i'm a bastard

turns out that thing on the bottom of the rig was small because it wasn't supposed to be selected. you aren't supposed to animate the character by moveing the world selecter, you're supposed to use the local and shift-select the feet. and hands if the ik switch is set. which it wasnt until about a week ago. anyways. i was wrong about that. but the hands controls should be very large, very easy to select.

i'm writing this down in hopes of remembering it.

i got another one for ya

make the root in the middle of the body or make it wave up and down in more than one plane. because... you often want to adjust charcter's realtioponship to the floor-most often, i'd say. And you can't select the root if it's sticking throught the floor.

notes about rigging

make the wrist joints really big. You'll be selecting them a lot. Also the foot controllers. Make them big and hopefully multiplane. (i.e. wiggly)

The root controller also has to be very big and easily recognizable. Don't make it small.

Also, and i don't know if this is possible, can someone make a control or something that selects everything? Every controller anyway, so we can key them all at once. Without having to individually select everything?

i'll look into this.

more about icons and how they suck

say youre an orc warrior. you might have a hotbar that looks like this. if you'll look to the right side of the hotbar, you'll see what i call the 'shouty skills'.

what do any of these do?

Yarr! Wyeah!! Waaa!!! Wrooo!!1!
WROAR!1!!1

-a little suggestion about what you might do as an alternative (i don't like to criticize without suggesting alternatives (it's what makes criticism constructive( and allows me to mock more mercilessly(hehehe)))-
Think about the effects of the spells, not the cause. try to depict those in an icon.

i dont mean that the art is bad

-looking. I think some of the art for the icons looks good, in terms of what its representing. I think it's used badly, and in a way that can confuse players and affect gameplay negaatively.

it's not just the repetition

Though that is the most easily ridiculable. It's that they use the same piece of art for things that are very different conceptually. Take this little glimmer thing for instance.

It's used for an attack spell for Mages, (Arcane Explosion i think) but if youre a hunter, it's a switch that shows which of your aspects is currently 'on' Also, for Warlock's pets subtoolbar, it shows which pet ability is currently active.

Those are two different uses of that piece of art, two completely different concepts. You should never use the same art for things so different.

While i'm at it, i don't like the use of a piece of art as a switch to show that an ability is on. not only does it make the icon different, but it covers up what is there. You can't tell what's on, you can only tell what's not on. Do you see?

A better way already exists in the game. In the hunter's pet toolbar, there's a little animated marquee border that appears when an ability is on. This is a good solution, it does its job, tells you the ability is active without occluding the ability.

Now how come the hunter's pet toolbar uses this method, while the Warlock's pet toolbar uses the occlusion method? The only thing i can think of is that they were done by two different people.

Consistency. consistency is important for an interface.

a greatly belated example

Say that you are a troll (with racial ability ...that speed thing) warlock (able to summon imps)on the quest for Zalazane's Head. Your hotbar would look something like this...

i forgot i was doing tiny blurbs on world of warcraft

The absolute worst thing about world of warcraft is the icons. God, those icons are bad. Think about it. How often have you gotten powers mixed up? I don't know, let me give an example.

NUUURRRBS!!!

That's what i think whenever anyone mentions Nurbs. And people mention it a lot in my line of woprk.

Revenge of the Nerds.

Which it is, really. Whoever writes the history books. Or the format of the history books.

more about world of warcraft

there is no sense of yourself in an environment. Light does not play on you. (or even simply switch from a lighted to a dark model) Your footsteps make no sound. You kick up no dust, leave no prints.

i like the 'few suggestions format"

these few suggestions apply to World of Warcraft.

+the fact that, if you have two weapons, and switch them, your second weapon, previously invisible, pops into being on your back. i think that's inexcusable in a modern game.

+

ill bet you thought i was dead

well im playing World of Warcraft, which is pretty much the same thing. it is flawed. so flawed. and yeat someparts of it are very good. i'll have a full report on it later.