Game Mechanics: Spellboook button

[Wenai]

Originally Posted by Wenai [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

...

No matter what we do it will become "custom content". As the button was never available in the Velious UI to begin with. We are currently working on updates to the Velious UI that is being distributed in the patch notes. We have been having discussions internally about what we can do to alleviate this. In the meantime, a /book social macro is really not too much to ask of people.

I am really not sure what part of the language I used was not clear to Loramin and Bigcountry23. I am saying we are aware of the issue, it is caused by the fact that there was NO spellbook button on the Velious UI, and players were forced to go back to the stone UI to actually get it. We have been discussing which custom and non-classic approach we want to take. I said in the meantime, players have other available options such as /book, or even keybinding.

Unfortunately the actual UI we have been working on is NOT part of the distributed files yet. Nilbog and Rogean are working closely with us to get things ready.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Wenai [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I am really not sure what part of the language I used was not clear to Loramin and Bigcountry23. I am saying we are aware of the issue, it is caused by the fact that there was NO spellbook button on the Velious UI, and players were forced to go back to the stone UI to actually get it. We have been discussing which custom and non-classic approach we want to take. I said in the meantime, players have other available options such as /book, or even keybinding.

Unfortunately the actual UI we have been working on is NOT part of the distributed files yet. Nilbog and Rogean are working closely with us to get things ready.

I don't think the question is "did the Kunark UI (or what I'm calling 'Kunark UI') have a spellbook button?" (You seemed to clarify that it didn't, and I edited my post to say as much after I re-read your post.)

I think the question is, does the staff want a perfect re-creation of "Kunark UI", or are you just aiming for "as classic as possible UI?" To my knowledge no one on the staff has explicitly answered that, but it seems like that decision is the key to deciding whether a spellbook button belongs (since the pre-Kunark UI did have one).

My guess, based on what I've read, is that y'all are aiming for a re-creation of "Kunark UI", not some kind of "Kunark-like, but with classic bits" UI ... and such a decision would be 100% consistent with having no (built-in) book button.

P.S. In case anyone wonders why I call it "Kunark UI", I'm assuming it's the UI talked about in this patch (which is in the Kunark era).

[Danth]

Originally Posted by loramin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

"Kunark UI"

They're actually talking about the Velious UI. Here's a quick rundown:

The game always had a fullscreen mode available. Not many folks necessarily used it, but it was there from the start. It had only limited functionality. Over time some additional functions were added to that fullscreen mode, including the patch you linked above. With the launch of the Velious expansion, the old fullscreen UI was hugely increased in its capabilities to become something players could use full-time if they wanted, as well as offering support for larger resolutions. It is this velious-era UI that P99 seeks to simulate, hence why it's called "velious" in the UI dropdown list. This UI nonetheless still allowed users to switch back to the periscope-screen "stone" UI whenever they wished, and automatically reverted when certain screens such as spellbook or trainer window were opened. Obviously this functionality cannot be replicated on Titanium. The "Velious" UI (along with the old 'stone' UI) remained the primary game interface well into the Luclin era, when a completely new UI system based on XML was patched in during spring/summer 2002. The old-style UI's fell out of use quite rapidly thereafter, and were patched out of the game entirely a bit later, around early 2003.

Because the spellbook button in the original game was only available in the "stone" UI and not the fullscreen "Velious" UI, a P99-specific solution is going to be slightly custom no matter which option is selected.

Danth