Villager interface upgrade

Suggestions
#1

As it is now, the villager interface looks like this:

Stonehearth.png878×612 150 KB

I have a few gripes with this interface.

  • First and foremost, I’m not able to see the stats for all of my villagers at the same time. This makes looking for someone with a good “Mind” or a high “Body” kind of a chore, since I have to click all of them and see which one is the best.
  • Secondly, but also a major nuisance, is the fact that there is no quick way to disable, for example, “Job” for everyone EXCEPT a few. As it is now, you have to disable “Job” for every single villager, except for the ones that you do want to work their specialty.
  • The third issue is a small one: the checkboxes aren’t centered under their name :stuck_out_tongue:

So, I propose a revamp of this interface. After messing around in paint a bit, this is what I came up with. Please keep in mind, I used the icons from the “New Game” interface and added the villager info by just modifying the “Tasks” tab, so it doesn’t look great… just to get an idea.

Stonehearth_new.png852×612 186 KB

This solves the issues, and adds some functionality:

  • You can see all the stats in one glance, and you’re able to sort your villagers accordingly.
  • You can disable or enable everything for a class (just like you could before) but now, you can enable only a few after doing so.
  • Things are aligned properly :smile:

Let me know what you guys think.

Quick suggestion: make it possible for “special villagers” (e.g. combat units, farmers, cooks, etc) to be able to do building or mining, but only when their “Job” is disabled.

12 Likes
#2

Wow, just wow! This has to be the most detailed UI mockup proposal I’ve seen in a long time. I love the suggestions you’ve made here, and many of them address gripes I’ve had with the interface.

I thinks @sdee and @yshan should see this on Monday, it is just really impressive.

3 Likes
#3

I love these changes – it took me a moment to realise the point, but then it hit me like an Ogre’s giant bone club. I’ve got so used to doing things “the long way” that I had stopped thinking about how much I wanted to see more info on this panel.

I totally agree with that point about disabling a job but making specific exceptions. Personally, I’d probably leave hauling switched off for everyone (i.e. general un-tick), and then specifically re-enable it on those hearthlings I’ve designated as labourers… currently it’s annoying to go through and do that manually, but more importantly I often forget to do it when I gain new hearthlings and that throws off my “the squishy but highly-trained crafters always stay inside the town” policy.

One suggestion: I like the choice to make the side-bar blue, however I think it would look even better if the background became a banner like is used in other parts of the UI. That implies that the selected hearthling is “bookmarked” for quick access, as well as bringing that nice bit of visual consistency.

3 Likes
#4

this would be amazing to see. I often have gripes about the interface as well

#5

I think this is a wonderful change, though i might add another suggestion, the ability to create groups. I spend a lot of time switching warriors/clerics jobs on and off so they can haul instead of patrol, it would be nice to have either a way to look at groups like what you have proposed (though you can create your own groups), or to be able to also sort by whether something is on/off.

1 Like
#6

I’d love to know if somebody in the development team picked up on this. Any update?

#7

I’ve seen this and it’s good to note some of the things you all find important as far as hierarchy and missing information. Feel free to provide any other ear flicks you have about this screen as I’ll be jotting them down for later. I’ll be doing a UX pass on all existing UI in the game and working towards improvements. :thumbsup:

7 Likes
#8

What about also showing the harts of the hearthlings if they are hurt, and change the colour of the background of that hearthlings row in the list to become more of a red colour as the hearthling gets injured more.

The idea behind this is that you can easily spot a hearthling that shouldn’t be hurt, yet is. For instance someone that is stuck and starving. Might you look at the interface, the redder background colour will catch your attention before the “severely injured” notification comes around.

3 Likes