Update Health and Energy UI Notifications

Discussion in 'Mechanics' started by Wetling, Oct 23, 2017.

  1. Wetling

    Wetling Void-Bound Voyager

    I feel as though the status of the player's energy and health could be better conveyed. While checking the bars in the corner of the screen is fine, it does mean the player has to look away from combat for a moment, which is sub-optimal. Considering a goal of these two user interface elements is to provide the player with information during combat, they should be able to do so without directly interfering with it.

    The hunger bar does this excellently, by beeping when you need to eat. It's just disappointing that the only bar that does this is the one that isn't directly relevant to combat, which requires more attention from the player.

    My problem with the energy bar is that the sound effect for your energy recharging only plays when you've completely depleted your energy, meaning half the time it is recharging, you won't know it without looking at the screen or memorizing the timing. The sound for energy refilling should play every time the energy bar fills completely and the sound for energy depleting should remain playing whenever the player's energy is completely depleted.

    Health strikes me as less of an issue, but if the player received some notification over their head either displaying a health bar or maybe a little heart icon when health was low, it would allow the player to instantly understand their situation without having to look away from incoming threats. The last time a player would want to look away from something that could kill them is when they only have a sliver of health left.
     
  2. Lintton

    Lintton Guest

    I totally agree with some sort of notification with health. Energy resolves itself quickly enough so that no audio notification is needed. A visual one? sure.
     

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