Now i dont want to be too negative this early in the game but from the screenshots of the menu that i saw in GI i didnt like the "simplified" "stylized" menus Im just hoping they arent taking a que from games like Fable who have ruined classic menus with uneccesary clutter. However i could be wrong on how the menu's are going to work and they could go through numerous changes before release, so ill make this a thread about how you want the menus to operate in Skyrim.

That, plus you have not seen gameplay of how the menus work. Who knows, maybe they are much smoother and more innovative than the ones before. I kind of like the idea of looking up to the stars to see my skills and what levels they are. I also like the idea of a section of the menu that has your favorite weapons and armor stored. Sounds good.

I think they are going for a more natural feel, like when you are looking at your birthsign or skills, you look toward the sky and look for your horoscope out there, or when you want to look at the map, you look at the ground and the camera pulls back to show the whole map, and the rest...

I like it!

Definitely looks better than what they did with Fable3.

Well the menus have like 3 or 4 different modes. I like the constellation-like menu design, I think it looks sweet.

honestly, ANYTHING can be better than oblivon's menus lol. well, except maybe fable 3's sanctuary...

I thought Oblivion's menu was better than Morrowind's. Oblivions menus were well organized.

I'm definitely concerned as well, though probably for different reasons. I will agree that looking up at the starts to see my stats is a nifty idea. However, I pray to the Nine Divines that I'll be able to see them all at the same time instead of only six or seven at once, forcing me to cycle through them and (I dread to think) have to highlight them with my mouse to actually see them.

The font they're using doesn't feel natural. I noticed it again during one of the Game Informer videos where it shows the skyrim Menu...or at least what it looks like for now.

In terms of Fable's menus...the only thing they got somewhat right was the map. You could do virtually everything from it.

What font would feel "natural" then? I thought the font was fine.

Same here. I think we have reached a whole new level of nit picking when we are talking about how we dislike a games font.

I personally think the new menus sound awesome. Actually being able to look around the game world via the map is going to be a interesting adventure of it's own. Way better then just looking at some flat 2d space with dots. I really enjoyed the "miniature" feeling I got with Fable 3's map, and it seems Bethesda is going to take that to a whole new level of amazing with Skyrim's map.
As for skills being constellations and perks being the stars of said constellations, that sounds interesting. Again, far better then just looking at a piece of parchment with the skill names written on them. I think Skyrim is going to cause people to re-think how they use the word "Immersion" in a RPG.



Edit* Edited my post to make it less flame broiled :flamethrower:

Menus are going to be great in Skyrim! A greatly needed improvement over the walls of text and unappealing, cluttered menus of Oblivion. A four point compass with skills pointing to the skies, map pointing to the ground, and inventory and magic on both sides. It's a nice, creative way to keep the player engaged and immersed. I wouldn't say menus are being simplified, but more so being redefined, and becoming user-friendlier as a result.

Personally I'm of the opinion that "modern fonts" have no place in a fantasy RPG, and should never be used. I hate this trend of graphic design that seems to happen a lot lately...

"Hmmm let me add this sleek and professional contemporary font like Futura and it'll make the design look smooth!"

Except there's more to UI design than that, and by doing that you potentually sacrafice consistancy with the product (or in this case) game world. Typography Failure.

Seriously, it REALLY bothers me that they actually decided to use a contemporary font such as that for a game like Elder Scrolls... it looks like something that would fit into Bioshock (and it did).

If they could change the font, then I'll be happy.

From the description of GI, seems like its gonna svck for PC again



I want to have all of the panes open-able at once, draggable, and have hotkeys of their own!

I don't mind as log as it fits with the game-play and doesn't break immersion.

At least the c.k is getting released so if we don't like hopefully we can change it on pc.

Well the hotkeys are certain that you will have. I don't see what the big thing is about dragging your menus or having everything on the same page. I find having everything on the same page makes it harder to find things. It's better to have things in well organized tabs.

I find having 4 windows open in-front of you (or being able to choose exactly which ones you want open) to be infinitely easier than having to switch back and forth.

I don't know, needing to look up at the sky to know how good you are at swinging a sword doesn't sound very natural to me...

Although I suppose having a menu that actually feels like something your character can physically look at instead of just something that's only there for the player's convenience is difficult when you don't have a wrist mounted data storage and display device. But I'm actually fine if they don't do that above all, I want menus that are practical, clearly displaying all the information the player need in a manner that's as conveniently accessable as possible, now, I'm not saying going with a fancy design for the menu or trying to make it as "immersive" as possible is a bad idea, really, I'm fine with that, I just feel that designers should focus on making the menu perform is function well before worrying about the design.

Though my main coucern with Skyrim's menu is how well it will work on the PC version, we've all heard the criticisms on Oblivion using a console-oriented menu even in the PC version I'm sure, so I don't think I need to explain the problems with it. And yet despite this, and the many mods that aim to correct it, Bethesda made no effort to fix the problem in Fallout 3, will they in Skyrim? I don't know, but what information I've recieved on menus so far doesn't make me feel optimistic about this. I fear that, once again, I'll need to wait for mods to get a menu that feels right on my PC monitor.

We haven't really seen the menus so I don't have an opinion on them yet. :shrug: I just hope they don't copy and paste the menus from consoles to the PC like they did with Oblivion.

a couple of things i hope all the text is referred in first person, and i wouldn't mind it being a classic menu like a book that the protagonist carries around.