@bioblood22 said:

I will say this, the world map....AMAZING might be the best world map I've seen in any game, but it's not like I've played EVERY game so I might be wrong, but to me, it's simply AWESOME.

Actually, I was coming to revisit this thread to say the same thing. I love the world map. I don't agree with the op that it will provide spoilers for what is coming up, as the map is pulled back quite far and, from what I saw, most of it was obscured by cloud cover.

the only thing that worries me is the map, its not just the gameworld, it is complete with clouds, large, obscuring, opaque clouds

@Hobbies: You definitely make a compelling argument. I'm hoping most of that is obscured by clouds essentially making it a paper map. One of the things about Morrowind and Oblivion, even Fallout 3, that I loved was discovering that tiny pocket of the world that has a beautiful waterfall that you are quite sure only you and a handful of others have seen, so far is it removed from any road. I too would much prefer to leave the discovery of my explorations to me, instead of the map. But I do think Skyrim's world map is beautiful and am willing to give Bethesda the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe the areas you uncover will loose the cloud cover, kinda like making the unseen seen when you uncover it....if that makes sense oddly it doesn't to me and I wrote it.

@bioblood22: You mean like a fog of war in rts games? Interesting theory...

I like the new Hud and Menus.

It looks great. The only thing I'd change is the size of certain things - but that's what I'm getting the PC version for.

@NeverDave: I remember first using "consolized" when Deus Ex: IW appeared, because that's what it was. Made easier to access and use, especially for a console joypad. But when things like text and numbers are taken away together with freedom and choice, something is wrong. Survey says it's all about focus tests. Morrowind had a fine system to level skills and abilities, even attributes with. Oblivion ruined that. Now we're getting something less. Bring a random dumb babby in from the street, put a joypad in his hands, "numbars am confusing, where am action"

Skyrim might end up a great game despite of this, I hope it does because I've worn out my Morrowind disc. If it doesn't, at least I will have some faith restored in the future of gaming thanks to Deus Ex Human Revolution - a game that could have been made ten years ago.

I like it, it's pretty darn slick I gotta say, the only thing I want to see is the ability to view my dude in his equipment before I leave the menu. Fallout 3 angered me so much because I would have to leave the menu to see my guy, realize I dont like how he looks, and then go back into the menu to change him. Also the font should be changed to comic sans..

Edit: I dont enjoy the map though

I hope you can turn off the silly, Fallout-style, LOCATION DISCOVERED messages.

Yea those giant messages are a bit to big and HEY YOU ARE HERE! -ish.

I don't know if you played Oblivion but the UI was terrible, I will take any UI over the old one.

For consoles I think its fantastic, modern and sleek, but I can understand why PC players don't like it.

Morrowind had a fine system to level skills and abilities, even attributes with. Oblivion ruined that. Now we're getting something less. 

Looks fantastic. Looks far better than Oblivion's generic cheap looking menus, which were clunky as hell.

doesnt matter how it looks its gonna be my goty no matter what, my life will be gone for about 9 months

I don't agree with anything OP has said, except for the compass. Everything about the UI is slick and minimalist, which is in deep contrast to Oblivion's fat and clunky menu.

Oh, and the map... gorgeous! It reminds me a lot of Valkyrie Profile 2, another game inspired by Nordic Mythology. I love it.

I really like it. They look more modern and my style.

Looks fine to me

Anything's better than the Oblivion UI, but I wish they'd design a separate UI for the PC version.

I'm a tad annoyed that the mana, stamina and health bars aren't always on the screen. Otherwise, I'm digging it.

I like the menus, they're simple and easy to navigate and give you a better look at weapons and armor in much detail. The HUD is also kept very simple and in a place where I can always monitor my health and mana instead of in the corner where I'll lose track and possibly die because I was too busy looking at the enemy's health to notice my own.

Being able to 360 the items is cool, I like doing that, and the amazing map, those two things can make up for any short comings the rest of the HUD and such may have.

I honestly don't care because there will be mods for this thing.

well the game doesn't come out for a while. there are probably changes to be made. this is probably why they showed a video of this in the first place. for feedback! :)

It looks slick. Certainly better than the fairly bloated UI of Oblivion. And although it's kind of pithy, not a huge fan of the font. They could do with making it a little more... "Fantasy"

Everyone who's had an extended look at the game said the menus look awesome, so, I dunno. You can look at the shield. Rotate that Golden Dragon Claw. Yeah. Yeah!

I don't mind that it departs from the ugly-ass generic scroll-and-serif theme we've seen in every RPG since the dawn of time. The sans serif typeface may not be appropriate for the genre, but at this point I really couldn't give a damn about staying true to generic medieval/LoTR tripe.

@eroticfishcake said:

If I remember correctly, Todd Howard did say that the interface was inspired by Apple products and I can see where the influence is. It looks sharper and slicker then Oblivion was at the cost of appearing less fantasy-like. Overall, I like it but as I keep saying, if they're are problems then you've got mod tools to sort it out.

I hope modders will fix this. Though I'm an Apple fan, I feel the aesthetic strips away any character from the menus and actually takes me out of the game. Instead of looking appropriately fantasy-like, Skyrim's interface looks like it can appear in any game from any other genre. It's too contemporary-looking for this game, in my opinion. Also, I don't feel Futura Condensed doesn't belong anywhere in an Elder Scrolls UI.

NOOOOOO

I find that I either want fast/slick interfaces OR completely 'real' ones. The fake book stuff found in stuff like oblivion is in between and doesn't make me feel good at all when navigating it's mess. Give me what Skyrim is doing, or give me what Metro 2033 does with it's map being a real in-game item etc, anything else is lame and feels old.

I like my interface to fit the game I'm playing, and that kind of thing takes me out of the game. The PS3 interface is very kind to keeping you "in the game" whereas you have no idea how disturbed I am with the 360 interfaces over the years (and I have a few days total spent playing 360s over the years, it still ticks me off), to make a console example, and I do think the Wii one handles it well.

Deus Ex Human Revolution, Star Ocean Last Hope, APB Reloaded, Battlefield Bad Company 2, those are four examples of recent games that have interfaces that suit them. On the fantasy RPG side of things, look at World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, Rift, Morrowind, they have interface design relating to the game. If I say anything more in this paragraph of text I'd be insulting the people responsible for the Skyrim UI design.

Skyrim is with it's interface is an Assassin's Creed game. It's telling me that I am a player living in the future, and that the "game" is simply my experiences when wet-wired into the genetic memories of an ancestor's magical past.

It looks better than Oblivions and Fallout 3 super clunky UI. I hope you can press J to instantly open the journal and I to instantly open the inventory.

Clean and functional is always a good thing, I do like this new UX.

I've said it time and time again. As long as the level scaling system is gone or modified, they could put Hitler in the game and order you to help him for all i care. And the UI looks fine, if someone doesn't like it they can change with a mod.

Having looked at it some more I'm leaning to liking it.

I get a more "futuristic" or "modern" feel from the UI. I love a good medieval/fantasy-style interface, like the ones in older RPGs. Baldur's Gate and Diablo for example. At least it's functional and sleek.

Looks fantastic.

I don't remember TES ever having a nice UI so to speak, I'm always hoping though!

What's up with the Aero-like GUIs lately? In a goddamn Medieval Fantasy setting. Really killing the atmosphere for me.

I actually really like the new UI, i just hope that it'll work better with consoles than the Oblivion's terrible UI

I like the 3-D Map reminds me a lot of Just Cause 2 & I like that map.
HUD looks fine.

You know, i remember the Oblivion HUD...wait, no, that's right, i downloaded that UI mod as soon as i saw it and i never went back to the old HUD cause it sucked. That being said, the new HUD looks pretty sweet to me, and i don't think i will need a mod for it anytime soon.