A discussion on MMORPG – what works – what doesn’t work – and suggestions for better. An overview discussion of the UI and setting player preferences.
Getting Comfortable
So we’ve made it into the game, had a look around and like what we see. Now it’s time to make ourselves comfortable. When entering a new game for the first time it is always a good idea to check out the user interface or UI to fine tune the appearance and choices within the game. There is a big difference between games. In some games like Shaiya and War of the Immortals your choices are quite limited. While at the other extreme would be Aion where almost everything in there is editable.
Settings
Graphics
A big part of the game is, of course, the graphics. You will find all the tweaks you can make to the game in the settings screen. These options allow you to customize the game to fit the capability of your computer. Some games give you more options to tweak then others. If we take Aion as an example, they allow you to select the ‘engine’. Aion can run on 2 graphics engines, ‘the old one’ and ‘the new one’. They are both the CryEngine. Within the selection of the engine you have all kinds of options that go with the engine version. This allows for a wide range of settings to fine tune the balance and the ‘pretty stuff’. When we look at other MMO RPGs like Shaiya, Rappelz and Atlantica, we see way less control over all these settings. They offer you about 5 different slide bars that don’t even seem to do a whole lot. And due to the engine they use, changing these settings, hardly even affects your PCs performance. The perfect game would scale from an old computer to a top of the line one without too many compromises. This might be realized by utilizing 2 versions of the same engine like Aion does.
Interaction
Interaction is a big part in the MMO RPGs but doesn’t directly affect the interface itself. However, in this section you will often find options to change settings like: ‘show other players names’ and ‘show mob names’. Other options you would like to find in this section puts individual blockades on actions. This should contain blocks on these request types:
- Trade
- Party
- Duel
- Guild
- View equipment
Keymapping
The amount keymapping control within the games varies drastically from basically none ( as found in DragonNest and Atlantica) to the sky is the limit. Rappelz keymapping choices are reasonable but there are a lot of keys/functions you cannot remap. However, the list of re-mappable keys in Aion is massive. As far as I can remember there is only 1 or 2 keys that can’t be remapped (opening your wings). Personally, I enjoy the freedom of personalizing your keys to such a massive extent. You can setup your game the way you want it. One way to ensure your game experience is always the same you could use a gaming keypad such as the razor Nostromo. With gaming pads like that the whole issue of being able to change the key mapping becomes a lot more of a non-issue.
User Interface
The user-interface is all that you see in a game, all the elements on your HUD. This means:
- Menus
- HP/MP/EXP bars
- Skill bars
- Other bars (pot bars /emote bars)
- Party member list
The interface should be customizable, with this I’m referring to the position of the windows and bars. Nothing is more annoying then things not being in the place where you want them to be. Let’s take a look at an example. This is a screen shot from Aion:
All the dialog windows are drag-able and so are most of the skill bars. With the exception of the mini-map and the bottom part of the interface (the skill bars + EXP bar at the bottom). This offers a nice and customizable experience for the users.
If I built the world…
If I built the world the players would be more in control of the way they play a game. This means people want to be able to influence certain aspects of the game play to have it just as they like it. This includes graphical settings (some want the best performance out of the game, some the best looks while the hardcore gamer wants to have both). A good example of this is Aion, which currently supports two engines. Both are variations of the CryEngine. The other aspect people like to be able to control in a game is the interface. One of the best games I’ve seen so far in relation to adjustable interface is: City of Heroes. Every single window or part of the UI is drag-able. From skill bars to your HP bar, everything is drag-able to wherever you want it. This freedom allow for a better gaming experience and better fitting your needs and desires. The future of gaming lies within the customizations you can do within the games.