Party frames

[thaine]

First off, the game looks awesome and I am eagerly awaiting release. However I was wondering if there exists an option to move the party frames somewhere other than the right side of the screen. Being left handed it would make the gaming experience much more comfortable if I were able to move them to the left side as well.

[juho]

Sorry, but no. I'm also left handed and fortunately it's not a problem (at least for me) that the controls are on the right side. We had some talk about doing some left right switch, but we didn't prioritize it that high so it got cut out of the game. We may look about it if we have time and patch it.

[thaine]

Sorry to hear that, but thank you for the response.

[Mameluk]

Why not locate the party frames somewhere in the middle? You should try it, might be more dynamic that way - you never know!

[luthur1964]

If you've lurked around the Almost Human blog for any amount of time, you might remember that the original layout had the character portraits at the top (like the old DM layout). The team then moved it to allow a more open visual of the dungeon and also reduced the character interface in a smart way. Everyone is welcome to their own opinion, and mine is in agreement with the current layout. I hope lefties are able to adjust though, because your point is a good one. Ultimately though, getting the finished game out, whilest sacrificing a few virgins, err.. I mean lefties, was a good decision. After all, these boys gotta eat.

[Mameluk]

Why not have the current frames, spread out horizontally at the bottom (or top!), as middle as possible, for the most neutral and eye-pleasing approach possible. So the frames wouldn't be awkwardly 'stacked' on one side of the screen.

With this, you could also change the controls to where you select a party member by pressing 1, 2, 3 or 4, and execute attacks and commands by clicking anywhere on the screen with left/right mousebutton or by pressing a keybind.

[maskedhobo]

The stacking is to represent the fact that your in a squad formation and in rank and file. It is because the narrowness of the dungeon halls. I think it ties in with the story.

[pi4t]

If they were spread out like that, you'd have to move your mouse further to click on different characters' attacks, losing you precious time in combat. I'm guessing that hotkeys like that would be a completely different combat style they'd have to balance, and now is probably rather too late for that.

[luthur1964]

For me, having them spread across the bottom or top would be a bit confusing - not mention the extended mouse movement required for fighting. Remembering who is in front and back, especially after choosing to shuffle them around could make my brain bleed. My 2 cents.

[Mameluk]

Well, I think it's simple: party members 1 and 2 are in the front, 3 and 4 are in the back. It's literally the same as the current format but without hopping down a row. The difference between front and back could be indicated by some marker on the frames. Also, the fact that with the new control system you'd use these indexes (1-4) to select them makes it all more easier to remember (and requires much less mouse action).

The combat would pretty much stay the same imo. Currently, you can click one button at a time on a single frame, same way you would have one character selected at a time. The time it takes to move the cursor from one frame to another would be replaced by the time it takes to press 1-4 keys on your keyboard.

Of course, this can't be changed at this point... but perhaps something to experiment with. Who knows.