HUD overcluttered.....

Games Other Halo
1

Ever since E3, I have noticed that the HUD is now cluttered with randomness. It no longer had the open, clean-feeling HUD of the past.

Since the reveal of Exile earlier today, it has come to my attention that the HUD is even more cluttered than that of the E3 build. Most of this Clutter is because of exaggerated elements and unneeded words. Let me try to explain.

This picture is a good example. You will notice your points, and name behind getting them in the center of the screen. This Is the first thing you see, and is by far the most annoying IMO. Especially since the medals still show up on the kill feed in the bottom left. All of this info should be off to the side of the screen, or perhaps simplified to only show your point gain. The words are unneeded.

The second thing You may notice is the flag markers. on is for you to defend your flag, the other is for you to protect the flag carrier. This would be fine, except it shows up on your screen no matter what. The man on the turret isn’t even facing that direction, yet these objectives show up in big, bright letters. This accomplishes nothing that the flashing symbol of the past didn’t, and does nothing but add more needless info to your HUD. These things are of course shown while in a vehicle, so it seems to be more open. But while in first person, the effects are much more obvious.

When carrying the flag, a notice shows up right below your shields telling you that you are carrying the flag. I don’t see a single reason to include such a thing. Isn’t the flag being present in your hand and taking up half of your screen enough to know your carrying it? Does anybody really forget they picked up the flag?. My guess is that similar messages would pop up if you were carrying other objectives, such as the bomb or oddball. pretty pointless IMO, and doesn’t help to have a clean HUD.

Finally, the weapon markers. I originally thought that the waypoints for weapons would only show up in infinity gametypes, with ordinance and dynamic power weapon spawns. But it seems that even with the old style of spawning, weapons show up on your HUD with a waypoint. It seems that these are visible from halfway across the map in some cases, and show everything from the name of the weapon to the distance from it. I can understand this for the pre-release builds as nobody knows where anything is yet, but I hope this is gone or limited to infinity gametypes for the full game.

Not to mention all the randomness on the radar now. I know seeing the vehicles and arrows for enemies is cool, but do we really need markers for weapons and dead bodies? a cluttered motion tracker is just as bad as a cluttered HUD.

I’m not trying to sound hateful, and I’m sure I exagerated a bit somewhere. I just want the clean, easy to understand HUD of the past back. A clean HUD is one of the few things That halo does better than every other game, and I’d hate to see it be thrown away for flashy points and words.

thoughts?

EDIT: No doubt I could easily adapt to all of this. In fact, I would probably barely notice it after a few games, or an hour of campaign. Its just one of those small things that irks me, as it does many others. Some may be unphased by it, and some may even wish that MORE info was given. That’s their opinion on the subject and no opinion is wrong.

**EDIT 2:**I went searching around for HUDs of the previous games for comparison, when I came across this monstrosityO_o

2

Telling you you have the flag is really really not needed, i dont see the point to it.

3

I like that it tells you to escort and defend because some people don’t even help…

4

Sure if you are new to the series entirely, but I think Halo fans will easily be able to adapt.

5

I’ll admit it does seem more cluttered than past Halos, but most of it is helpful information. I honestly don’t think I’ll notice it much when I actually play it.

6

> I like that it tells you to escort and defend because some people don’t even help…

I like it as well, however I don’t see a reason as to why it should pop up unless facing in its general direction. Its kind of annoying if your looking a good 60-70 degrees to the left or right and still being able to see the marker as if it were right next to you.

7

Well if you haven’t played the game, then how do you know it has too much randomness?

8

I disagree. I think it’s very clean.

9

> Sure if you are new to the series entirely, but I think Halo fans will easily be able to adapt.

No doubt people could adapt. Its a matter of preference, rather than effectiveness. I prefer a more open hud, with only necessary info. some may not. its only opinion. I just don’t want the HUD to turn into that of say, Crysis, where there’s so much going on I can’t follow.

10

> I like that it tells you to escort and defend because some people don’t even help…

Yeah most annoying thing ever when you are the only one who goes for the flag while everyone else just sits on defense.

11

> Well if you haven’t played the game, then how do you know it has too much randomness?

I don’t see why I would need to play the game to notice an aesthetic difference in the game. If it were a mechanic, I would agree with you. BUt this is one of the few things that can be discussed solely on screenshots and gameplay.

12

Reminds me of bf3, things are a little big, but its easy to get used to after playing it enough, I think that is how it will be for H4. But what I like about bf3 is how at least things don’t pop up in the middle of the screan as how it looks to be so on H4.

13

I don’t mind it really but I agree its pointless:

> Telling you you have the flag is really really not needed, i dont see the point to it.

14

> Reminds me of bf3, things are a little big, but its easy to get used to after playing it enough, I think that is how it will be for H4. But what I like about bf3 is how at least things don’t pop up in the middle of the screan as how it looks to be so on H4.

I feel like this is the biggest part of the clutter. All of the info that is shown in the middle of the screen could easily go into the kill feed, and the points could just show up above the score. We don’t need to know every time we get a double kill. We already got an announcer screaming it in our ears.

15

I’ve got to agree. Though I’ve been slapped around on here before for “complaining” about the…

HEADSHOT

…notification, so I’ll have to be careful what I say here. What I will say is that what I consider to be largely redundant information (certainly HEADSHOT and CARRYING FLAG fit into this category) should not interfere with gameplay / player visibility, as such a mechanism could potentially lead to some partcularly frustrating experiences during gameplay.

To cite an extreme example, any game which has ADS is a complete turn off for me, for almost identical reasons. I hear it justified with the words “realism” and “immersion”, but all I see is a big gun taking up a large portion of my screen, thus reducing visibility and hampering awareness, such as basic opponent positioning etc.

Don’t get me wrong, I think notifications of important information are crucial, especially for newer players, but redundant information hiding the location of that opponent who just popped his head out of the cave and sniped you?

No thanks.

16

> I’ve got to agree. Though I’ve been slapped around on here before for “complaining” about the…
>
> HEADSHOT
>
> …notification, so I’ll have to be careful what I say here. What I will say is that what I consider to be largely redundant information (certainly HEADSHOT and CARRYING FLAG fit into this category) should not interfere with gameplay / player visibility, as such a mechanism could potentially lead to some partcularly frustrating experiences during gameplay.
>
> To cite an extreme example, any game which has ADS is a complete turn off for me, for almost identical reasons. I hear it justified with the words “realism” and “immersion”, but all I see is a big gun taking up a large portion of my screen, thus reducing visibility and hampering awareness, such as basic opponent positioning etc.
>
> Don’t get me wrong, I think notifications of important information are crucial, especially for newer players, but redundant information hiding the location of that opponent who just popped his head out of the cave and sniped you?
>
> No thanks.

People who’ve played the game have said that the words are barely noticeable when you’re actually playing. Wait until you’ve actually experienced it before judging it.

17

> I’ve got to agree. Though I’ve been slapped around on here before for “complaining” about the…
>
> HEADSHOT
>
> …notification, so I’ll have to be careful what I say here. What I will say is that what I consider to be largely redundant information (certainly HEADSHOT and CARRYING FLAG fit into this category) should not interfere with gameplay / player visibility, as such a mechanism could potentially lead to some partcularly frustrating experiences during gameplay.
>
> To cite an extreme example, any game which has ADS is a complete turn off for me, for almost identical reasons. I hear it justified with the words “realism” and “immersion”, but all I see is a big gun taking up a large portion of my screen, thus reducing visibility and hampering awareness, such as basic opponent positioning etc.
>
> Don’t get me wrong, I think notifications of important information are crucial, especially for newer players, but redundant information hiding the location of that opponent who just popped his head out of the cave and sniped you?
>
> No thanks.

yes, a lot of the info is redundant.

We know we got a headshot. the enemy died in 5 shots, not 15.

we know we got an assassination. our spartan just tackled another and ripped him in half.

A grenade kill? that huge explosion should be evidence enough.

Even if these messages are in the middle of the screen, a lot of the info in them is pointless, and obvious. Spartans aren’t idiots. They don’t need a pop-up to tell them what they already know.

18

I always thought this was an unnecessary addition to the HUD:

Why? D:

19

I really don’t see a problem with it.

20

the only thing I cannot stand and does not belong is the points in the middle of the screen