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Neverwinter Nights 2: More on the Radial Menu Issue by J.E. Sawyer
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Sawyer, responding to some posters' criticisms of the new menu system, had this to say on the official forums:
Ziroc_Ironworks said:
I don't like the sound of a new interface. It won't feel like NWN at all now. Are these drop down menus you say are like Fallout ALSO like that bad game "Pool of Radiance II" ? If so, DON'T DO IT. Its bad. :)
Context-sensitive drop-down menus have worked pretty well for every mouse-driven operating system GUI made in the past 10 years, so I don't think we're gambling much here.
The Radial menu system was one of THE most unique, and fast ways to do stuff in-game. (IMO at least--and many others I know). Why re-invent the wheel? Is it because you would have to use icon graphics for each action?
The creation of the radial menu was the reinvention of the wheel. It's not like D&D games before NWN required radial menus. We have to create the same number of icon graphics either way. Well, unless you want to count the "Next Radial Level" icons that we'd have to create due to the radial's limit of eight items per level (seven if you have to include that icon).
Will this be XML so people can add plugins for it? (like World of Warcraft).
Yes, it's .XML.
StormHammer said:
I do like the radial menu in NWN, but as others have already said, it had too many layers to it, making certain actions a pain.
However, this limitation could actually have been overcome by using a keypress on the keyboard in tandem with right-clicking, to bring up different types of radial menu. For example, press SHIFT and right-click to bring up a spells radial menu, or CTRL and right-click to bring up emotes etc.
You'd still have to deal with the limitation of eight items per menu unless you want to abandon direct numpad mapping. The line of thought I kept coming across in the radial/numpad thread was that many people either didn't use the radial menu at all or they used the numpad to drive the radial menu. If people are just going to use the numpad to drive the radial menu, they might as well be using quickbar slots.
Actually there is a difference - I will be taking my eyes off the screen to hunt for the right keys to press on the keyboard.
I don't think the muscle memory required for zipping through radial menus is any less complicated than the muscle memory required for pressing keys. If people taught themselves how to go through radials with their eyes closed, they can go through quickbars with their eyes closed.
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