My Custom 'UO Patcher' Design Concept

[Wallenstein]

So I noticed the new patcher design for UO and was highly disappointed in the fact that so many of the graphics are choppy, blocky, and just not spaced well at all. For a game like UO with the impending release of Stygian Abyss-- which, might I add, is likely going to be a massive boost to UO-- I feel like this new design is severely lacking given the talent that I am sure Electronic Arts holds.

So, as a graphic designer myself, seeing this design instantly drove me to come up with my own 'Patcher' concept seen below..

Direct link (full quality): http://www.vyfx.com/images/uo-patcher-concept-vyfxcom.jpg

For anyone wondering, it was put together in just under an hour in Photoshop using graphics mainly from the Stygian Abyss site. No hard feelings to EA-- I am definitely with tons of others thanking you for a seriously needed update to the patch screen-- but, I just can't take many more of the choppy graphics and logos!

Any thoughts? Is anyone else upset with the new design?

 

[Cloak&Dagger]

While that looks great, I would keep in that it is possible that nothing they release right now will hold until the sa release, basically when SA release it is possible that they update the patcher again. Given the information they haven given in the past about how they are changing the patching and such, it is a feasible thing to consider.

 

[Fink]

It's an unfortunately frequent occurrence in the graphics trade that placeholder-quality art ends up getting used in finished product, often because it is deemed "good enough" by the beancounters. Art intended as a mockup or a proof of concept, produced as cheaply as possible, is sometimes adopted as the final article. The bigger the production house, the worse the tendency.

Same happens with code, of course; bugs make it into publishes all the time. Emergency patches, rollbacks, windows service packs.. it's a constant process. But in terms of graphics, it's not a black-&-white right or wrong decision, just sometimes a bad one.

I sometimes cringe when I see a rough-looking graphic because I know how often they're retained rather than redone.

 

[AaronTheAssassin]

They should really use Wallen's templete. I hate the fact that they got Horiz Scroll and the stretched Gametime code image

 

[Wallenstein]

While that looks great, I would keep in that it is possible that nothing they release right now will hold until the sa release, basically when SA release it is possible that they update the patcher again. Given the information they haven given in the past about how they are changing the patching and such, it is a feasible thing to consider.

Well one thing that jumped right out was the "Don't have an accout? Click HERE" link. Dark blue links don't stand out whatsoever on a dark grey background, so why the blue link was used is beyond me. It's just hard to read..

In my opinion that link should be above the patch notes and the blue should be changed to another color.. like the yellow shade from the "Updated!" text on the UOGameCodes image, for example. It will stand out more, potentially draw more people to click it, and ultimately hopefully result in more players for UO.