User Interface Analysis: Skyrim
link: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/EricSchwarz/20111114/8890/User_Interface_Analysis_Skyrim.php
In my previous article, I took a pretty scathing and
critical look at
Skyrim's PC user interface, as well
as some of the issues with the port in general, such as poor performance.
Bethesda released a day-one 1.1 patch just after I had written the article,
which fixed a number of the interface problems (such as inconsistent keyboard
and mouse controls), but it's clear that the shipping version of the game still
had some major problems, and likely that the PC version fell by the wayside in
order to hit that majestic "11/11/11" shipping date.
Though user interface is something that one can write books on, and has been
the subject of a number of my
previous articles,
Skyrim's user interface is
something which I feel deserves specific scrutiny beyond the PC compatibility
and usability complaints I voiced. Indeed,
Skyrim has, for all its
sleekness, has, to be completely frank, one of the worst user interfaces I have
had the displeasure of using.
Skyrim, the game, is one of Bethesda's
best works and a substantial improvement over previous ones, I do want to
stress... but actually interacting with the game is
an exercise in
frustration, and the interface itself violates so many fundamental design tenets
that it's downright upsetting.
Oblivion and
Fallout 3, it's fair to say, did not have the
best user interfaces. Their layouts were a bit confusing and inconsistent,
there were too many tabs, menus, nested menus, menus with multiple pages and
sub-screens, etc. Moreover, in
Fallout 3, close to two-thirds of the
screen space was taken up by the Pip-boy 3000, a fancy model with lots of
shaders which had precisely no gameplay function whatsoever (but it sure did
look neat, huh?). One would think that after these two instances, Bethesda
would go back to the drawing board and try to improve things for the better.
Initially, it looked that way. Bethesda's bold new iPod-esque design, with
plenty of clean, futuristic fonts and scrolling "cover flow" menus was clean and
seemingly efficient, removing a lot of the excess baggage of previous menus and
more effectively organizing information. It's fair to say that this is one of
the more radical redesigns of a user interface in a modern console game short of
Fable III's interactive 3D Sanctuary. However, like
Fable
III,
Skyrim completely forgets that conventions exist for a
reason... and demonstrates that Bethesda really have not learned very much about
designing interfaces at all.
Poor Use of Space
The first, and most glaring fault, and a problem shared with their previous
games no less, is an almost criminal misuse of space. Though the
heads-up-display is minimalistic and efficient actually getting into the menus
demonstrates an almost complete ignorance of even the most basic design rules.
Upon opening up one of the game's menus (inventory or magic are the two most
common), one is greeted with a single sidebar on the left or right side of the
screen, containing a list of categories. While there are ten distinct entries
on the inventory list (depending on what types of items the player has), the
default position for the list is not at the top of the screen, but at the center
of the screen.
While this is immediately more readable, it quickly becomes apparent that not
all entries can fit on-screen at once. On a gamepad, this means that sometimes
you'll need to do additional scrolling to be able to read some of the additional
items in the menu. On the PC, you'll need to actually scroll the list just to
be able to click on the items that fall off-screen, even though there is more
than enough real estate on screen to click each of them.
 |
|
Despite all that extra space up top, the default list position makes no
use of it whatsoever. |
Actually selecting one of these categories will reveal a second menu which
lists all items within that sub-category, i.e. potions or weapons. However,
whereas a single column works for the smaller, ten-items-at-most list for
inventory and magic categories, for the items underneath, it's a complete
disaster. While only a few items won't put any stress on the format, when you
have potentially dozens or even hundreds of items, as in the case of various
potions, ingredients, food items, and so on, this misuse of screen space and
fixation on adhering to a specific aesthetic means that sometimes it can take
ten seconds or more to even reach the item you're looking for. Adding another
column would have mitigated the problem almost entirely, and placing the
default list position at the top of the screen rather than the center would have
further reduced additional scrolling.
Finally, there's the item or spell display itself. Though it likely seemed a
good idea at the time, over 50% of the screen space is taken over by a 3D model
or particle effect of a given item, with attributes and a short description
taking up close to 20% of the entire usable screen space. Why this is, I cannot
fathom. Most of your time in the inventory will be taken up scrolling through
items, not staring at 3D models. Furthermore, a separate option to examine the
models in detail already exists - so why do they take up so much room by
default? I imagine the goal was to show off the pretty models their artists no
doubt worked very hard on, but to devote so much screen space to such a
non-essential function is a major interface slip-up.
Text vs. Pictures
One immediately apparent characteristic of
Skyrim's menus is that
they almost entirely eschew pictures, instead replacing everything with text,
sorted alphabetically in most cases. This is a trend I've seen in a lot of
modern games lately, and is often sold as "getting rid of the
Tetris
inventory" or the more general "streamlining." Unfortunately, such a mode of
thinking completely misses out on some of the many advantages that pictures and
icons have over text.
While smart sorting options and using text aren't outright bad decisions, I
want to stress, text, especially on a TV screen where real estate is more
limited, takes up significantly more room than icons can, and have the immediate
downside of being less easily identifiable. Those lengthy lists which define
Skyrim's menu systems could take up half the space if more traditional
and RPG-like inventory icons were used instead - and it would have further
eliminated the need for a large 3D model to take up the majority of screen
space.
One of the most defining features of RPGs, especially in the West, has been a
paper doll feature, or a graphical representation of the in-game character.
Traditionally, this was done (even in previous
Elder Scrolls games) due
to technical limitations, as highly-detailed and unique sprites were often
beyond the graphical capabilities of many game engines. Over time, this
practice has generally waned, mostly because modern games are able to display a
high-detail 3D representation of the player character anyway, either during
gameplay or in cutscenes.
 |
|
Though clearly not optimized for a gamepad, Icewind Dale and other
Infinity Engine games accomplish far more with pictures than with
text. |
Though the paper doll was initially included in games as a compromise, a way
to have a customizable character without needing to create high-detail animated
sprites for every possible combination of races, sexes, equipment, clothing, and
so on, it also ended up serving a very important purpose as far as user
interface goes. The paper doll, more than just a vanity, helped to instantly
and immediately express exactly what items a player character had equipped -
what suit of armor, what weapon, what magic amulet, and so on. When coupled
with an "equipped" inventory sorter of some variety, it meant that players could
quickly and easily figure out what items they had equipped at any given time,
literally at a glance.
Skyrim removes the paper doll function entirely in favor of the
aforementioned 3D models, and the result is that it's actually harder to figure
out what one's character is using at a given time. Playing as a warrior, unless
I have my weapon at the ready, I genuinely have no idea what I have equipped,
potentially until it's too late and I meet the game over screen. Playing as a
mage, unless I have my spells at the ready, I have no idea what I can cast at a
given moment, leading to much mashing of hotkeys - and furthermore, as many
spells share similar visual effects, often I find myself casting the wrong spell
for a situation because I can't even tell them apart until I've fired them
off.
Comparing the interface in
Skyrim to the interface in
Icewind
Dale, it seems that the old Infinity Engine was capable of producing a more
immediately usable, quicker, and more attractive interface than all the modern
technology and theft from Apple in the world could. The pictures look good,
it's easy to see what each item is, there are reams of more detailed information
to be had at a single mouse click, quick-slots are easy to set up, it's never a
mystery what items I have equipped, and there's even something tactile about the
weighty sound effects and item selection lacking from
Skyrim's sterile
menus. Even
Arena did some things better than
Skyrim, and
that was over fifteen years ago.
The Worst Screen in the History of UIs
That header is not hyperbole. I think that
Skyrim has genuinely
managed to lay claim to the title of "worst interface element ever made." It
comes in the form of the skills menu, used primarily for leveling up. It
violates almost every single rule about designing user interfaces, and it does
so for only one reason - to show off a pretty picture.
 |
|
Among many other problems, the skills screen doesn't even give you an
idea of how many skills there are to choose
from. |
The gimmick with the skill screen is that it resembles a number of
constellations in a night sky, with each constellation representing a specific
skill. I was under the impression that in previous
Elder Scrolls lore,
it was birthsigns that were the constellations, but I guess that idea was thrown
out the window as birthsigns have been removed in
Skyrim. But I
digress. There are honestly so many issues with this screen that I am just
going to list them one-by-one.
- It's impossible to see all the skills at once. Want to know what your skill
level in something is? Prepare to do some additional left and right scrolling.
Depending on what skills you use, this could mean several seconds and close to a
dozen discrete inputs to move the list along to where you want it.
- It wastes a lot of extra screen space. By linking each of the headers to an
image, instead of, say, displaying multiple rows or a vertical list with
independent images, the numer of items on screen at once is further limited.
- It needlessly violates conventions both in games and in the real world.
From an early age, we are taught to read information left to right, and to list
items top to bottom. This convention may not be the ultimate in organization,
but it works and most players are going to be used to it. Instead,
Skyrim presents a left-to-right list of items which is completely
counter-intuitive to our existing understanding of how lists work.
- The default point is the center, not the left side. Though it may seem more
intuitive to place the currently-selected skill in the middle of the screen, in
actuality it creates more work for the player, as the eyes have to travel both
left and right to view other skills.
- The list scrolls both left or right, meaning there is no "starting" point to
go from. Usually in a game I want to know my information is organized in some
sort of coherent way, but in Skyrim, the left and right scrolling ruins
any spatial organization of information players might have. Furthermore,
anything that's off-screen might as well not exist at all, so if it's not
immediately visible, you probably won't have a clue of exactly where it is in
relation to the other items.
- On the PC, the controls are baffling and awkward. Mouse clicks only move
the list one position left or right. Think you can click on one of those
far-off items to select it? Too bad. I mean, really, what do you think that
mouse even is, a cursor or something?
- When it comes time to inspect the perks in the skill trees themselves, or
level up, only one perk's details are visible at one time. This makes it
impossible to view information at a glance, and furthermore means that it's
harder to compare different perks to one another and weigh trade-offs.
- You have to go back from the perk menu to change to a different skill. The
way the controls are set up both on PC or gamepads, using the usual "back"
button actually closes the entire skills screen, rather than going back to the
main list. Why the needless break from convention? I certainly couldn't tell
you.
- Navigating through different perks is a tedious and difficult process.
Rather than using a list, perks are represented by stars in each constellation,
and must be "traveled" to using the analogue stick or mouse pointer. If you're
imprecise with your movement, be prepared to waste time as you travel to the
wrong perk selection. Furthermore, it takes around two seconds to move from one
perk to the next, which itself can grow irritating if you want to find something
at the opposite end of the perk tree.
- UI elements and camera perspective can actually block out perks that should
be visible. Instead of being able to see all the perks at once, the angle of
the camera means that only a handful of them are even visible in the first
place. In some cases, such as the "Perks to increase" counter visible in the
screenshot, the titles of perks that should be visible are actually blocked out
entirely, requiring additional scrolling.
- When leveling up, there is no way to go back on a selection you've already
made. Chosen a perk and then change your mind? Maybe pressed the back button
by mistake and kicked yourself out of the menu again? Too bad, you're stuck
with your choice. Almost every single RPG I've ever played has had a "confirm
changes" button somewhere, usually upon fully exiting a menu rather than
immediately after selecting a given item. Why it's not in Skyrim, I
can't say.
I honestly do not know who designed this portion of the interface, but it has
so many elementary problems that I have trouble understanding how it even made
it into the game - surely, somewhere, someone must have said "you know, this
doesn't really work well"? And yet they didn't - it's in the game, and players
have to suffer through it.
 |
|
As if scrolling everywhere wasn't bad enough, doing it in different
directions presents its own share of issues. |
I have a theory about what likely happened. Somewhere, a designer came up
with the idea... "it'd be cool if there were constellations, with all these
stars on it representing skills." Then, some artist whipped up a neat concept
that looked really pretty, and everyone was on board. However, in not sitting
back and asking exactly how it would work from a user interface perspective,
what the trade-offs were, and so on, the result was something not at all
enjoyable to use, or intuitive. Developers sometimes get married to an idea
they really like, to the point where it can sometimes interfere with the rest of
the game... in this case, Bethesda's designers were probably dead-set on this
idea. As a result, one of the game's more important interface elements was
utterly ruined... all for the sake of a pretty picture.
Conclusion
I again want to stress that I have been enjoying my time with
Skyrim. The game is great, it's a lot of fun, and aside from my
complaints with the interface and the PC version of the game, it really is a
great experience compared to previous Bethesda titles.... and for what it's
worth, there is one thing about the UI I do like - the mouse/stick gestures for
selecting menus does work very well. I also don't want to point any fingers at
anyone in particular; I don't work for Bethesda, I don't know their company
culture, and I don't know who makes exactly what decisions, or how much freedom
and back-and-forth there is. Put simply: there is nothing personal about my
complaints, and I genuinely hope they are ot taken that way.
Even so, I have trouble understanding how such a, frankly, badly-designed
user interface ever made its way into a supposed triple-A game. If Bethesda
don't have a dedicated interface designer or engineer, then it's clear they need
to get one as soon as possible. If they're willing to sacrifice so much
functionality and usability for the sake of aesthetic gimmickry, on the other
hand... well, then I think maybe there are deeper problems at Bethesda that the
company needs to work out, and in a way which doesn't leave their players
saddled with the soiled fruits of their experimentation. The interface is one
of the most important parts of the game; it's time to see it given the respect
and attention it deserves.
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