Reader UI of the Week: Maritime's UI
by Mathew McCurley 
Aug 24th 2010 at 7:00PM
Each week, WoW.com brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs. Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send your screenshots, along with info on what mods you're using, to readerui@wow.com.
Welcome, friends, to another exciting edition of Reader UI of the Week. Reader UI is all about finding interface setups from WoW.com loyal readers, showcasing them and learning a thing or two from our fellow enthusiasts. In this edition, I've decided to pinpoint two interesting features about an admittedly feature-rich interface and go a little analytical. The interface shots show you more than I could say about addon placement, so some analysis was in the cards. Also, people wanted to see a view port interface. You can't say I don't listen to my peoples. Let's get started!
Maritime has a pretty neat user interface! Take it away.
Hi Mat!
Maritime, warrior from <Knights of the Runes> on Azjol-Nerub (US) here. I love the reader UI series. I've been tweaking my UI from very early on in WoW's history (anyone else remember Cosmos UI?) and have gotten some good tips from your articles, like lowering the alpha value on scrolling text for a less jarring visual impact, and reducing the number of bars in my threat meter so it can share some space for another addon. I was recently inspired to do a very light integration with kgPanels. More on that later.
My primary focus is PVE, switching frequently between tanking and DPS. I run on a large widescreen monitor, and many choices made in my design would not work on a smaller or 4:3 screen. I aim for consistency wherever it's practical. I've settled on one texture for every bar in my UI, and one font, except where I found that font simply didn't work.
Addons used:
Aperture: I start with my viewport mod, because using it has a huge impact on everything else in the UI. Also because of the alphabet. I really like being able to have a separate area to place much of my UI without obscuring the world view.
Auracle: I've never seen much discussion about this awesome buff mod, which is a shame, because it fits a couple of specific use cases so well. Auracle is composed of separate windows, which are made up of one or more trackers. Each buff/debuff tracker can work with multiple buffs, based on the effect of the buff without regard to caster or class. For example, as a warrior, I want to be sure that I (and by extension, the rest of the group) have an attack power buff, but I don't much care if it's my Battle Shout, another warrior's Shout or Blessing of Might from a pally. It is also easy to set it up to make it obvious when a buff or debuff is missing. On my warrior, I display for my frame AP and health point buffs, and for my target an AP debuff.
Bartender4: I do something a bit different here. The buttons on the right are all keybound to my numpad (I've actually removed the numlock key so I don't accidentally toggle it), and most of my play is with both hands on the keyboard (I don't PvP much). I have both the top and numpad bars switch when I change stance. This enables me to have access to (and see all the cooldowns of) all my warrior's abilities w/o having to use a modifier. The trade-off is that a few things I want access to in combat share bars with stuff I don't need, like crafting, so the bars are always on.
ButtonFacade: Makes Bartender and Outfitter bars look nicer and consistent.
Cascade: Damage log for when I need to figure out how I died.
Chinchilla: Minimap.
ChocolateBar: Top bar is for data, bottom bar is launchers.
Cowtip, modified by CowTipLuaText: A nice clean tooltip display.
DXE: Boss mod.
ElkBuffBars: I prefer the bar-style buff display, especially since getting the widescreen monitor.
kgPanels: I like using clear boundaries to define my UI, but I've used kgPanels in a couple of places. Most obvious is giving a background to the top ChocolateBar. More subtle is the faint fade between zones in the bottom part of my interface. The final piece is the white bar between the fifth and sixth raid members. The SUF raid layout I use doesn't divide by groups, so I attach a white bar to the bottom of the sixth (and 11th, 16th and 21st) raid frames so I can more quickly asses how many slots are still open. I'll bet some readers would be surprised that kgPanels can be used for informational purposes.
MikScrollingBattleText: I like seeing the numbers fly by!
OmniCC: Plays nice with Bartender for an easy-to-read cooldown display.
Outfitter: Essential for keeping track of and easily switching between my numerous outfits.
PowerAuras: See the blue circle under my target frame? Each piece of the circle represents a stack of Sunder Armor. The pieces are yellow when there are less than five stacks, and when the there is less than 10 seconds before SA expires, the circle goes red and I get a countdown as well. I also use a PA to inform me with a sound and visual cue when I get a free Slam proc when I'm DPSing. My kitty alt uses a whole slew of PAs to keep track of my rotation.
Prat: My preferred chat mod. I like having two chat areas for better parsing of info during raids. Sometimes I wish I could live with just one and get some of that real estate back for something else, like my raid frames, but when on busy nights in my large guild, a single window just scrolls too fast.
Quartz: I only use two of Quartz's bars, as the player cast bar, which you can see in my solo picture. I love having the cast bar span the whole width of the screen. A recent bonus I've discovered while leveling a shadow priest is that having a long cast bar, coupled with Quartz's latency mod, makes it easier to time your next cast. I also use Quartz's target cast bar. I get a better display of interruptible casts than the one that come in SUF.
ShadowedUnitFrames: Best looking UF out of the box and easy to configure.
Skada: Hidden when solo, threat meter when in combat, damage meter out of combat.
TargetCharms: A simple marking tool.
TidyPlates + ThreatPlates: LOVE this addon pair. They revolutionized multi-mob tanking for me.
That's most of the stuff you can see. There's also a long list of various utility addons I have that don't really pertain to interface design. I hope you enjoy my UI and find enough of interest here to share with your readers.
Thanks,
Maritime
Shapes are important
The hallmark of Maritime's user interface to me might not be what you were expecting. For the most part, Maritime's UI works well in a very utilitarian fashion and works without obscuring the main window to such a degree. What stood out for me was the shape of the action bars to mirror the keyboard layout chosen by Maritime. Not enough user interfaces, in my opinion, take a cue from the layouts that are right in front of us all.
Two aspects of the keypad action bar are of highest importance for me. First, the shape. Second, the function. Let's start with shape. I like shapes. I really like shapes. You should be using more shapes!
Why all the shape love, you ask? Dynamic shapes are eye-catching, fun and unique. Most people, myself included, use action bars in the shape of the referenced input device -- my keyboard's 1 through = keys are represented as straight bars on my screen. The hand-eye coordination is key to fast ability activation. Shaping the action bars, coincidentally, aids in that.
The second aspect I love is that I keep forgetting the number pad exists. I'm that guy! Right now, on my warrior, I tank with my left hand and move with my right hand on the mouse. On the paladin, I would tank with my right hand, use the left hand to apply seals and judgments, and have to move my hand off the keyboard for mouse movement. Opening up the number pad means a whole new wealth of buttons available for the right hand. And I keep forgetting they exist. Thank you, Maritime, for reminding me that 18 lost buttons are on my keyboard, ready for the binding.
View port or not to port
Before I close this edition of Reader UI, I will disclose my controversial opinion about viewport addons. I don't like view ports that physically shrink your viewable window and add an area specifically for your interface. Again, the wonder of user interface customization is that everything is personal preference. My opinion definitely has a reason, though.
Back in Ultima Online, you had the option to make a separate, black area that did not obscure the interface where you could leave health bars, bags and other interface elements. For UO, this worked, since screen and game resolutions at the time did not necessarily act kindly to full screen setups. Frankly, it looked sharper smaller. As time went on for me, I found the real challenge of creating a user interface was less about the substance and more about the style -- integrating the user interface over the game world without pushing things into their own gated area. My interface was more like a cockpit. This has stuck with me through 10 years plus of massively multiplayers. I still recommend using viewport addons that change your viewable area if that is your thing, however. There are plenty of good ones out there.
Thank you again for the email, Maritime. You've given your fellow readers a few awesome things to think about when crafting their own UIs. Sometimes, Reader UI can be about these concepts rather than placement. Personally, I love these analytical issues that user interface creation brings up. Fun times!
See you guys next week!
Interested in getting the most out of your user interface? Come back once a week for more examples of reader UIs. For more details on individual addons, check out Addon Spotlight, or visit Addons 101 for help getting started.Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Morbid Aug 24th 2010 7:05PM
It surprises me how many UI's favor a large bar at the bottom of the screen.
Now, I understand how it gives a nice clean backdrop to buttons, addons, frames, etc, however I much prefer being to actually see the game behind my interface. I realize that in many cases this black bar is full of items that would block the view anyways, but I just don't get having it there constantly. You lose a quarter to a third of your screen to it.
I guess if I had to have everything condensed at the bottom I'd at least leave no background so that I could see the game behind everything.
Eh, perhaps I'm in a minority. xD
elboricua1974 Aug 24th 2010 7:11PM
I use Sunn Art to create a bottom panel like this as well. You actually see more of the screen using an addon such as this. You see more laterally than vertically. As a main spec tank I find that it helps to see add/pats in heroics and raids.
Jiyambi Aug 24th 2010 7:58PM
I bounce back and forth on this. You have to understand, in some ways it's actually *increasing* your screen size - yes things are smaller, but you actually have a *larger* field of view with a viewport due to the widescreen effect.
Now, I would not ever leave it black as in this UI - I personally find that pretty flat and unappealing. I would at least drop Skinner in there to give it a gradient of some kind, or use one of the many art addons like BTex or Sunart to make it pretty. By combining UI elements in one place and using the viewport, you really can get more out of your screen.
At the same time, it makes the objects in the game world a bit smaller. My monitor is pretty small so I'm constantly going back and forth between using a viewport and not. >_
Itanius Aug 24th 2010 8:22PM
I agree with you, Morbid. I'm not a fan of control-panel style layouts, view port or not. It makes me feel like I'm sitting in the cockpit of a mech-warrior type vehicle or something, whereas the floating, display-when-you-need-it setup feels more natural to me.
To each his own. That's the basis for customizable user interfaces anyways. :)
Sanat Aug 25th 2010 3:26PM
You also need to remember that your eyes track differently when you have an area set apart like when you use the bottom black bars. By doing this your eyes actually spend more time in the game play area.
Yes you lose some space at the bottom, but a well put together UI allows for your eyes to track the most important items of the screen the best. Typically this is where your toon is, and your health, cool downs etc. The reason why POWA is used so often is due to the fact you can place very visual cues over other important areas and still be able to see everything.
(While honestly I debate on how important a big this is your health thing really is unless your a tank. But that is another discussion)
Wulfkin Aug 27th 2010 3:44AM
I agree and just don't see the point of viewpanels like this. You can barely see any of the gameworld! To me the best UI is as minimalistic as possible, allowing me to get the best experience out of my WoW.
jfofla Aug 24th 2010 7:28PM
I am always surprised how complicated the UIs are in these features. I guess I just prefer the standard UI with a few tweaks.
feniks9174 Aug 24th 2010 8:11PM
Most passionate UI advocates will tell you that, while the stock UI does the job, it does the bare minimum. Kinda like a reheated meat and potatoes dinner versus a 3 course meal at a 5 Star Italian restaurant. They both fill you up, but one is infinitely more enjoyable.
Personally, I get my kicks from the design aspect. I like taking all of the parts and pieces to create something that is really -mine- and does exactly what I want it to do. What we're all trying to do is simply find that perfect marriage of form and function to create a UI that contributes to a more enjoyable game experience.
I used to say the exact same thing as yourself when I started playing. I would see people playing with all kinds of AddOns and bar mods and think "how can they play like that?". Eventually, as I found more use for addons like Buff Bars, Omen and Recount, the more I found the need to make my ugly, cluttered UI into something more cohesive and pretty.
Different strokes, though. My girlfriend in high school and I used to argue about lowering/lifting vehicles. She said it was pointless and a car goes from point A to point B fine off the factory floor, I said "who cares, it looks cool!".
humperdinck Aug 24th 2010 7:38PM
I have a very similar UI and I absolutely love the idea of the screen-width cast bar and will give that a try. I might try it for my target's castbar - it seems like a very visual way to alert you to an enemy cast.
Gnowaï Aug 24th 2010 8:47PM
With regards to viewports, I like having my screen in a panoramic view. Most viewport addons actually change the aspect ratio not just add black bars, so they actually increase the viewable world.
When my guild wanted to 3D Sarth I made it a requirement for that one fight so that you wouldn't have to turn to see flame walls. It actually expands you view left and right.
Ishelle Aug 24th 2010 9:34PM
I'm new to the idea of viewport addons, but intrigued by them. Can you reccy any for me?
Gnowaï Aug 25th 2010 1:32AM
Sunn art is the one I use. Easy to use.
Anye Aug 24th 2010 10:51PM
Hilarious... When my wife saw the screenshot of this week's UI, her immediate response was: "Looks like how I used to have my UO setup." And I guess it reminded Mat of UO too.
I only played UO on my wife's recommendation, years after its prime, and just for a few months. I still miss my house, though...
Nipah Aug 25th 2010 12:09AM
That bottom viewport section is HUGE. So are the action buttons... and why does everyone make their player/target unit frames so long? And do you need to see the buff/debuff names? So much of this UI can be consolidated that it's scary...
*sighs* I know, to each their own... but sometimes it just bothers the crap out of me.
Brian Aug 25th 2010 12:44PM
I said the same thing ironically. I have a similar setup, but this looks much more cluttered than mine does (in my opinion of course).
Maritime Aug 25th 2010 1:26AM
Thanks for sharing my UI Matt!
To the comments regarding the viewport, for me I'm trading fine details for more info by making everything smaller, but increasing my total view. I like seeing adds run in before anyone else in the raid does, it makes my guild think I'm a better tank than I am. :P
@Nipah: Funny, everytime I see an addon posted with those teeny-tiny action buttons I wonder how they can play that way... Basically it comes down to a detail I forgot to include in my original write-up. I'm almost 44 years old and my vision is not what it used to be. I need my UI elements to be legible. And yes, I do need to see my buff/debuff names.
Khirsah Aug 25th 2010 8:34AM
Thanks for your submission, Maritime. I recently purchased an n52te keypad and a Razer Naga mouse. I have the 12 buttons on the mouse programmed to various movement (like strafing, jumping, and backup) and targeting macros plus Shift, Control, and Alt to give the n52te a full compliment of 56 bindable keys (not that I would EVER need that many), and I never have to use the keyboard except to type in chat.
However, I am still learning the position of all those keys, and one missed button is the difference of life and death in PvP.
I've only had about 10 hours of playing time on the n52te, and I'm sure it will become second nature, but in the meantime I'm going to follow your example and reconfigure my Bartender to better match the layout of the keypad.
It seems so simple now, but somehow I never thought of doing it before I saw your layout. Thanks for a great idea!
Grendalsh Aug 25th 2010 2:11PM
@Khirsah
I use the n52te, and use Dominos to change the actionbars to 3x4 grids to match, similar to what you mention. Using the shift/ctrl/alt modifiers, I've bound to 5 on-screen actionbars, for 60 keybindings. This gives on-screen keymaps of all abilities/macros/sub-menues. (An entire actionbar is used for Opie menu rings - I only have to go to the default ui for bags). I have S/C/A on the N52te, so I can use them to modify mouse button presses as well, multiplying the number of keybinds on the mouse. In theory this would work with the Naga...
Having the on-screen keymaps makes changing between chars/classes fairly easy, as figuring out where abilities are bound is as easy as looking at the actionbars.
I have videos of this setup on my youtube channel, The 2 Ring (http://www.youtube.com/users/grendalsh), along with links to many other n52te user vids. I'd be interested hearing more about integrating the n52te and Naga - I get lots of questions about this.
Absyinthe Aug 25th 2010 2:06AM
Cosmos.... Haven't heard that name in a long time....
SunGod228 Aug 25th 2010 9:12AM
/sigh Cosmos was really amazing...then blizzard implemented over half of the functionality into the standard interface and it fizzled out.
I do miss there anchor setup though, still one of the best move anything type addons out there.