Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Patch6, recuding hotbar real-estate

Sorry perhaps I explained it poorly, I was just trying to describe what I think the design philosophy of that style of hotbar developed out of, not what it is now or what Larian necessarily wants it to be. Just to say that it's not novel, the 1-10 cycling bar, or an invention that we're seeing for the first time here. I recognize it from elsewhere, same as you. But I also didn't mean like RTS zergin' with keybinds on a hotbar would be better than a proper RTS UI. I can imagine getting rocked into the ground, if I had to play those games that way too. I think it comes more from elsewhere in the RT genre. I really only see an advantage to the 10key/cycle hotbar scheme like in those RPGs that took real-time to the MMO format, with the flashing cooldowns and such. Which is the last thing I want from a Baldur's Gate game hehe. You know, people going all blitzo mode and not sleeping for days, cause the game just commanded one's full attention in real-time like that. Not trying to say that I feel that would be proper implementation for a game like BG3 in any way. Just exploring the sources as they appear to me, and I suppose making some assumptions too based my own impression of where it arose. But I think we're in general agreement. I also don't think anything I said was nonsense, but I suppose that's a given lol


Can you elaborate? I don't understand what 'set "spells" icon to hotbar' means. I want my prepared spells in a spellbar, that I can access from a spell casting icon, and which would then present the spells to me in an orderly manner. Something that was consistent, that could be saved, that I don't have to do each and every time. Something a new player could get their head around. I don't need it to be all fixed and immovable I just want something that doesn't feel haphazard. I don't want to get stuck with a bunch of micromanagement and constant shifting, but I don't want to take the thing you like away, if there's a chance to accommodate us both. I thought you'd basically like the same, except you want the bars always up, and modular so you can re-organize them however you prefer. What I don't want is an empty spellbar, that is filled at random, or which includes things other than spells within the same bar. There can be a general hotbar if players want to mix and match for that, as large as you might wish, but it shouldn't be the only way for me to cast my spells.

I don't feel that what we have now is particularly intuitive and easy to use, and I don't think the hotbar they've given us has sufficient space to make it hum even if it was. Absent some actual menus for spells and the like in BG3, with some default organization provided beyond first come first squared, then yeah, for sure, I'd want the hotbar to be as massive as possible. Because then I'm going to have to build it for myself and I know that hehe. I don't actually care about quick binds for hotbar slots myself or any of that stuff, I'm more the scan and quick click player anyway. But I can see why they'd perhaps be trying to graft it to keybinds, if the idea was that the player is under the pressure to react to stuff quickly in real time, or if its simply a nod to what's come before. I just think that's sort of a poor fit for this game. I also think that could be really overwhelming for a new player, because it requires so much extra management, and not everyone delights in that.

If they don't organize it for me then I want space, absolutely. More space and then some. The pop up menu display bar I recognize from earlier games like BG, or DA or radials from games when ported to console. But when it comes to the really large hotbar, where the hotbar includes essentially all the things one can do, that I believe began with the rise of the MMOs with the cooldowns and such. I'm not a big MMO player honestly, when that craze took off was the time I was off at school, and I sort of missed the boat there. The point was just that those types of games have now developed a modular UI, where players that prefer to can have complete control not just of the hotbar, but everything, and can just create what they want from the UI. I think perhaps people really do enjoy the colors and seeing all the many icons all the times. Which I thought was what you were after more or less?

I kind of like to hide all that stuff, but still have a way to get at it, so the game can function, but with a minimal visual load. It's an aesthetic preference I'm sure, and personal.

In this game I feel that the hotbar is way too small right now for what it is being asked to do, given the lack of built-in organization. I dislike having to toggle/cycle and parse tiny icons, with potions and scrolls all getting in the way and needing to be moved about constantly. I don't really want to build out a UI for each character every time I level or gain some new items in every playthrough. But I totally support your desire to have that and to have as much control, or as large a hotbar as possible. For myself, I'd like the same basically, but being able to collapse them into something more manageable and simpler to parse and to have the default presentation be very easy to collapse into more generic icons.

Sorry if it came off like I was trashing your preference for the full up display, or coming across overly pedantic or like I know the secret of the dragons orbs. That's not really my aim, I just think its interesting to think about how these things came about in games.

Right now I don't have any alternative to the hotbar as the workhorse in BG3, and the bar is way to small to boot. If they return to the giant hotbar that we never got to see, I'd be happier than now. No doubt. But I'd also have some serious work cut out for me, even with hotbars of like 68 squares each cycling to infinity. Cause I'm that just level of obsessive hehe. I don't know that I'd enjoy it as much as you would, but if they gave me the option right now, I'd try to use it as best I could. To me that basically turns the hotbar into another inventory that needs to be managed constantly, but one that is way more critical to the gameplay than the regular equipment/item inventory. I think it'd probably drive me half crazy, compared to them just giving us a spellbook and such. I mean a spellbook to spellbar has been my constant request. I want it to have a default organization, and to remove some of the load from my hotbar.