Organizing the User Interface

28 Nov 2010
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With the recent November update, the UI received some nice adjustments. Among them are increased response time, the inclusion of a skill and experience points bar, the ability to add a second chat window and a number of other changes that make the interface feel better overall. One of the changes that we’ll highlight with this post is the ability to move the action bar allowing for a fully customizable screen set up.

There are an infinite number of choices with how a player can set up their screen. Do you have more than one chat window? Where are they positioned? Do you stack them? Lay them next to each other? What filters do you have set up? Lots of questions to ask yourself, and those are only for the chat windows! What about the action bar? The mini map?

Lets look at a few samples of how the user interface can be arranged.


Default


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This is the default set up for the widgets (the elements of the user interface). It should be a layout that all of you are used too. Up until now, the most important elements of the UI such as the action bar, were unable to be relocated. This would mean that the bottom center of the screen would always have to be occupied by the action bar and anything else near it would need to be positioned correctly so that it doesn’t cover up, or get covered up by the action bar.


The Side by Side


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This arrangement has two chat windows side by side at the bottom of the screen. The action bar rests ontop of the chat windows keeping it close to the center of the screen where all the action takes place. For a set up like this, it’s also important to adjust your vertical camera settings so that you’re character doesn’t get covered up by the chat windows.


Stacked


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This set up is similar to the default. The most notable difference is the position of the chat windows that are stacked on the side of the screen. This allows for the center of the screen to be clear of clutter so you can see everything that’s going on.


Vana’diel


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After playing Final Fantasy XI for so long, I’m used to looking at certain parts of the screen for certain things. This layout attempted to recreate the layout from Final Fantasy XI while also making a few changes to account for new elements such as the stamina bar, experience bar etc.


These are but a few examples of what’s possible with the user interface after the update. I’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg! Throw up a reply in the forums and share your configuration with us!