So what ever happened to the new UI?

[Atomic_Skull]

Sure seems liken they just stopped development.

Also why is there a checkbox for it in the config utility when it doesn't actually do anything?

[SMD111]

Sure seems liken they just stopped development.

Also why is there a checkbox for it in the config utility when it doesn't actually do anything?

i have wondered this as well

[Pixela]

Remember when they promised a Direct X update for years, said it was finished and ready to implement and then canned it after a few months of silence?

More of that probably.

[Komachii]

given the limited number of devs i pick QoL/Job adjustments and content over UI that had little to offer over the current one.

[Afania]

New UI doesn't look good anyways :)

[Kincard]

The only aspect of the new UI I would love to have is two chat boxes. It would be really nice to have battle spam in one window and linkshell chat in the other.

But overall, I agree that the QoL adjustments we do get are far better than the UI we saw on the test server. Stuff like Equipment sets that players have been asking for for years has finally become a reality (I realize a bunch of people just use other ways to accomplish swapping a ton of gear but I still think it's really cool thing for them to add stuff like this).

[Atomic_Skull]

Remember when they promised a Direct X update for years, said it was finished and ready to implement and then canned it after a few months of silence?

More of that probably.

I don't actually remember any of that and I've played since late 2003

They really should just throw out the mess of spaghetti code they're working with now and write a new engine. This wouldn't be that much work as they could use an existing engine (e.g. Unreal 3, or hell even Unreal 2 would be fine that's what Lineage II used) and just use the same models and textures.

For that matter they almost certainly have the original high res textures laying around. I can almost guarantee you that the texture artists don't work with 128x128 postage stamps, typically texture artists will work in a higher resolution and then scale it down.

CCP and Eve Online showed that an MMO doesn't have to decline and can actually grow it's subscriber base over the years if the developers are willing to put the effort into keeping the game's technology current. It's probably too late for FFXI but it didn't have to be that way.

[Dale]

Sure seems liken they just stopped development.

Also why is there a checkbox for it in the config utility when it doesn't actually do anything?

I'm interested in this too. I love this game, but some of its UI elements are severely lacking. I would also like to see a more detailed character panel that highlights specific afflictions as they exist on party members. Because expecting us to carefully peruse cluttered combat logs and memorize the possible effects all enemy abilities may have on our allies is unreasonable. Would be better to just show us.

Also, many of their icons are confusing and identical even though they may represent different effects. So I think some work should be done there as well.

[Atomic_Skull]

I think the new UI was Tanaka's pet project and when he left they just stopped working on it.

[Zenoxio]

Yeah I'm wondering... what did happen to the UI? It was on the Test server right for a bit?

[Zenoxio]

No reply from SE? Don't leave us hanging without knowing why :(

[Dragoy]

Yes, it was/is on the test-server for quite a while, which is one of the reasons it's unfortunate they decided to take the test-server down.

It wasn't updated for a long time, but at least I got to debug a crash related to it when playing with Wine. \ö/

I would like to think it was not completely dropped, but is on hold, or at least very slowly worked upon due to priorities being where they are. Perhaps now that Adoooulin story has come to a close, they will have a bit more resources to put into this, but I'm not too hopeful.

From the state it was on the test-server, it needed lots more work indeed, which I do hope it will get it! Preferably more!

I can't seem to find any more up-to-date info than what we have from the Japanese side, so we're probably not missing anything on that note. I do think it's about time to let us know fer sure if it is indeed still on its way or not!


Blubb.

(Added the dev1156-tag.)

[Alhanelem]

Sure seems liken they just stopped development.

Also why is there a checkbox for it in the config utility when it doesn't actually do anything?
The checkbox is/was for when you run the test client. But since th ey switched to a more frequent update schedule, the test server became a lot less viable for them and so they stopped updating it and eventually stopped offering it altogether.

The new UI may very well never be finished because as I recall, it was just one guy working on it, and they keep adding new UI elements in version updates that would subsequently need to be added to the new UI, so almost every patch, that guy's workload increases.

I wish they would finish it though; among other things a more mouse friendly system would be greatly appriciated, especially since I'm so used to using mouse + keyboard from XIV now. :p Being able to move the HUD elements around on the screen is also sooooo helpful.

Perhaps with the SoA expansion contents (well, the story at least) reaching its conclusion, they might have more time to work on it.

[Zenoxio]

Just to poke this a bit again, hoping to see if SE notices this~

[Zenoxio]

Getting some people asking "what new UI", so here is the reference topic by SE: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/36908-dev1156-New-User-Interface

[Catmato]

It was awful. We aren't missing anything.

[Alhanelem]

It was awful. We aren't missing anything.
It wasn't awful, it was very promising. We only got a very raw version that had like maybe 10% of its elements translated, and no art.

There couldn't be anything better than being able to freely move UI elements around on the screen, something I would desperately love to be able to do in this game. Being able to have more than one screen up at the same time is just wonderful.

[Zenoxio]

It was awful. We aren't missing anything.

Disagree. If you're talking about the look, it was the functionality that made us look forward to it. I don't think we ever saw the final design for it.

[Catmato]

Disagree.That makes me think you never tried it. It was clunky, unresponsive, and broken. The only benefit it had was 1-button macros and (therefor) another set of macros in each set.

While I'll agree that the current UI is very dated, especially by MMO standards, the one they tested was not showing much promise at all.

[Alhanelem]

And i disagree with your disagreement. There were a lot of improvements that would be very welcome. The clunky aspects were only those that hadn't been changed from the old UI which to this day is still one of the clunkiest I've ever used, even after being used to it. The existing UI has virtually zero options for customization, the new one lets me move anything anywhere on the screen which is really the one feature I want most, aside from also being able to scale different UI elements. If they even simply took one new UI feature and augmented the old one with it, that would be the one for me, 2nd place going to having multiple windows open.

[Catmato]

I was only talking about the UI they were working on. It was garbage and it's good it was scrapped.

If we're talking about nevertheless needing an updated and modernized UI, then I wholeheartedly agree.

[Alhanelem]

I was only talking about the UI they were working on. It was garbage and it's good it was scrapped.

If we're talking about nevertheless needing an updated and modernized UI, then I wholeheartedly agree.
It wasn't garbage, it was simply very incomplete. There were a lot of good features in it (and some that, well, needed work. But again, it was incomplete)

That said, we don't know that it's been scrapped, only that it was just one guy working on it and we haven't had any news since the last time this thread came up.