Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Wishlist => Topic started by: nrshida on September 08, 2017, 08:39:25 AM
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Assuming Steam is going to introduce AH to a broader audience of potential players, is it not appropriate to redesign the initial entrance to AH? Respectfully it's a bit of a mess, a consequence of years-long evolution and not design.
For example, just had a new (likely) American player come to Match play. Opened fore at 2k in the merge, lost a surface in the second merge, augered in and left. I suspect never to be seen again. I imagined the experience from 'his' perspective.
As you log in you're immediately confronted with tabbed optional arenas. Some of those free, some not, some of the free ones password protected and with strange names, not clear which are official and which are player-generated, some of them containing decade's-worth of experience and beknowledged veterans and this not explained anywhere. The explanation videos are excellent but a bit scattered and random.
Would some kind of top-level graphical lobby not be handy. Somewhere you can even make an appointment with a trainer, explain how comms / help channel works, join a plane in flight, do training exercises, find apprenticeships withestablished squads, leave questions, game-specific plane info etc?
It's just a suggestion to start a discussion. Perhaps other forum members have more experience of other games 'entrances'. It's just ours seems not very UX-centred (please don't shoot me, just an observation). Be a shame to lose potential layers the moment they get here.
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:bolt:
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:bolt:
What? I'm genuinely trying to help. Think from the user perspective of new clients, it's all very well for us, we've been here for years. I sometimes think of dot commands when I'm driving...
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I assume you do realize there already is a lobby?
HiTech
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I assume you do realize there already is a lobby?
HiTech
Yup of course, but you don't go there automatically and it doesn't give an overview of the game, action possibilities or any structured navigation. I consider the lobby as already being 'in' the game so-to-speak.
It's just a constructive suggestion for something to enhance the game and it's possibilities. At the risk of PNG, software developers are notoriously bad at user interfaces. Don't shoot the messenger! :eek:
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Would some kind of top-level graphical lobby not be handy. Somewhere you can even make an appointment with a trainer, explain how comms / help channel works, join a plane in flight, do training exercises, find apprenticeships withestablished squads, leave questions, game-specific plane info etc?
I don't disagree with your premise but like most things the devil is in the detail. Start trying to detail out what you ask for and a few problems quickly arise. One the user is still going to have to search the menu tree. Almost all new users want to jump right in so you are left with
A. something more cumbersome then we have now. Or
B you implement a very controlled first time in, no choice teaching aid.
We are working on a complete set of training videos. These guide you threw every step and come up each on a first time thing. We have web sight already tied in for first take off in Plane first take off in vehicle, first take off in gunner and others. We just don't have the content created for each tie in.
HITech
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I don't disagree with your premise but like most things the devil is in the detail. Start trying to detail out what you ask for and a few problems quickly arise. One the user is still going to have to search the menu tree. Almost all new users want to jump right in so you are left with
A. something more cumbersome then we have now. Or
B you implement a very controlled first time in, no choice teaching aid.
We are working on a complete set of training videos. These guide you threw every step and come up each on a first time thing. We have web sight already tied in for first take off in Plane first take off in vehicle, first take off in gunner and others. We just don't have the content created for each tie in.
HITech
How about a mouse over tool tip like you have on the buttons. Then you could list all arenas on a single page. The tooltips could then give short descriptions of the arenas ie...
Free player made custom arena
May or may not be password protected
Free WWI arena.
Free for all action
Melee arena. Subscription based
after 2 week free trial.
Special events arena. Subscription
based after 2 week free trial.
Everything on a single page, easy to find, quick tooltip explain what the arena is about.
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It seems to me a UI element that would work exceedingly well would be a collapsible tree like in Device Manager in Windows. It's become practically standard on many websites. People are used to seeing them.
Free leads to Official and User Created, plus signs beside categories with player totals beside each heading. Subscription leads to everything below that.
Big orange flashing button on the right for CONTACT TRAINER.
Ingame, possibly a picture of the airfield with icons to click to launch that are where you'd start on the runway instead of the spawn buttons. That always struck me as a bit confusing at first. Big orange flashing button for "LAUNCH VEHICLE NOW".
Wiley.
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Think I eluded to this somewhere else...
The boxes used for takeoff direction aren't intuitive. I believe a representation of a runway with aircraft icon pointed in the direction of takeoff direction or something similar would be better.
I think the hangar needs a mouse 360 view of the aircraft (like the 360 camera views available now) with a couple stats like max speed and climb rate. That gives the player the ability to see the whole of the beautiful skins available as well.
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Think I eluded to this somewhere else...
The boxes used for takeoff direction aren't intuitive. I believe a representation of a runway with aircraft icon pointed in the direction of takeoff direction or something similar would be better.
I think the hangar needs a mouse 360 view of the aircraft (like the 360 camera views available now) with a couple stats like max speed and climb rate. That gives the player the ability to see the whole of the beautiful skins available as well.
+1
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What? I'm genuinely trying to help. Think from the user perspective of new clients, it's all very well for us, we've been here for years. I sometimes think of dot commands when I'm driving...
:rofl :rofl :rofl Dude, that's funny. I think of them in my sleep.
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:rofl :rofl :rofl Dude, that's funny. I think of them in my sleep.
:rofl
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I don't disagree with your premise but like most things the devil is in the detail.
Yes I agree. So it's just a creative suggestion to generate some creative possibilities. Of course there would be issues and details and pros and cons. Of course those could all be worked out. There is a time for small details and a time to think 'architecturally'. This is just a top-level proposal. So bear with me here this is a bit of an out-there idea which I am just throwing out as a point of discussion (flameproof underpants on standby). This is what I imagined:-
I had in mind a sort of super lobby where you first go when you log in. I'd base it on some of the museums I've been to like the RAF museum in Hendon. You could walk around with the arrow keys like you do after you've bailed. Areas can be modelled to look like briefing rooms, lounges whatever.
To actually fly you'd go to the tower. There it would become a realistic-looking WWII control tower with entrances to the various arenas, both official and player-initiated. Missions, arenas, which map is rolling where. There could even be drones flying around outside, taking off, landing. There would be a brief explanation here about what's expected, perhaps even some previews. Hopefully stop noobs blundering into Match Play and finding out there there is a steep learning curve only after they get wrecked by a pro - for instance. Perhaps some expected skill-level thing. You'd access this directly by walking from the lobby. The tower would be 'authentic period', a slight travelling back in time theme which would be an appropriate bridge between the modernaty of the game and the period in which it is set.
Also from the lobby there'd be a briefing room with a projector. And a complete library of tutorials, how-tos, ACM videos, aerial gunnery, player-uploaded gameplay films, matchups between differing types of aircraft, wingman techniques, BFM, ACM everything.
Also from the lobby you could access a hanger. This would be like a museum area, so in a modern setting and you could really bling it up. AH aircraft rotating on platforms with moody lighting with plaques showing info, screens showing real footage etc. Perhaps even an updated set of
Here you could select skins, fuel loadouts, ordinance etc. There could be a fighter bay, bomber area, vehicles or sorted by nation. There could be a shortcut straight into the arenas after you've selected and configured. You could, say, select and configure your P-51D, watch a movie or two choose your skin, and then spawn directly onto the runway of the TA. Through the lobby, into the hanger and 'ping' right on the runway. Shizzle.
There could also be an officer's lounge. Here you could potentially communicate with people already playing, see where people are playing or even have a live feed of channel 200, the help channel whatever. Could even have a wall of AH players who have passed if you want to go there - it is a very long-lived game after all. Show that! There could also be a notice board. Here would be requests to join squads and recruiting notices, technical questions perhaps, notifications about forthcoming special events, appointment request for training or duels, leaderboards from the various arenas etc. forthcoming game developments etc.
So the whole thing would be a sort of physical experience. You could explore in a contextual setting and it would all hopefully hang together in some kind of spatially cohesive sense.
I totally agree about those who log in knowing exactly where they want to go or who want to skip this feature. Could have a preference to go to a simple list on a clipboard as we have now as an option. That way both needs are addressed. Thus a short track as well.
There's so much to AH when you think about it, it'd be great to present it all cohesively and with some nice polish. Additionally people would be 'on-line' while they are reading / viewing movies considering aircraft etc. That might help with this minimal critical mass issue of people actually being logged in.
I know it sounds like a lot of work, but perhaps not. Much of what is needed AH already has. Obviously a set of new structures / rooms, but navigating those the game already has. The means of displaying the planes we have already... I'm sure a beta would attract a lot of contribution from the player base.
It's just a fundamentally User eXperience-based approach to showcase the game in all its broad and magnificent content. Might even get people just going into the hangar from Steam, say, just to see what's on offer. Viewing the 3D models, the fantastic player-created skins etc. Has to trump a simple text list or static pictures on a webpage description - for example.
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The means of displaying the planes we have already...
Of course I meant YOU already have. Just shows how invested players can get in AH :rofl
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they already have a film at the beginning that's a lot more than I had when I first started.
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I see alot of UI complaints in the negative steam reviews, I'm assuming because the UI is straight from the 90's. There have been a ton of succesful games throughout the years that could be emulated to create a more intuitive experience for new people. All of us veterans have long since learned where everything is, how it works, where to go, etc. Doesn't mean it wasn't painful. After years of playing people still learn new things about this game, that shouldn't really be happening.
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After years of playing people still learn new things about this game, that shouldn't really be happening.
I disagree with this vehemently.
1.) Learning new things is exciting
2.) if you think you already know everything you are sadly mistaken
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I disagree with this vehemently.
1.) Learning new things is exciting
2.) if you think you already know everything you are sadly mistaken
You shouldn't put a period after a numbered list if you use parenthesis. :D See? You learned something right there. :P
:D
:cheers:
Now as for number two on your list... :old: :old: :old: :old:
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LOL, that was a one eyed smile, see you just learned something .)
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LOL, that was a one eyed smile, see you just learned something .)
Ah ha! Touche'! :neener:
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Ah ha! Touche'! :neener:
Except I was lying :salute
Vraciu is my friend :)
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Except I was lying :salute
Vraciu is my friend :)
I'm grateful for that, friendo! :salute
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Would some kind of top-level graphical lobby not be handy. Somewhere you can even make an appointment with a trainer, explain how comms / help channel works, join a plane in flight, do training exercises, find apprenticeships withestablished squads, leave questions, game-specific plane info etc?
It's just a suggestion to start a discussion. Perhaps other forum members have more experience of other games 'entrances'. It's just ours seems not very UX-centred (please don't shoot me, just an observation). Be a shame to lose potential layers the moment they get here.
I'm late to this discussion, but I think you make a good point, 'Shida. It was my lunch time so I spent a little of it to conceptualize MY (emphasize on "my" since stuff like this can take a lot of planning and thought) interpretation of how your idea might pan out. Here is my demo--btw, this will not integrate into AH in its present format as is; it's just a demo of one possible general approach to 'Shida's proposal. (https://sites.google.com/site/xeneizeormjr/home/ah-iii-ui-concept-very-rough) I'll leave it to HTC to kill the devil in the details if they think it's something they'd want to implement.
FWIW,
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You could almost have very start of game arriving at check point gate entrance to base first and being asked on clipboard where you want to go by gaurd..check your clearance..then when you click location..tower, hanger officers club etc get a little jeep ride through base to location(while loading)
This gives a bit of owner ship to the base, get the lay of the land and the driver can hand out tips..observations and advice..like a caddy would if you will.
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Perhaps seperate arenas into official and player-created under two tabs, with a check box to show only free or show all?
Should nicely sort out the arenas into the four groups that people are likely to be searching for.
Additionally, I think the WoT wiki is a good example of what we should be shooting for. More visual icons, less simple text. Seperate pages out into categories (accepting that there will be some overlap).
And then it's on us as the community to flesh it out.
There's still some planes that need a writeup, and much of the information is somewhat out of date.
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(https://triviahappy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/hospitle-register-FINAL.jpg)
Some decent beginnings of ideas in this thread.
Wiley.
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Awesome that you did that Wraith. Thanks. The reason I suggested a museum-like lobby arrangment is to shorten the transitions between areas. Just walk through a door essentially.
Honestly don't know how feasible the hangar would be. Webpage says 120 aircraft, vehicles, and boats. That's a lot of real estate! Might have to have a vending machine instead :D
Love some of the suggestions that are coming up. Can you mock up a 3D space online somewhere? Something like Sketchup?
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Awesome that you did that Wraith. Thanks. The reason I suggested a museum-like lobby arrangment is to shorten the transitions between areas. Just walk through a door essentially.
Honestly don't know how feasible the hangar would be. Webpage says 120 aircraft, vehicles, and boats. That's a lot of real estate! Might have to have a vending machine instead :D
Love some of the suggestions that are coming up. Can you mock up a 3D space online somewhere? Something like Sketchup?
Was fun, 'Shida; you're welcome :aok.
If anyone wants to tackle a 3D mockup, I don't recommend SketchUp. It's a great tool but it's for static modeling, even if you use its scenes tool to come up with different views of an object. You also won't have the interactivity that you'd want (like mouse hover points, hidden slide panels, etc). Rather, I would recommend something like the Unity 3D game engine (it's free) to mock up a working demo: https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download (https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download). However, it'll take someone with coding skills to create something that is user-navigable, interactive, etc. to develop a demonstration. Not something I have the code skills or time to do.
All that said, I do think that mocking up anything more elaborate than what I managed (which was really simple and very rough) is probably putting the cart before the horse. HT and company haven't indicated that they're entertaining the wish idea, so that mocking up a semi-functional 3D example before that happens isn't worth the squeeze.
I have more than a passing involvement/familiarity with UX, so IMO a good game UI makeover ideally would involve one or more pros with UX/CX, game UI design, information architecture, universal design/user-centered design and usability experience working in tandem with the HTC software team. Given that Steam has or may skew HTC's understanding of their user-base given new users without this community's known preferences, it's a certainty (IMO) that they'd also need to sample the new user base somehow to get a better understanding of what Steam's users look for/want. So they'd need some pre-design/pre-dev user-oriented research into preferences and needs (statitistical studies and maybe even more eloborate stuff). In short, don't get your hopes up, guys :uhoh; to do it right is a big deal and I'm pretty sure that HTC understands that.
Now, if I'm wrong and HT does want to consider this with attention to UX/UCD, I have many UX industry contacts in my LinkedIn network so feel free to PM me and I can put the word out that you want to talk to a UX consultant or add you to my network.
FWIW,