Enemy HP Display

We know that some players have requested that we display the percentage of the enemy’s HP, and while it is technically possible adding it would further clutter the UI and increase server load. So we don't have any plans on showing percentages by default.

However, as Yoshida said during the previous Letter from the Producer Live, this type of feature can be handled by add-ons, and we plan to make it so that it will display accurate figures and percentages.

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Originally Posted by Gildrein
Q: What exactly do you have in mind for community-generated add-ons? Also, how much game data will we be able to utilize?

A: The type of add-on I have in mind are those of the UI persuasion. For example, we can have players customize the UI with a skin of their choice, have enmity displayed graphical, and add windows to view useful information so players will be able to separate information that is otherwise displayed in one large, single window. Add-ons will then become active once they are downloaded and placed in the custom folder. As for the PS3 version, we'll make sure it doesn't trail behind the PC version.

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Honestly what they should do is replace the emnity bar in the enemy party box with an HP bar, then just leave the emnity percentage there so that both HP and Emnity information can be displayed without taking up any more space than the new UI already is accounting for.

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Originally Posted by Rukkirii

We know that some players have requested that we display the percentage of the enemy’s HP, and while it is technically possible adding it would further clutter the UI and increase server load. So we don't have any plans on showing percentages by default.

However, as Yoshida said during the previous Letter from the Producer Live, this type of feature can be handled by add-ons, and we plan to make it so that it will display accurate figures and percentages.

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wow, that actually more or less answered everything i wanted to know about "User-created UI Customizations".
Thank you !!!

I've been looking forward to "re-skin" stuff in FFXIV for a long time now.
Wohooo!!

Rukkirii I love you.

Icecylee I will learn Flash -just for you-. I promise.

put it right on the health bar and it doesn't add any clutter.

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Originally Posted by Rukkirii

We know that some players have requested that we display the percentage of the enemy’s HP, and while it is technically possible adding it would further clutter the UI and increase server load. So we don't have any plans on showing percentages by default.

However, as Yoshida said during the previous Letter from the Producer Live, this type of feature can be handled by add-ons, and we plan to make it so that it will display accurate figures and percentages.

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1) It seems contradictory to say it will increase server load and then say add ons will be able to ask for the information.

2) Could you please ask if it will be possible to support UI mods on the PS3 version? There is precedent for mods on the PS3. Unreal Tournament 3 supports mods created on the PC version of the game.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

1) It seems contradictory to say it will increase server load and then say add ons will be able to ask for the information.

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Not really. Implementing a feature like that server-side would mean that the server would need to keep track of the percentage values and then output that information, increasing the number of calculations required to be done.

If you do a UI mod, you actually use whatever information the server gives to you and handle it however you want, none of that is done serverside.

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Not really. Implementing a feature like that server-side would mean that the server would need to keep track of the percentage values and then output that information, increasing the number of calculations required to be done.

If you do a UI mod, you actually use whatever information the server gives to you and handle it however you want, none of that is done serverside.

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Um... what?

In order for a UI mod to display information, the server has to provide that information. If that information is available to the UI mod, that means the server is sending it and it's causing the same amount of server load whether a UI mod is doing it or the official UI. I suppose what they are really implying is that if this information isn't available by default, but UI mods can ask for it, the server load will be lower because not every client will ask for the information.

However on the other hand, isn't the server already sending us this information? How else would the client know how much of the HP bar to show?

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Originally Posted by Rukkirii

We know that some players have requested that we display the percentage of the enemy’s HP, and while it is technically possible adding it would further clutter the UI and increase server load. So we don't have any plans on showing percentages by default.

However, as Yoshida said during the previous Letter from the Producer Live, this type of feature can be handled by add-ons, and we plan to make it so that it will display accurate figures and percentages.

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Would it be possible to have an add on like parser? It would be great to have an in game one that could help people improve their performance.

For those that don't know, parser gives a breakdown of the party dmg, dodges, accuracy, healing totals, etc.
That way you know who you are carrying on your back and who's outperforming. One of the great things about it is that you can filter good and bad players, allowing pick up groups to be added in a way that maximize the success of an event. Example , Garuda.

In theory, the server gives only how many pixels should be in the bar, based on internal calculations.
I am presuming 'show the percentage' is what was meant and what the answer is pertained to, so the game calculating how much % the monster has of HP left and showing that is one or two more steps done every cycle and attack.

Of course, all that a UI mod could do is make a wild guess of how many pixels means 1%

making the game easier, one add-on at a time.

While I can agree on the potential for cluttering up the UI, I don't quite see why it should cause any additional server load to have a slightly simple alteration done to the way our "current target health bar" is displayed, which can/should be pretty much client sided. From doing a quick image edit on a screenshot, just adding lines to signify every 5-, 10- and 25 percent increments, would hopefully enable players to determine more accurately the current HP percentages.

Proof in practice; What percentage is Cactuar Jaques in the edited image?*

http://i.imgur.com/qdN55.png

It could even be made optional, with a on/off toggle option.

I must say that it also surprise me a bit, that the exact percentage value isn't already being sent to the client, and I somewhat still expect it to be, since it would to my logic be what the HP bars are currently sizing themselves after. At least the values for calculating the percentage should already be sent to the client, or the HP bars wouldn't know how to size themselves accordingly. It shouldn't be impossible/hard to display the #% on top of the HP bar, nor should it cause any additional server load as I see it. Such stuff can be handled locally by the client.

* Cactuar Jaques HP would be at about 65%, you were correct!

There are only two reasonable ways the server can be sending target HP values. Either the server is sending current HP and maximum HP already, in which case the *client* can perform the calculation, or the server is already sending % (which it did in XI, so that makes the most sense).

SE too scared of players wanting to skip P2 Garuda

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In theory, the server gives only how many pixels should be in the bar, based on internal calculations.

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The HP bars are sizeable, the server can't know how many pixels need to be filled in. The server gives either the percent or the actual HP amount and lets the client's UI system figure out what to show.

There's really no other (intelligent) way to do it.