Display resources missing for build queue in HUD

Suggestions
#1

Hi team,
At the moment, it is quite clunky to establish what is currently being built and to see when a Hearthling has stopped crafting due to missing resources or an empty build queue.

Here is what I propose:
Add a persistent icon for each crafter on the HUD that displays the task being completed or show if a crafter is idle and also highlight when production has halted. A way this could be accomplished is by highlighting the border of the crafter’s icon red to alert the player that the crafter cannot continue. You could also consider adding text that shows what resource is missing.

Crafting items is such an essential part of the game and when a Hearthling is idle or cannot continue crafting they will potentially not be gaining experience and be holding up other progress in the game.

I realise that perhaps not everyone would want clutter in the HUD so you could consider this as an option to toggle on and off in the menu

I’d be interested in a response to see if this is consistent with the direction you’re taking the game or if there is other development in place that would make this unnecessary.

Thanks,
Vexator

1 Like
#2

Hey there @Vexator, welcome to the forums! I think this is a great idea to more easily visualize why crafters have stopped. Perhaps the new UI designer (I’m sorry @sdee, I can’t remember her name) will take a look at this too!

#3

Thanks very much for the response @jomaxro. For context, I’ve put together a mashup that maybe @sdee would like to see.

Essentially I’ve added the crafter’s icons on the game screen with a border highlighting whether the crafter is:
A: crafting items from their queue (green)
B: idle (orange)
C: out of resources (red)

You could also consider another colour to notify that the crafter is doing non-crafting tasks such as hauling, digging etc. (purple?)

Hopefully this doesn’t look like too much clutter on the HUD. This could also potentially be considered as a pop up screen.

Another crafting related suggestion I had was to create tool tips that show what is required when hovering over an item and who crafts it.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond and also for continuing to develop such a great game. This is one of the few early access games I have been thrilled with being a part of.

Stonehearth mashup.jpg1920×1080 468 KB

#4

In the same topic.

I want to be able to collapse the crafting-list menu (that now cover nearly the whole screen), so i can only see the order-list to the far right.