Druzal Profile Joined September 2010 United States 25 Posts Last Edited: 2011-07-15 09:12:49 #1



To put it simply, I think the Blizzard UI should be significantly changed for e-sports viewing. In my opinion it's also poorly designed for playing and caters to dogmatic principles rather than well thought out design. But that's another post. =D



Here is the default Blizzard observer UI. I set the production tab to be open as this is the most common tab that an informed viewer will want to see.





It looks nice but 80% of the UI space is WASTED as an ESports Viewer (see picture below).





Now some might object to the strength of that statement. How else will you tell what both the Weapons/Armor and Ability upgrades are? How will you know what health the Banshee got away with or how many SCV's it killed?



The following is my take on a better e-sports UI. It utilizes my very poor image manipulation and design skills. It follows the principle that an informed e-sports viewer is a better e-sports viewer.





As you can see most of the chafe is done away, we have large fonts for low resolution streams, and we now have so much more information! We know that the upgrades are equal and that Thorazain has a significant worker advantage but therefore a smaller army. Liquid Tyler seems to have significantly higher APM during the battle which is something you can point out to a non-fan to get them interested in the game. You can also see that pulling the SCV's from the natural has had significantly affected Thorazain's income.



Note that small unit window on the left in this example would be a popup. Most of the time you do not need to see the details on a selected unit. Instead the observer would simply pop this up during the hellion harass or to peak in on the undying colossus.



One thing this UI would have trouble showing is whether an upgrade has already been researched. The solution to this is a tab showing completed upgrades. This would be a great tab to have regardless of UI change. It's sort of silly that the observer must either go find the appropriate building or unit to see if the upgrade is researched. Oh and am I the only one who constantly confuses the upgrade pictures? Since you can't build more than one of the same upgrade at a time, shouldn't they change the number displayed to the upgrade level?



An important side effect of an improved UI is freeing the viewer from poor casting/observer. So many times after a big harass, I find myself mentally screaming at the caster to show the worker count or dispute their income comments because I know that it is peaking when they check do to a huge mule drop. Not to mention when the uninformed casters wonder why the battle seemed so lopsided. 3/3 upgrades help a lot it turns out. =D



Now how can this be achieved? Well my personal investigations were disappointing. From what I could tell, Blizzard does not provide ways of differentiating observers, players, and, most certainly, replay viewers inside the editor. As such you would need to make a custom map for observer only UI changes. These sorts of modifications, again to my knowledge, would prevent replays from being recorded. I think that most

tournaments would not support that solution. Thus, if I am correct, an improved e-sportsUI would require a change by Blizzard. I would loved to be told differently.



So what do people think? Do you think you can make a better one? I'd be very sad if no one could =D. I'll be sure edit this post with other people's "Ultimate E-Sports Viewing UI's".





Thanks,



Druzal - An E-Sports Fan



edit:

Let us presume this poll presumes a polished, finished product created by someone with talent =D.



Poll: Would you like to see an improved ESports/Viewer UI?



No, leave the UI alone. (207)

53%



Yes, your layout looks great! Can TSL4 use it? (85)

22%



Yes, some major changes, but I disagree some of your details. (57)

15%



Yes, but only some minor changes (44)

11%



393 total votes (207)53%(85)22%(57)15%(44)11%393 total votes Your vote: Would you like to see an improved ESports/Viewer UI? (Vote): No, leave the UI alone.

(Vote): Yes, but only some minor changes

(Vote): Yes, some major changes, but I disagree some of your details.

(Vote): Yes, your layout looks great! Can TSL4 use it?

Let me begin by introducing myself as a person who watches waaaaaay more Starcraft 2 than he plays. I've watched most every major tournament and attended a couple of MLG events, but have played probably less than 100 games of SC2 and am a lowly platinum player... or at least I was last season. I really should play that placement match. Anyway, know that my opinions here reflect that bias.To put it simply, I think the Blizzard UI should be significantly changed for e-sports viewing. In my opinion it's also poorly designed for playing and caters to dogmatic principles rather than well thought out design. But that's another post. =DHere is the default Blizzard observer UI. I set the production tab to be open as this is the most common tab that an informed viewer will want to see.It looks nice but 80% of the UI space is WASTED as an ESports Viewer (see picture below).Now some might object to the strength of that statement. How else will you tell what both the Weapons/Armor and Ability upgrades are? How will you know what health the Banshee got away with or how many SCV's it killed?The following is my take on a better e-sports UI. It utilizes my very poor image manipulation and design skills. It follows the principle that an informed e-sports viewer is a better e-sports viewer.As you can see most of the chafe is done away, we have large fonts for low resolution streams, and we now have so much more information! We know that the upgrades are equal and that Thorazain has a significant worker advantage but therefore a smaller army. Liquid Tyler seems to have significantly higher APM during the battle which is something you can point out to a non-fan to get them interested in the game. You can also see that pulling the SCV's from the natural has had significantly affected Thorazain's income.Note that small unit window on the left in this example would be a popup. Most of the time you do not need to see the details on a selected unit. Instead the observer would simply pop this up during the hellion harass or to peak in on the undying colossus.One thing this UI would have trouble showing is whether an upgrade has already been researched. The solution to this is a tab showing completed upgrades. This would be a great tab to have regardless of UI change. It's sort of silly that the observer must either go find the appropriate building or unit to see if the upgrade is researched. Oh and am I the only one who constantly confuses the upgrade pictures? Since you can't build more than one of the same upgrade at a time, shouldn't they change the number displayed to the upgrade level?An important side effect of an improved UI is freeing the viewer from poor casting/observer. So many times after a big harass, I find myself mentally screaming at the caster to show the worker count or dispute their income comments because I know that it is peaking when they check do to a huge mule drop. Not to mention when the uninformed casters wonder why the battle seemed so lopsided. 3/3 upgrades help a lot it turns out. =DNow how can this be achieved? Well my personal investigations were disappointing. From what I could tell, Blizzard does not provide ways of differentiating observers, players, and, most certainly, replay viewers inside the editor. As such you would need to make a custom map for observer only UI changes. These sorts of modifications, again to my knowledge, would prevent replays from being recorded. I think that mosttournaments would not support that solution. Thus, if I am correct, an improved e-sportsUI would require a change by Blizzard. I would loved to be told differently.So what do people think? Do you think you can make a better one? I'd be very sad if no one could =D. I'll be sure edit this post with other people's "Ultimate E-Sports Viewing UI's".Thanks,Druzal - An E-Sports Fanedit:Let us presume this poll presumes a polished, finished product created by someone with talent =D.