New UI Update: Gameboard

DeNappa

DeNappa said:

After playing a few matches with the update, I will have to agree with the criticism that other users voiced before me. The field becoming so much darker on enemy turn is distracting somehow, and the board colors are less bright, making everything blend together more. Also, the character symbols on the tiles seem more pronounced, which make special tiles harder to notice.

After playing for a bit longer, the colors aren't that bad actually. It just takes a bit to get used to. Even the dimming on enemy turn. I still stand by my last point though: character symbols vs special tiles. 

And as I stated in the release notes thread: the flashing effects -- while probably not changed -- seem to stand out more because of the overall darker theme, making it more tiring.

RGV123

Tony_Foot said:

Not a fan of the colour change, far less obvious contrast. At no point have I ever thought I needed to see more of the characters either.

Oh well it’s not like my feedback will change anything, this is what It is going forward. Not a fan of the now grey tiles on a black background either.

I agree completely.  I play on PC and all the colors seem very dull now and I hate how everything goes dark when the AI is moving.  With the dull colors and darkness this is a terrible change that makes me less likely to want to play (after two years). 

Any chance of giving the option to play the way it was with brighter colors and no darkness?

pheregas

I'm not one to suggest review bombing for minor things.  I don't suggest it for cheaters.  I would however, suggest it if this is not rolled back quickly.  In its current state I feel no desire at all to play this game that I've invested 7 years of my life into.  I gave it a few more matches and the constant AI turn dimming gave me a headache.   If there is no formal dev announcement about plans to fix this or roll back to a previous version, you can bet I will be making a change in my user rating and sending an email to the apple app store.  These game changes are virtually game breaking for me.

On a side note, I used to be able to play this game without my reading glasses.  Now they are essential.  I swear the text is even smaller in the in-match power descriptions.  Font size 3 would be generous.  

Did anyone that plays this game competitively QC this?  Did they source it to colorblind people?  To be honest, my already dwindling trust in this company is now just about gone.

Dogface

Not a fan of this change too. 

I can live with the colors, but the logos on them are much too prominent. I've been playing long enough to know which character has which colors the strongest. 

The dimming is quite awful too. I've not updated on my phone yet and it is because someone said it here, but the background color changes in the old version when the enemy is at play. That's a non-intrusive way. Why not keep it like that?

And third, I feel the new version is slower. Can't actually pinpoint what is slower, but it definitely feels slower.

SiderisAnon

PLEASE give us a way to turn off the new glowy tiles ASAP.  I played one match and had a headache.  Any longer, I would have had a migraine.  I have almost 700 hours in this game according to Steam and I don't want to quit.  (Not to mention the complete waste of money for the hero points I recently bought.)  Right now, I simply cannot play it for any length of time.

grenadier

Sorry, not a fan at all.  I've got to ask:  do you ever run this by test groups outside of the office?  I suspect you would have gotten negative feedback on it long before doing all the work and rolling it out.

It's too dark, overall.  I'm finding it harder to quickly at a glance tell the colors apart, and I am NOT color blind.  I see earlier posts from those that are color blind having major issues.

Also, the strike/attack icons are not as easily distinguishable.

I'm hoping to get past this, but I just played DDQ for the day, and was so tired of looking at the new color scheme that I didn't play anything else.  Aesthetically ugly, and also less functional. 

Please offer an option to switch color schemes back to the original.

The worst is the dimming of the screen when the enemy player takes its turn,  It's distracting, and seems to delay the turn.  Whether that is true or not, that's the perception I have.  It seems to take more time because you have to watch it flop back and forth, and it tends to force the player to have to refocus when its done.  This definitely needs an option to toggle it off, similar to what is done with the character effects and physics effects.

JRYUART

I think that this new UI is an ingenious solution to the speed hacking exploit by forcing them to significantly slow down in order to tell what the heck they are matching. Two birds...

ilikecake

I really really hate the update.

The icons make the board too busy, and make it harder to distinguish between icons and special tiles. 

The muted colours make it harder to distinguish quickly between the colours.

I don't know why this was seen as being necessary. I've been playing almost since launch and it's making me not want to play. 

justsing

zonatahunt said:

I desperately want to find something positive to say about this update, as complaining usually gets you nowhere, but this change is horrible.  

First, I suffer from red-green colorblindness, and these changes make the board nearly unplayable.  Too many colors blend in to one another because the brighter background has been replaced with a dark one; there goes that important contrast.

Second, the dimming of the screen during the opponents moves actually hurts my eyes and bothers my head.  I find I’m straining to see what’s happening on a screen that’s no longer designed to convey the information I’m used to receiving.  This change is horrific and we should be given a choice to turn it off, much like animations and enemy AP gain.

Finally, this is a question as opposed to feedback...but do you guys ever play-test these changes?  Who on the development team played this and thought it was an improvement?  The big problem you guys are facing with your loyal player base is that we show up every day and give you our all, while changes like this feel very short-sighted and without care for how it’s going to affect us.  I think it’s moments like these that further the divide between player and developer because it really seems like what’s important to us (i.e., character respects, qol changes, etc.) are purposefully ignored in favor for changes that are two steps back for every step forward.

TheDude_Abides

Signal boosting this. 

The new UI is at most an irritation for players like me, but for those who are colorblind or have light sensitivity issues, it’s practically unplayable. Please revert these changes and do better about considering accessibility issues with future UI changes. 

Motren

With this new update i cannot play anymore. I have some vision problems, tried some battles after updating and this way the board is impossibile to watch, it makes my eyes strain too much and now i have a very bad headache. After over 6 years, I'm afraid i will have to uninstall if don't wanna risk a worsening of my vision. Really guys, if any of u has vision problems, pay attention, new board graphic is very bad. No idea why devs didn't think to those that have problems like this. Maybe we don't have the right to play like normal and healthy people.

Jacknife

Sirs, what kind of mind decide of this awful choice?.. wihtout asking us? At least u could do it beta and we stop you doing this update.

Upadete results for me..: ( I play on PC.)

- More darkness on gems. I hated.
- Signs on gems are like cartoon. Not good.
- Physics is not good.
- Colors are not choosable.
- Not realistic small and big gems.

Finally I cant consantrate the game. This is awful. Please turn back to old style. I dont want use to be this.
 
If you want to make a good update: change or close sound effects. A terrible whirr on options. I dont talk about game playing effects. U understood what I mean.

Bad

Positive things is that the damage dealt is quite highlighted now, as well as repeaters.

Tiles phisics need to be turned on in the menu. I think they are fine.
Powers available are not so well highlighted, the only sign they shown is some tiny beat and playing it I had a power and I didnt notice it for firing it.
Enemy phase I think it should not need to remark it on dark. It doesnt look good like it is mentioned.
The new look would need time to get used to, of course is a lot harder now to play a board not used to. 
I think it would be positive to have different board patterns and let the player choose the style wanted inside this new system. 
I dont think that should be hard to program.

jredd

mbaren said:

Okay, now I've fought a couple of battles with it, and I have some feedback:

I don't love the change, but in terms of the shift in colors and style, I know I'll get used to it.  Not a fan of the tile physics, but since that can be turned off, great.  Leave it in or don't, doesn't bother me in the slightest.

The thing I don't like is the way the board dims on the enemy's turn.  I find this distracting, and if I'm watching what's going on it actually makes the action and predicting cascades harder to follow.  If there was a way to turn that off too, that'd be great.

so much this. please make it stop.

Jramjhk

Terrible update. I was able to get used to the character selection screen changes but this is unforgivable. 

Open a ticket and let them know they need to head back to the drawing board on this one!

T_REZ5000

Loving this redesign as well as the other ui changes.  Keep up the good work.

Edit:  just realized a lot of people don't really like the changes.  It would be nice to give them the option of using the old interface.  

Edit2:  the ap bars could use an effect or noticeable color change to make them pop when full.  Especially the yellow one.

Houtro

...Bring back the sparkling victory banner!! 

Now seriously devs what's this!? Some of the latest changes were good but not this... Like most said before, the colors (blue and green just awful) , the enemy move going dark, special tiles hard to see, numbers in the countdown need to be a bit bolder and it feels slower (intended!?)

Edit: Like a great Portuguese poet said about some very well-known drink “Primeiro estranha-se, depois entranha-se” which would translate to “First it amazes you, then it gets into your veins” we well get use to it but it needs some tweaks please.

Jacknife

Jacknife said:

Sirs, what kind of mind decide of this awful choice?.. wihtout asking us? At least u could do it beta and we stop you doing this update.

Upadete results for me..: ( I play on PC.)

- More darkness on gems. I hated.
- Signs on gems are like cartoon. Not good.
- Physics is not good.
- Colors are not choosable.
- Not realistic small and big gems.
- While oppening playing board become more darker!?

Finally I cant consantrate the game. This is awful. Please turn back to old style. I dont want use to be this.
 
If you want to make a good update: change or close sound effects. A terrible whirr on options. I dont talk about game playing effects. U understood what I mean.

I forgot one thing more. - While oppenent playing board become more darker!?

brontag1

Ech.. add one more to the 'revert' or give us an option to turn it off.

ElReyFelix

Overall I like the look of the gameboard itself and the new look of the tiles. It looks more sleek and modern and more visually appealing to me. I will say, however, that I am not colorblind so I cannot speak for those people. 

That being said, I agree with most people on here in that I do not like the dimming of the board when it is the opponent's turn. I hope this gets changed to an option which can be toggled on/off.

I do like the new tile physics. It reminds me of Tetris.

Perhaps my biggest issue with this update are the AP bars. I find them harder to read and they don't seem as obvious to me when my ap bars are full. In practice, I have found on multiple occasions that a couple turns sometimes pass before I realize that one of my AP bars was full.

Wonko33

i think I will get used to most of it except the dimming during enemy turn, makes it hard to play and eyes have to keep adjusting to brightness difference- I often play in dimly lit room with brightness down