#ui elements

What SSO Has Done Well:

I think the updated store UI was a very long overdue update and I can’t wait for the rest of the stores in the game to get this refresh. I’m glad that the camera has been freed to move around the horse and that we have an option to turn on and off magical mode for our Jorvik Wilds. Using the 3D models instead of icons has been a blessing and makes shopping so much better as I’m not guessing what the object looks like or forgetting where it’s at in the store. I also am glad that we have filter options to select items based on what they are (tops, saddles, accessories ect) or based on colors and so on. The only thing I’d like to see updated is the color/style of the background to match the global store but I’m sure it’ll come in time.

The global store is another feature I greatly applaud and I think was a must for this game. While not everything is available in it I think it really helps even just with planning and testing outfits or tack sets let alone saving time and effort on shopping. I also love being able to look up the price of an item in game and figuring out where it’s located without having to go into my browser or hunt around in game. Overall I think the way the global store is setup is great, I adore all the filters, the ability to manage both my horse and my character’s outfit and see the stats even. I also like that a tutorial is available just in case but isn’t in your face either.

Adding 3D inventory models was again one of the best things the team has done for UI. I can’t stress enough how much better it is for finding what you need or looking for the right color items. It makes organization and finding objects so much better and probably the only thing I would like more is if they were slightly bigger. I also appreciate when items are zoomed into (especially earrings) as it helps make them easier to see and know which one you’re looking at. Personally I also like the updates to backgrounds of items and I can’t wait to see everything else updated from the black jarring background to a more color coordinated one. (My only worry is for people with color blindness though.)

Updating the race UI/HUD, namely in adding buttons that allow you to restart and exit the race. (I began playing the game before this update and was ecstatic to see it implemented.)

Removing the bar on the magical horse changes but leaving sparkles to still give the player a heads up of the change.

Having a bar on the swimming (so the player knows how long they can be in the water and when they are in deep enough water to be teleported out.)

I personally love the newer UI/HUD graphics in general and I feel it looks far more professional and sleek without taking away from the game’s feel and branding. Especially speaking of the updates to the race UI, boards and such. I hope to see the darker blues carried over into the rest of the game’s UI and HUD. I also really love the way the wooden boards look now (especially the western games one) and I hope to see that implemented in things such as stable chores boards.

The quest log update was badly needed and I like the new organization on it. Overall it is a small thing but I think for people still running main quests it’ll help a lot.

Suggestions for Improvement:

Please make everything able to be exited out of by hitting the “Esc” key. Prime examples of where this is missing is namely with the race boards to initiate a high score race, the druid lessons/missions board and the new western games board. (Can’t check the board at the rescue ranch but that might be one too.) While not necessarily UI I also want to mention that things such as dancing (like the disco) or sitting down (like at the cafe) would also be nice to exit via “Esc.”

I think area notifications should either be removed entirely (since we have the compass to update us) or turned off by default (especially since there are several bugs with them turning on despite the muting feature being active.) If they are left on by default then the game should be updated to remember the player’s settings. I personally don’t like to have to turn on the mute setting every time I log in and would love it if the game simply kept my settings saved client side so the only time it refreshes it is on a full reinstall. If none of these are a viable option then at the very least the area notifications should be moved to the top of the screen. They update far too frequently and become rather frustrating especially when either taking screenshots or recording. (Just moving around the circus in Nilmers is a prime example of the area notifications being way too easily triggered.)

Entering and exiting global chat notification should be removed entirely. Personally I don’t understand why it’s only active in certain areas (unless this is something on the back end that makes the game run better then yes that makes a lot of sense.) However if it must stay within only towns/stables then I think the notification is unnecessary. The player should get some kind of mini tutorial at the start of the game explaining how the chat system works. After that then most people old enough to chat will be able to figure it out on their own or use the “say” chat to ask for help. People who already know how to use global will be aware it only functions in towns.

Lower the loading bars and announcements or other notifications not placed in the upper right corner to the bottom of the screen. (Alternatively they could be moved up to the top of the screen.) For example the “Swimming” bar can be moved so it’s across the bottom of the screen instead of the middle and place the warning that it’s too deep in the same spot. Other examples are with the “Ferry Leaving the Quay” and when characters talk in quests outside of dialogue boxes such as cooking instructions. I would also move the druid commands during training like the change lanes as well. In general I would keep any brief info out of the center of the screen as that blocks the player’s view of their character/horse and what they are interacting with.

Add in a way to view your best time on appropriate races. (This is likely a lot of extra work since it only applies to ones you can run multiple times but I would love to know what my previous best time was while running said race.)

Remove the popup for all archaeology digging that causes you to pause and close out of it. Preferably replace it with the standard floating UI you get from races and items flying into your inventory. (I’ll go into this more on the archaeology ramble.)

Combine beating your personal best pop-up with the update on current time and current best time. When you beat your best time it should show 3 times instead of 2, your time on the race you just ran, your new personal best and your previous personal best. I would suggest making the “Congrats” text more noticeable to help avoid causing players interested in seeing these stats to skip it. There is plenty of room in the massive popup we currently have to be able to fit all these aspects and I feel trimming excess popups helps with general quality of life.

Remove the loading bar on most actions and either make them immediately completed or just let animations play. Most things I don’t think really need to have the animations play for so long as well. Prime example would be horse care and stable chores, you don’t need a “grooming loading bar” for example, just play the animation of the player grooming the horse or mucking the stable. The bar I feel just makes it feel less immersive (for as immersive as you can get with mucking) and also makes it feel more like a chore and something you have to wait out. Some things also just feel better being instantaneous like when you refill water or hay with daily chores. (Would love if refilling my buckets was instant too.)

Western games board improvements (I will also bring this up in my discussion about Starshine Ranch and go into some extra detail there.) Please make it so when the board is activated that the horse the player is riding will stop. I’ve found when I come out of the arena after running a race that my horse continues galloping past the board, often into the tables across the way as I’m used to the boards pausing my horse’s movement. As mentioned earlier I also think it should be able to be exited via the “Esc” key.

I don’t think I really need to mention all of the stores that need to be fixed but I do have a few specific details I’d like to list. I really hope the mall gets an update to function more like the newer stores or the global store where I can tilt the camera around my horse and rider. Speaking of the global store I would personally like to see the player/horse preview area increased in size and possibly adjust the lighting so it’s a little better on the opposite side of the horse from the player model. I would also like a way for indoor pet stores to have a means of viewing the pet with your horse. Otherwise I would simply just make it so they aren’t indoors at all. Lastly Farah seems to have a weird bug with the placement of the camera and I dearly hope that her new store is updated as it’s very hard to actually look at my horse and apparel. (Might submit a report on that.)

When you complete caring for your horse it should only pop up in the notification area in the corner. I think the extra popup across the top is pointless.

Small idea for the quest log, I would love to see daily quests (and possibly races and chores) separated per general area. So for example maybe something like Silverglade (Moorland/Fort Pinta/Silverglade/Manor/Valedale/Firgrove,) South Hoof, Harvest Countries (Jarlahiem and such,) Epona, Mistfall, Goldenhills, Dino Valley and so on as new areas are eventually added. Possibly even break central Silverglade down further. Basically this would be nicer for end game users to be able to see what areas have the most quests available that day and is certainly not something I would prioritize.

Other Notes:

With removing the “Okay” button that pauses you before starting a race I was initially on the fence about it. On one hand I think removing it helps when you’re doing a quick run of races because it means less time to get into the race. On the other hand, however I am also one of those people who uses it to pause the game. I think if I were on the team I would end up removing it as it feels pointless, there’s no reason to make the player pause as they already confirmed they want to do the race by selecting it.

I will be going into more depth regarding Starshine Ranch in another post but I did want to add a few of my immediate notes on the UI for the western games/races. Overall I love the board (besides my suggestions earlier) and I really like how you can line up several races via checking the boxes. (And I hope this means we get other barrel/pole/ect setups too later as well as group/friend races.) My main concerns are with how the UI before and after the races is handled. I think the line showing you the path is a great idea but I also feel it grows very tiring to have it before every race. I would think maybe having it as an option in the board menu would be better. Something that works as a “preview” of the race you’re interested in rather than every time you’re about to run it. I think maybe having Josh do a mini intro quest into western games would be a better means of showing players the layout of the course for the first time than having the line show up each time you run the race and can avoid having to code a way for it to only show up the first time a player interacts with the board. I think the number of popups could also be reduced much like the new best time on races. The same info is displayed on both screens (who wins is denoted by a medal instead of text) and therefore the first screen is sorta pointless. I also feel that the reward screen should only show up when you actually are rewarded money/exp and when repeating the races without a reward it shouldn’t show up.

Also, honestly if the team ever wanted someone to go through and find all of the places for suggested adjustments on small things such as removing loading bars on animation I would be happy to do so in my spare time. I care quite a bit about this horse game to probably a ridiculous point but I want to see it succeed even when it comes down to the little things like quality of life updates.

Anyone is free to add their thoughts via reblogs or replies, I’d love to hear what others have in mind regarding my rambles or what they think the game does well or can improve at. I’m also open to asks about my thoughts as well. 

I’d like to also mention that I certainly don’t think I know better than the team, these are simply my personal observations on how I think the game could improve. I hope that they can help stir up discussions within both the SSO community and maybe even with the team on how to make the game even better. I want to help promote healthy and constructive critiquing and free shared thoughts in the fandom/community. Please try to keep any additions free of ranting/putting down the game or the team that works on it.