The Idea
---
One of my favorite styles of HUD is the one that doesn't really count as an HUD... you probably know what I'm talking about... the shader based indicator of health or bloodshots/bloodspatter that expands inwards from the edges of the screen, the use of audio cues, and so on.
In elder scrolls games post-daggerfall, there have been countless ways this has been done before by modders since the creation of the Morrowind Graphics Extender in Morrowind's heyday. To name, point to, and explain them all would fill a blank page of paper in 12 point font, and take a very long time (mostly finding them all!).
In the case of a Daggerfall Unity version, such a mod would have 4 important functions:
+The removal of the health/stamina/magicka bars, regardless of what textures are being used for them (DREAM Compatibility would be ideal).
+A desaturation filter and gradual darkening of the screen OR a bloodspatter graphic, becoming more intense and blatant
as the character's health deteriorates further.
+An "Out of breath" or "tired" noise for low stamina, with noises that indicate lighter fatigue initially, to be replaced with more intensely fatigued noises as the percentage of stamina is lower.
+A droning noise and/or dulling of sound as magicka gets lower, becoming more obvious in response to a lower percentage of current magicka. (Ignoring this effect when a disadvantage is the cause, for sanity reasons)
It may also have 2 further functions, if development continues:
+The sound of a heartbeat for vampires and werewolves. Vampires hear this when they need to feed, werewolves hear this when they are due to transform in a short time.
+When looking down (in a wide arc) and crouching, flavor text appears if you are diseased. Something basic with wide range, like "You don't feel so well... You think it's (Insert Disease)"
Configuration:
+Ideally, it would have two modes for visual elements: Pixilated (Fits with classic textures) and High-Rez (Fits with DREAM)
+If there are multiple methods to show a particular state or condition, then it would ideally be configurable in the mod menu.
The goal:
---
Immersion through a playable experience that doesn't rely on an obvious heads up display. Integration with the core graphical style so that it feels modernized, yet not so much that it couldn't have just been a revolutionary idea back when Daggerfall came out under the limitations of the time.
Mod Idea: Immersive, No-GUI condition indication
-
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 8:04 pm
- King of Worms
- Posts: 4753
- Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 11:18 pm
- Location: Scourg Barrow (CZ)
- Contact:
Re: Mod Idea: Immersive, No-GUI condition indication
Yes please, no HUD is a best HUD.
DREAM Nexus https://www.nexusmods.com/users/73250038?tab=user+files
DREAM Forums viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1168
DISCORD: king_of_worms_cz
DREAM Forums viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1168
DISCORD: king_of_worms_cz
-
- Posts: 256
- Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2019 9:27 pm
-
- Posts: 71
- Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2019 12:19 am
Re: Mod Idea: Immersive, No-GUI condition indication
Doubt it is anything more than just toggle on/off. You can check your fatigue, magika, and health on your charecter sheet, though I would think it is tedious. However, it would proboly be possible to play without it using that. Just not with all the extra stuff.
There is also some setting somewhere (helpful, I know) in dfu that makes your screen dim slightly if your hp drops under a certain point.
- pango
- Posts: 3359
- Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:14 pm
- Location: France
- Contact:
Re: Mod Idea: Immersive, No-GUI condition indication
Advanced > Enhancements > Near Death Warninghannafamilycomputer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:58 pm There is also some setting somewhere (helpful, I know) in dfu that makes your screen dim slightly if your hp drops under a certain point.
Mastodon: @pango@fosstodon.org
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
-- Charles Goodhart
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
-- Charles Goodhart
-
- Posts: 256
- Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2019 9:27 pm
-
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 12:01 pm
- Location: Hungary
Re: Mod Idea: Immersive, No-GUI condition indication
Since energy in DF is much more static than in other games* - that is, it takes a while to deplete but you need sleep to refill it whereas in, say, Dark Souls you run out quickly but also replenish it by not exerting yourself for a few seconds - I think it would be a bit immersion-breaking if the character was wheezing constantly.+An "Out of breath" or "tired" noise for low stamina, with noises that indicate lighter fatigue initially, to be replaced with more intensely fatigued noises as the percentage of stamina is lower.
Even if you limit additional sound effects to when you're doing something exerting only (sprinting, wall-climbing or swinging a weapon), it would get old rather fast in my opinion, seeing how tricky finding a safe place to rest can get sometimes.
I'd recommend visual cues like occasional blurring to simulate sleepiness increasing in frequency and intensity the lower your stamina gets, and coloured flashes appearing when you're doing something tiring at very low levels.
*I'm actually not a huge fan of this; I think exerting activities should deplete your stamina more, but a short period of respite should allow you to huff and puff and get back to it, albeit with less max stamina until you rest up properly. There's a thought.
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
- Mark Twain
- Mark Twain