Which of these do you prefer?

Since Health and Energy are the focus of the upper left and will see more changes than any other bars, you don't want tons of other bars surrounding them because it is distracting. Since the hunger bar in option B is rather thin, try putting all three bars in the top-right side instead, since there are only pixel counts and a few menu buttons over there. It might also be worth it to rotate them and place them along the sides of the screen, since the window will be wider than it is tall anyway.

It has been mentioned by others that these bars don't need to be visible at all times, and I agree. Drowning or extreme temperatures could use a numeric count-down above your head that only appears when you are in danger for more than a few seconds. The hunger bar would probably have to work differently because it lowers very gradually compared to the other bars, but could simply appear when you mouse over your own character, your health bar, or something similar.

 

B is... okay? But really the "drowning" bar should be at the top, not on the bottom where nothing is.

 

TIYTIYTIYTIYTIY! AwesomeCakez UI!

 

Honestly, the only things we need to know at all times are health, hunger and energy. If we link the hunger bar to the breathe bar, we'll have an obscured, cluttered and distracting screen that interferes with all of the beauty and danger going in within the game's world. I also think that while option A is a bit fancier, the simpler option is easier on the eyes without being under informative. Having our hunger/temperature bars fade or pop in and out, rather then be on the screen constantly, would also help to alert us since I'm sure I'm not the only one who zones out and stares into the screen intently if I get very involved within a game. I'd really rather not end up freaking out over my healthbar dying off until I realize that my other bars have been sinking down the entire time; so I'd strongly opt for option B, but would prefer a compromise is having it toggable in the options.

Although, seeing as how you've gotten mostly done with the art for them and all, if there was a togglable option that would allow people to use which set up they'd prefer: it would allow for those people who like to constantly shift between indicators and constantly oversee their character's status. That'd make a lovely post-beta release edition if you'd only be picking one for now.

 

I prefer B over A, but i have a Suggestion: Why not place the 2 bars (Oxygen and Light?) below the Foodbar so you have all 5 bars nicely in a row below eachother?

 

Haha..

Yes I thought about this, but there are not enough bars to make that look really good overall. Like the party section on the left would interfere with it's awesome look. It could be made to look awesome of course but that would mean to change it so it fits awesomely together. But still personally I think the overall feeling is a little out of place.

But then again yeah it could be made awesome, just like extend the player window a bit more downwards and stick the hunger bar and oxygen bar in there. But then where would the awesome smiley face go... So I thought a little about that too and thought it felt a little cooler having them all in the top of the screen close together and having a purpose together, it feels more complete that way in my opinion.

I just hope the smiley face stays, I think it's cool lol.

 

Then why not make it flash at dangerous levels?

 

I find the B option clearer and more readable for the players

 

and something like this ?!

 

If I had the option, I'd opt to have "all" the bars under my health-bar like my food bar and such because then they'd all have a universal location for me to look at quickly.

But between the two, I'd have to go with B, rather than having to look at three different locations for information on my status, I only have to consider two locations. But in all cases having the bars on such different locations on the screen throws a little demand in the back of the mind to remember where to look for the right information.

 

I don't like stacking bars, so is A for me.
Anyway I would rather prefer if the breath bar is over the stamina when is active (changing its colour from green to blue when it happens) and the other two bars on top of the screen centered under the hot-keys, with a design similar to option A (I kind of like the smiley that get "worse" with the lowering bars).

Edit: Probably they can't move the breath bar over the stamina since you may need stamina even when you are under water in this case I would do as I already said but with the oxygen bar on top centered under the double food/temperature bar.

As usual sorry for my english

 

I knew we'll get a discussion like this eventually... anyways, in my humble (not really) subjective (really) opinion the B is B-etter.

 

Of the two, I prefer B. However, what would make the most sense for me would be to move the two bars up under the food bar, near health and stamina.

In this way, all the info about status is in one place. There may be a fear of information overload, however both of them should of course disappear any time the bar is full up.

 

So, posting your decisions thread, heh?
May i try also?
http://imgur.com/7KvnBmS
http://imgur.com/PoqXHUr
http://imgur.com/u4Y04Lh



This should make GUI a little bit less cluttered, IMO. Only bar, out of those edited by me, that we really need to keep an eye on, is an air bar(witch should be in the center, in second gif image, messed up a little bit) only when we are in water. Food bar should notify you from time to time, appearing more frequently, the hungrier you get. Heat bar should follow the similar pattern - temperature that is not hazard should show up one time, and then disappear. Temperature that is hazardous should notify more and more frequently until it gets to critical point, and you die(or escape).

 

I voted B. I think the Hunger bar looks great up there. Personally, I would prefer seeing the temperature all the time, just out of curiosity, and not only when I'm in danger. However, I'd rather seeing the breath and temp meters up at the top, just under the action bar. I don't know about anyone else, but if I'm drowning, I don't want to see a bar, I want to see all my options for escaping whatever's keeping me under. Sometimes, even the tiniest GUI in the 'play area' of the screen gets infuriating at some point.

Another idea: Option B, but the Hunger bar (and apple) are moved a little to the right to parallel the Health and Energy bars. To the left of the Apple, place the Sun, and put the temperature bar vertically under it (without the gui 'frame' around it). Maybe, if it's not a huge thing, make it so when the player clicks on the Sun, the bar is minimized, and only shows automatically for a moment when there's a major change in temperature. This way, players who like to see temp changes can keep it, and those who only want it on a 'need to know' basis can minimize at will. The breath meter appears below the action bar, but only when there's risk of drowning.

 

I like this one aswell.
I made similar one too http://www.d7-x.com/dvx/variant_c.png but your example is better because the temperature one is nicer.

 

I'm gonna make a suggestion of my own here. I think it would be good to have the toolbar slide down to reveal the other bars, either on a permanent basis or as needed, maybe even player togglable. Here is a mock up of how I might have it.



I think this uses minimal extra screen space while still keeping the information easily visible.

Please do give feedback, and if enough people like it, maybe they'll use it.

 

I like the one up in De7ilx's post.

I'd like all my bars in one place, since I can imagine myself loosing track of my hunger/whatever if it's at the bottom of the screen away from the rest of the GUI.
I'm sure I'd be fine regardless and I bet there will be plenty of GUI changing mods out fairly quickly after release to cater to a variety of preferences.

 

I'm so glad I didn't go with making a mockup of my prefered option after seeing all this detailed editing people have done. A dodgy Paint-drawn scribble would've been a bit out of place.

 

Or... You can hide that starving meter and give character's stomach some rumbling sound when it's at low level