Feedback for nUI

[Oxolate]

I don't know if this is the best folder for this topic, but it kinda applies.

Due to the recent uproar about the new UI policy, I found nUI and I thought I would give it a try. I've been itching to use a customized UI as I only use the default (except for questing/AH).

When I first opened nUI, I absolutely loved the open space on top. It really opened the world for me. I finally had room for all my QH/Tourguide stuff without feeling cramped. Everything was nice and compact in the bottom. The embedded recount was also really cool.

So overall, it was a major improvement for my UI. Unfortunately, there are 2 critical sticky points for me that really turned me off, enough so that I won't be using nUI. One of them is really trivial too, but it really bugs me.

1) I play a shaman, and critical to my gameplay is knowning when my shields use up their three charges so I know when to reapply. I don't care for where the buffs are located in nUI. When fighting mobs, I never look in the bottom left corner. Also, my buff icons have a green tinge to them, such that at a glance its hard to differentiate them. I also like to see when I get procs so the current buff location/color makes that difficult. I would really like to see the buffs at my toons feet (The location I see them when I target myself).

2) This one is silly, but really bugs me. When I hover my mouse over a mob, the info pane pops up on the left side of the screen in the middle. When I loot a mob, the loot box appears in the same space, so I effectively miss out on what I loot.

2.5) This is a minor one and not specific to you, but I don't care for the HUD display. It would make more intuitive sense to me if it was rotated by 90 degrees (top/bottom layout as opposed to left/right). I imagine if I played enough with the HUD, I would get used to it. I just need to retrain my reflexes so that's why I'm not really concerned about this one, just commenting.

2.6) Vehicle support is also huge for me. I know it's coming, but I don't want to relog and change my UI each time I need to use a vehicle.

So overall, I liked 90% of what it offered me, just had a few missing pieces.

I searched the website to see if there were any simple fixes and I was unable to find anything. I hope this feedback is helpful.

[spiel2001]

Unfortunately, I think a lot of the issues that caused you to choose not to use nUI were largely the result of you not knowing what nUI can do. Let me try to address each...

Originally Posted by Oxolate 1) I play a shaman, and critical to my gameplay is knowning when my shields use up their three charges so I know when to reapply. I don't care for where the buffs are located in nUI. When fighting mobs, I never look in the bottom left corner. Also, my buff icons have a green tinge to them, such that at a glance its hard to differentiate them. I also like to see when I get procs so the current buff location/color makes that difficult. I would really like to see the buffs at my toons feet (The location I see them when I target myself).

Then you want to use the "aura buttons" plugin that replaces the aura bars with large buttons that appear just above the dashboard on the left and right (thus placing both your buffs and the target's debuffs directly in front of your eyes while in combat) -- check out the "Unit Frame Panels" section in nUI's plugins download list... http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/cat125.html

2) This one is silly, but really bugs me. When I hover my mouse over a mob, the info pane pops up on the left side of the screen in the middle. When I loot a mob, the loot box appears in the same space, so I effectively miss out on what I loot.

Use the slash command '/nui movers' to unlock the frames, drag the mouse tooltips to whatever location you would like to use for them and then use '/nui movers' to lock them down again. There are also three tooltip slash commands '/nui tooltips mouse' will locate all tooltips in the current mouse position. '/nui tooltips fixed' will locate all tooltips in your fixed position and '/nui tooltips default' will entirely disabled nUI's management of your tooltips.

2.5) This is a minor one and not specific to you, but I don't care for the HUD display. It would make more intuitive sense to me if it was rotated by 90 degrees (top/bottom layout as opposed to left/right). I imagine if I played enough with the HUD, I would get used to it. I just need to retrain my reflexes so that's why I'm not really concerned about this one, just commenting.

The red button at the top center of the display market "Player/Target" is the thing you use to select HUD modes. There is also a "Health/Power" option which puts health on the left, power on the right and most importantly there is a "Simple HUD" which removes the bars entirely and leaves on the casting bar, HOT/DOT, cooldowns, etc. as well as the horizontal health race bar which is largely what you're asking for. And, if you're adamant you want no HUD functionality at all, "No HUD" turns the HUD off entirely. Just click the red button to cycle through the modes.

[2.6) Vehicle support is also huge for me. I know it's coming, but I don't want to relog and change my UI each time I need to use a vehicle.

nUI has vehicle support. There are a couple of minor issues with it, like you have to use the number pad 5 key to dismount a vehicle you don't control right now because there's a bug there I can't find, but aside from that, nUI supports all vehicle functionality and actions. I'm not sure why you thought nUI doesn't support vehicles.

[Oxolate]

Originally Posted by spiel2001 Unfortunately, I think a lot of the issues that caused you to choose not to use nUI were largely the result of you not knowing what nUI can do. Let me try to address each...

Oh good. I was hoping it was a me issue.

Then you want to use the "aura buttons" plugin that replaces the aura bars with large buttons that appear just above the dashboard on the left and right (thus placing both your buffs and the target's debuffs directly in front of your eyes while in combat) -- check out the "Unit Frame Panels" section in nUI's plugins download list... http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/cat125.html Use the slash command '/nui movers' to unlock the frames, drag the mouse tooltips to whatever location you would like to use for them and then use '/nui movers' to lock them down again. There are also three tooltip slash commands '/nui tooltips mouse' will locate all tooltips in the current mouse position. '/nui tooltips fixed' will locate all tooltips in your fixed position and '/nui tooltips default' will entirely disabled nUI's management of your tooltips.

I will try both of these out. Sounds like it will solve the problems.

The red button at the top center of the display market "Player/Target" is the thing you use to select HUD modes. There is also a "Health/Power" option which puts health on the left, power on the right and most importantly there is a "Simple HUD" which removes the bars entirely and leaves on the casting bar, HOT/DOT, cooldowns, etc. as well as the horizontal health race bar which is largely what you're asking for. And, if you're adamant you want no HUD functionality at all, "No HUD" turns the HUD off entirely. Just click the red button to cycle through the modes.

I actually cycled through all of them. I didn't care for the simple one because I don't like seeing percentages of health/mana. I need the actual numbers. This one isn't a big deal. I just need to re-train my eyes where to look when I need something.

nUI has vehicle support. There are a couple of minor issues with it, like you have to use the number pad 5 key to dismount a vehicle you don't control right now because there's a bug there I can't find, but aside from that, nUI supports all vehicle functionality and actions. I'm not sure why you thought nUI doesn't support vehicles.

Interesting. I said this because I was in Wintergrasp, jumped into a stationary cannon and no UI for the cannon popped up. I could only shoot the cannon because I knew that pressing '1' would shoot it. I couldn't get out of the cannon until it died. Just trying to be more clear, when I entered the cannon, as far as I could tell, the UI didn't change. Granted, as soon as I jumped in, I started getting hit by something. It took me a few seconds to figure out that it was a Warlock on the roof where my cannon couldn't hit it. The rest of the time I was trying to figure how to get out and never could. So I was distracted as well.

Thanks for the response. I'm sorry if the tone of the first post made it sound like I would never use it. I didn't know how difficult/easy #1 would be to address and if it was difficult I wasn't expecting you to change it just because some anonymous person posts that they want a change.

[spiel2001]

[quote=Oxolate;122327]Oh good. I was hoping it was a me issue.

I actually cycled through all of them. I didn't care for the simple one because I don't like seeing percentages of health/mana. I need the actual numbers. This one isn't a big deal. I just need to re-train my eyes where to look when I need something.

Hmmm. The simple HUD doesn't show health and mana at all. Are you sure you were on the simple HUD? In any event, yeah... retraining the eyes is always and issue when changing UI's. I strongly suspect that once you learn to use the HUD, you'll never want to be without one again -- there are quite a few people here who have already made that statement. ~smile~

Interesting. I said this because I was in Wintergrasp, jumped into a stationary cannon and no UI for the cannon popped up. I could only shoot the cannon because I knew that pressing '1' would shoot it. I couldn't get out of the cannon until it died. Just trying to be more clear, when I entered the cannon, as far as I could tell, the UI didn't change. Granted, as soon as I jumped in, I started getting hit by something. It took me a few seconds to figure out that it was a Warlock on the roof where my cannon couldn't hit it. The rest of the time I was trying to figure how to get out and never could. So I was distracted as well.

Okay... two things here... WG is the one place I know of that getting out of a vehicle is an issue. That's the bug I was referring to... I'm not sure why it is different based on whether you control the vehicle or not, but for some reason when you don't control it, you don't get the dismount button (possession bar, actually). The 5 key on your number pad will bail you out for future reference until I can find and fix the bug.

The second thing is the action bar for vehicles. nUI does not pop up that big gawd aweful ugle abortion that Bliz calls a vehicle frame (just in case you couldn't tell, I'm not a fan of it ~grin~) -- nUI uses the main action bar for the vehicle actions (spells) just as any other possession works. Make sure that any time you're in a vehicle, your main action bar is on page 1 as that's the only page that "switched" for possessions, forms, stances, stealth, etc. Pages 2-6 are static overrides of page 1. That is, actually, default Bliz action bar behavior, but most advanced players forget that because they have been using bar mods for so long.

If you are one action bar page one and mount a vehicle and DON'T get the vehicle spells, I need to know that as there is likely a bug with that quest/engine.

Thanks for the response. I'm sorry if the tone of the first post made it sound like I would never use it. I didn't know how difficult/easy #1 would be to address and if it was difficult I wasn't expecting you to change it just because some anonymous person posts that they want a change.

Don't be sorry... most authors largely ignore their users... I don't. I value the input as it helps me improve the UI. I trust most of my users will back me up on the claim that I really do try to respond to ideas, requests, bugs, etc. Don't be afraid to speak your mind... I listen.

[Oxolate]

Originally Posted by spiel2001 Okay... two things here... WG is the one place I know of that getting out of a vehicle is an issue. That's the bug I was referring to... I'm not sure why it is different based on whether you control the vehicle or not, but for some reason when you don't control it, you don't get the dismount button (possession bar, actually). The 5 key on your number pad will bail you out for future reference until I can find and fix the bug. The second thing is the action bar for vehicles. nUI does not pop up that big gawd aweful ugle abortion that Bliz calls a vehicle frame (just in case you couldn't tell, I'm not a fan of it ~grin~) -- nUI uses the main action bar for the vehicle actions (spells) just as any other possession works. Make sure that any time you're in a vehicle, your main action bar is on page 1 as that's the only page that "switched" for possessions, forms, stances, stealth, etc. Pages 2-6 are static overrides of page 1. That is, actually, default Bliz action bar behavior, but most advanced players forget that because they have been using bar mods for so long. If you are one action bar page one and mount a vehicle and DON'T get the vehicle spells, I need to know that as there is likely a bug with that quest/engine.

OK, When Im in WG, I switch to healer mode so I change my action bar to '2'. That explains it then.

On the HUD thing, the one that was most intuitive to me is the one that looked like a see-saw (horizontal line with a widget in the middle), but didn't have the #'s so that's a no-no for me. I'm just going to bite the bullet and suffer a bit while I get used the HUD.

[spiel2001]

As a matter of record, I'm currently working on adding "bar sets" to nUI and this may even be the first time I've talked about it in forum.

In any event, what this feature will do is add a key-bindable button the to console (like the HUD mode button) that lets you switch an entire set of spells on your action bars for a whole new set. Best description I give is to think of it like an equipment manager for your action bars... click a button and replace your entire bar layout with a new bar layout... so, you could have pre-defined PvP layotus, DPS layouts, Healing Layouts, etc. This will also support having two different bar sets based on your current spec (since 3.1 allows you to dual-spec your character). It will also allow people to share bar layouts like plugins.

I don't think it will be ready in time for the 3.1 realease, but I'm working on it.

Originally Posted by Oxolate OK, When Im in WG, I switch to healer mode so I change my action bar to '2'. That explains it then. On the HUD thing, the one that was most intuitive to me is the one that looked like a see-saw (horizontal line with a widget in the middle), but didn't have the #'s so that's a no-no for me. I'm just going to bite the bullet and suffer a bit while I get used the HUD.

EDIT: PS... the "see-saw looking" one is called the health race bar... you can read about it in the user docmentation at http://www.nUIaddon.com -- check the "user guide" section.

[Oxolate]

I made the above changes and its much better. Some other things I did that also helped my experience. I went into the Aura lua file and changed the location of the buffs so they are right beneath the left HUD display, instead of on top of the action bars. I also went into the(I think) Units folder, buff lua file to get rid of the green tinge on the buffs. I think I'm going to like this.

One question. Is there an easy way to toggle on/off the 'target of target' bar in the HUD? When I'm soloing, I don't need a second bar showing my health, and that area is where I'm looking to get all my information(I'm using health/power HUD). That area gets a little "busy" with the target of target on. I actually read through the faq, user guide, and slash commands and couldn't see anything.

Thanks again for the help.

[spiel2001]

No... I'm afraid there is not an easy way to get rid of the ToT in the HUD.

Also.. the green tinge is there to differentiate your buffs you have cast on versus the buffs other players have cast. Likewise, there's a red tinge used to differentiate your debuffs from the debuffs other players have cast.

Originally Posted by Oxolate I made the above changes and its much better. Some other things I did that also helped my experience. I went into the Aura lua file and changed the location of the buffs so they are right beneath the left HUD display, instead of on top of the action bars. I also went into the(I think) Units folder, buff lua file to get rid of the green tinge on the buffs. I think I'm going to like this. One question. Is there an easy way to toggle on/off the 'target of target' bar in the HUD? When I'm soloing, I don't need a second bar showing my health, and that area is where I'm looking to get all my information(I'm using health/power HUD). That area gets a little "busy" with the target of target on. I actually read through the faq, user guide, and slash commands and couldn't see anything. Thanks again for the help.

[Smirge]

Originally Posted by spiel2001 As a matter of record, I'm currently working on adding "bar sets" to nUI and this may even be the first time I've talked about it in forum. In any event, what this feature will do is add a key-bindable button the to console (like the HUD mode button) that lets you switch an entire set of spells on your action bars for a whole new set. Best description I give is to think of it like an equipment manager for your action bars... click a button and replace your entire bar layout with a new bar layout... so, you could have pre-defined PvP layotus, DPS layouts, Healing Layouts, etc. This will also support having two different bar sets based on your current spec (since 3.1 allows you to dual-spec your character). It will also allow people to share bar layouts like plugins.

Hmmm - that sounds exactly what MazzleUI did for hunters with the ranged/melee function in bongos1 - and part of why Mazzle - 'expired' *smile*

if it is that - then kudos mate.....im getting impressed all over each new day here

/Smirge