheel
>More button helpers in the lower left
The fuck.

>>724652662
this is made for retards like that one gif showing the retard the colored lights

>>724652313 (OP)
>ITT: UHH CLUTTERED MESS AND JANK IS SOUL ACTUALLY

>>724653407
this nigga playin tabletop RPGs on a "shieeet of parchment" lulao

>>724657637
>permanent PRESS X TO SELECT MOVE THE STICK TO SCROLL reminder
anti soul

>>724660745
>HP/SP small
That HUD is always where it is the whole time, is something you can keep track of without HUD if you are familiar with your character's stats. You look at it once or twice a turn. The most important piece of HUD on the screen are your choices, which will actually decide your fight.
>Language
Stylistic choice, Japanese can like English words and the subtitled text is an actual description of the option.
>button prompts bottomleft
Refers to controls for targeting, navigation, and autobattle.

I haven't even watched a Persona 5 playthrough, I don't give a single fuck about the series, the hud is straightforward. Games like Library of Ruina are much more obtuse looking.

>>724652450
It should carry the essence of the game it shouldn't feel like you could pick it up and plop it into somewhere else and it looks fine

>>724653640
witcher 1 has every piece of the ui don in a different style

>>724657243
Damn that's a great way to do it

I don't even need to a skeumorphic or totally unique interface, I just want something with a goddamn opinion.

>>724657956
you can mod it

>>724655224
Common DOS environment theme

>>724661520
>Stylistic choice
It's visual clutter. The HUD should never take up that much of the visual 3d space. Either lessen it some, or give it a dedicated HUD area rather than floating on top.

>>724652450
>ok so what's a UI with "soul"?

>>724661908
Populous is that? Don't recall one that wasn't specifically 45 degree angles.

>>724652313 (OP)
UI almost never sells the game which means resources are allocated away from it. And with the proliferation of web interfaces/standardization, there's an easy "good enough" interface to default to if you just want to ship something functional.

Might try to go for the record.
https://userinyerface.com/game.html

>>724652450
Pretty much every game up until about 2008

>>724654096
This UI was the ground zero of soulless UI adaptations. Graphics designers looked at this and coomed their pants at its minimalistic approach. Every UI became like this after Skyrim got released

>>724659742
This, everything you'd need to know pretty much indicated through weapons and items in Metro when you play Ranger mode is also a good one

>>724662716
>it's one of those faggot sites
hard pass

>>724654245
The point of SkyUI was to not change the vanilla design, but instead make it not so cluttered and fucking useless. Plus it would end up becoming the framework for many UI mods to come. Think less about how it looks inherently, and more about it being yet another necessity to unfucking Bethesda's choices.

>>724652313 (OP)
You're playing shovelware made for normies at bulk.
What are you gonna do next, go to mickey d's and complain the slop they feed to the wagies there doesn't have enough protein and is borderline toxic waste?
Sorry, OP, but are you by any chance retarded?

>>724662376
I said the two-different languages was stylistic choice because the Japanese can understand both you goalpost moving retard. Or are you someone else entirely that can't read a conversation? Should I even care since the average /v/irgin has the attention span of a squirrel?
And no, the HUD shouldn't be anything. Convention and optimization in pursuit of total convenience have destroyed soul in every part of video games. From discovery in open world games to trade in MMOs, convenience is the fun-killer. Let the HUD be garish and gaudy. It doesn't actually stop you from reading the information. And it's Persona, a franchise that lives off presentation. The people that buy it legit would not buy it if it didn't look like this.

>>724663406
>I said the two-different languages was stylistic choice because the Japanese can understand both you goalpost moving retard.
Meanwhile, you never see a game made in Canada putting English & French onscreen at the same time as a 'stylistic choice'.

>>724660924
Nice bait, might get someone in the next hour or so

>>724662453
It's Powermonger

>>724658709
Directors aren't high up enough to steal money, HR and accounting would catch them.

>>724652313 (OP)
I remember the threads about that one UI guy being depressed. I don't understand why they go with the dog shit UI but they clearely seem to think it's what people want.

>>724654225
Don't even joke about that anon!

>>724663493
Clair Obscur Expedition 33 probably does do exactly what you just said, but a game in Canada could never get away with it because Canada is a sauceless spineless nation that has no cultural influence on anyone else in the world in the slightest beyond Trailer Park Boys, Shoresy, and South Park jokes of being America's Hat. They could, like anybody possibly could, but nobody in Canada would want to be so bold as to stop demeaning themselves to actually make something cool from their own actual experiences and tastes.

>>724656295
This except it's unironically justified and they are right

>>724660924
I am on the toilet and shitting and I will not write a 2000 words post but the short of it is that "there is some ugly-ness to artistic things" and artistic, beautiful and creative art or design often has personality because it has some element of ugly ness or some chaotic organisation system that only makes sence within the confine of the art piece. I can write a shit ton of words, but in essence if you want to express artistic expression you will have some element of jank in it.
Modern games of course do not need to care about artistic expression as they are made by transsexuals that treat it as a 9 to 5 job and they know that once the game comes out no-one will buy it and they will be fired on launch day anyway.

>>724663554
Guess I got something new to play tonight, cheers.

>>724652450
everything not made by retard who graduated fake school about game design or whatever (yes the same people who will lose their job to AI)

>>724653764
>people paid money to learn this shit
>people take this shit seriously

me thinketh a good ui is one that matches the mood of the game
idk anything about games tho me caveman

>>724653178
no it's just medieval paper retard

>>724652450
megasoul

>>724652662
Nah this DOES have soul. People just don't like persona.

>>724652450
Nothing beats "The UI is the helmet HUD" in terms of peak soul, EVER>

>>724658447
cope, old games ran at 4:3, 5:4 and 16:9

>>724659035
I wish this game weren't roguelike.
Why must every game I find fun and appealing must be a roguelike?

>>724652313 (OP)
blame wokies, they infested everything and they always have rules and mandates and shit so now you have made up shit like ux/ui design at college and everyone is taught the soulles way of doing shit, then in dev companies you have some diversity hire woman telling everyone to adhere to the rules or else

>>724665873
There's alot of roguelikes because
>Don't need to design levels, don't need to balance progression, can crutch on RNG and runs for gameplay loop.

>>724652313 (OP)
When video game journalists started taking themselves to seriously and started proclaiming video games to be art in an attempt to show their parent that the money they spent on college wasn't a waste, designers started doing the same thing. Modern western design reeks of fear of self-expression, as if they're all afraid some guy in a turtle neck sweater will laugh at them on twitter if they dare to do anything less sterile than the needles used in the aids treatment of the average Apple designer.

I miss when racism games used custom tachos specific to each car
it wasn't in every game for understandable reasons but I can't even remember the last big-budget game that had it, maybe TDU2 way back in 2011?

>>724666294
You'd think it'd be easier nowadays since they generally fully model the interior cab which they could just project a camera from to overlay.

>>724653173
>>724658417
crazy because apple ui used to be deep into skeuomorphism which is what i feel a lot of UI designs people call "soul" boils down to: making it look like a real and interesting thing, not just a generic menu

>>724665748
Holy shit I now vividly remember how Star Wars Republic Commando had the helmet HUD thing going and specifically had a laser-wiper for rain and blood covering the visor
Peak sovl, wish I had a clip of it on hand

>>724668450
I completely forgot about this game.

>>724665568
Correct.
Hell, I don’t care for the series and it’s clear to see there’s far more effort put into that than 95% of games since.

>>724663524
Honestly it’s surprising to me that more games don’t go for the "things in a box/case/container" look for your inventory, even if it’s not supposed to be a limited inventory.
It’s cool as hell.

>>724670358
Ultima 7 gave you a literal bag that you had to click and drag shit out of to get to the thing underneath that you wanted.