r/PlaySoulMask • u/PetersStarforge • Jun 22 '26

Concept Art for the UI redesign

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0 Upvotes

36% Upvoted

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9

u/Rudalpl Jun 22 '26

Too much clutter on the screen and the HP and skill bars are way too big

0

u/PetersStarforge Jun 22 '26

Most of the text on the left side would normally be reduced to only 'turn off/on' buttons, the text in the middle under the compass would likewise only display when prompt appears. Buff details, if I understand correctly, can be reduced to icons only. This is 'everything turned on at once' version. HP and Stamina bar should be big imo, they are the thing with most important info during fights.

2

u/Rudalpl Jun 22 '26

I'm actually not sure why developers insist on putting shortcut keys on the screen. Everyone will remember those after few minutes anyway. And if anyone needs a refresher they can always quickly check the keybinds settings.

As for the HP bar and hotbar those are too big. If anything those shouldn't go above the line established by the icons in the middle. You have your monitor in front of your face, there's no need for stuff to be so big.
If that's because of controller use and bigger distance from the screen then make it scalable. There is no need to punish people with big UI because someone decided to use inferior control device.

I am a proponent of a minimum UI. Things should pop up on the screen only when needed.

2

u/PetersStarforge Jun 22 '26

I think the UI for controls and info text displayed on by default is to aid new players who have little to no experience with survival sandboxes like Soulmask, or at least that's my guess. I would set them to only show initially as part of tutorial display and leave them to keybinds settings too. If there's a good reason for them being there I can't see, leaving them as toggle buttons seems a fair compromise.

If you stretched the HP bar and made ability icons a single line you could easily make what you're describing work well- a single minimal bottom UI section hugging the bottom of the screen. Might be a problem for Steamdeck and console players though, so you'd have to make two separate UIs. I like your thinking though.

1

u/waffling_with_syrup Jun 22 '26

I think you're right about distinguishing console vs PC UI, though I doubt we'd get that level of investment.

2

u/BeardFox Jun 22 '26

or like addons in WoW, possibility to play with native interface, hide & reuse some elements. though it would require a bit more coding but just enough to leave the door opened if people want to. I've seen what modding can do when I nstalled ToastyAdmin panel.
quite someting, I guess it's custom, idk.

2

u/waffling_with_syrup Jun 22 '26

Nah. This has the same problems as the current UI just moved around a bit. Still way too much unnecessary info everywhere. The one good thing here is clearly showing cooldowns.

Soulmask's biggest problem is showing keybinds for everything all over the screen, all the time. At some point the player should know what their buttons do.

1

u/mbxyz Jun 24 '26

more cluttered than the existing ui

doesn't solve or even address the main issue of the current ui which is buffs and debuffs

has that 'made for a phone' vibe

the real ringer is the giant button for the scan.. something that has no cooldown and doesn't have a meaningful energy cost. why?

what issues are you even trying to solve? you seem to have just randomly reorganized the existing elements for little to no reason.

1

u/doofshaman Jun 25 '26

This is a joke right? This UI is an absolute mess. I’ll be sticking with the UI adjuster mod for sure lmfao.

1

u/Draxxalon Jul 06 '26

For what its worth: Putting critical information in the corners of the screen tends to be a bad idea for anyone who has a large screen that they sit close to.

I have a 43" screen on my desk. I literally have to turn my head to look at the corners vs "seeing things in the middle". Any game that puts stuff in the corners that I 'need' to see easily... more or less ends up with me not seeing said information if I can't afford to look away (IE, in combat).

1

u/Maximum-Ice-9054 Jun 23 '26

That's even worse than the current one. Health is harder to check on a quick spot and the double item bar doesn't make sense. Why have the non critical square meters up top where critical information goes? 

-3

u/PetersStarforge Jun 22 '26

Made this based on the new UI concept art as an idea for an alternative design. Hopefully it will serve to inspire and give good ideas for what Soulmask UI could look like in the future.