This week the column returns to give you your dose of regularly scheduled UIs. We'll be looking at the UI provided to use by Selece of the Deathwing server. He's submitted a UI back in March of 2007, but the one he sent us a couple weeks ago was so slick we just couldn't pass it up.
Selece tells us his UI is designed for end game Hunters and has four primary goals:
- Clean lines – He needs to see what's happening without the UI getting in his way.
- Readability – Text elements need to be clean and crisp, everything has to be easily identifiable.
- Clear center – He needs to be able to see what's going on around him, and the center of the screen is his place for that.
- Visible cooldowns – Cooldowns need to be easy and quick to see, so he knows what's up next.
Having a clean UI without tons of screen elements getting in the way is essential to any successful UI. Remember the point of you modifying the interface is to make it more useful – and cleaning up the screen in a prime way you can do that.
Keeping things readable, which he does with the addon ClearFont2, is a must. While the default Blizzard font isn't bad – it's not perfect either. Having a crisp font that is large and spacious enough to easily see without straining your eyes can make the world of difference. It might only take a split second to focus and react to the text – but if that split second can be shaved down, eventually the arrogate reaction time will be faster. That only means more DPS and less wipes, in the long run.
One of the interesting things that I found Selece talking about was a clear center. He mentions that as a hunter he needs to have absolute clear visibility of the entire raid field. I can't really argue with this. A clear center and view of the main playing field is necessary for any class. However I've found with tanking, a center that has critical information and buttons can help reduce eye movement, and increase reaction time. I think we're both right in our respective environments, and it's an interesting dichotomy to look at.
So what addons is Selece using? Here's the master list. All of these can either be found on Curse or through WoWAceUpdater.
- Baggins – Bag organization.
- BigWigs – Gives detailed boss alert information.
- Bongos2 – Sets up many customizable action bars.
- ClearFont2 – Changes the default font.
- ClosetGnome - Wardrobe management.
- CowTip - Tooltip modification.
- cyCircled - Rounded action bar buttons.
- eePanels2 - Frame helper.
- ElkBuffBars - Buff bar replacement.
- FreeRefills - Automatically restocks items in your bags.
- Fence - Multi-use item and interface enhancements.
- Fubar – Informaiton bars at the bottom and/or top of your screen.
- gdFont - Changes the default damage font to something "cooler."
- Grid – Raid frames.
- LoggerHead - Automatic combat logging.
- MikScrollingBattleText - Highly configurable combat scrolling text.
- NRT - Raid attendance tracker.
- Omen - Threat meter.
- OmniCC - Adds cooldowns onto the action bars.
- oRA2 – Raid organization and information tool.
- PitBull - Unit frames.
- Prat - Chat modules.
- Quartz - Casting bars.
- RatingBuster - Detailed tooltip information for items.
Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send it, along with your character name and server, to readerui@gmail.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-06-2008 @ 9:53PM
Darmichar said...
Very nice, I see some things here that I will probably implement into my UI.
Would it be possible to add what screen resolutions are being used in the UI's presented here. It's nice to know so you can visually compare these UI's to your own, and have an idea if what you see would work at the resolution you're using.
Reply
4-07-2008 @ 11:45AM
Badger said...
I agree. It's hard to figure out how all of these UI elements are placed and scaled without understanding what screen resolution the player is running.
4-06-2008 @ 9:59PM
Charlie said...
I love the action bars. Very stylish.
Very clean, well made.
Reply
4-06-2008 @ 10:03PM
Wansinoo said...
What is the pitbull layout? I'd love to import it if it can be posted. Thanks!
Reply
4-06-2008 @ 11:03PM
Ahoni said...
I'll second that. I really like the pitbull layout
4-07-2008 @ 8:06PM
thecapuchin said...
And I'll third that. Very nice layout of the unit frame, I wanna know how!
Thanks.
4-06-2008 @ 11:13PM
Sophey said...
What is the small box to the right of the target that appears to be showing what debuffs are active?
Reply
4-06-2008 @ 11:25PM
Superrambo said...
Yes.. would really like to import the pitbull layout as well.. it's great.
Reply
4-07-2008 @ 12:37AM
Hilton said...
I like the Minimap. What is it?
Reply
4-07-2008 @ 12:46AM
Darmichar said...
I believe it's simpleMiimap. You can get current versions at WowAce.
4-07-2008 @ 12:47AM
Darmichar said...
That would be 'simpleMinimap', sorry for the typo.
4-07-2008 @ 5:05AM
AlmtyBob said...
SMM is way outdated. If I had to guess, I'd say that's Chinchilla. It's like SMM but reguarly updated and with a truckload of options. Easy to use options too, not overly complex ones (Prat anyone?).
4-07-2008 @ 6:23AM
Koskun said...
Also might want to take a look at Squeenix (also on WoWAce).
4-07-2008 @ 2:00AM
germanboy3383 said...
what mod displays when CDs are rdy to be reused like Kill Command in the middle of his screen?
Reply
4-07-2008 @ 4:00AM
Daniel said...
@ germanboy3383
That mod is MikScrollingBattleText. It flashes on screen whenever a spell CD is ready.
4-07-2008 @ 3:43AM
Black Cat said...
I believe that is the "announcement" function of MikScrollingBattleText. It is a very good combat text mod, I prefer it over SCT, especially for tanking. Also, I use Hourglass, an Ace mod which shows a cooldown bar on my abilities (so I know when to pop HS, etc without having to look at my action bars. Pparticularly useful if I'm in an AoE tanking situation and I will run out of charges before the cooldown is up).
4-07-2008 @ 4:24AM
veikos said...
No DPS Meter? Next week show a PvPer's UI :O
Reply
4-07-2008 @ 5:09AM
Nemahsys said...
Selece is no longer playing on Deathwing. He and the rest of the officers in the raiding guild liquidated the bank and ninja transferred w/o telling anyone.
You should also note at this time that Selece the player was pretending to be a girl when he sent you his first UI back in 2007 and now he is saying he is a guy.
This is b/c Selece pretended to be a female player in our guild for over 3 years. His GF actually broke up with him when she found out he was pretending to be a girl.
Dont you want your UI to look just like his/hers?
Reply
4-07-2008 @ 8:16AM
Regis said...
She broke up with him for pretending to be a girl? Guess God does have a sense of humor after all :P
4-07-2008 @ 9:49AM
Ahoni said...
"Dont you want your UI to look just like his/hers?"
Yes, because if I make my UI look like this one, I will act just like the person who created it. Also, I hear if you touch a person with cancer, I will get cancer. Oh yeah, don't forget that talking with a homosexual will make you gay.
[/sarcasm]