Customizable UI Themes (Post S3 Idea)

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1

Hey guys, I hatched an interesting idea.
Season 3 is officially underway, as well as the PC port of Killer Instinct. Now, let’s assume that this season fills out the classic roster and essentially closes out the game as far as core content goes (i.e story, characters, etc) while leaving room for additional support in the future (costumes, balance changes, graphical improvements, etc).
Now, obviously Season 3 is also going to bring a new UI into the mix, and based on the teasers we’ve received it looks quite nice IMO. However, I’ve read a few posts here and there talking about how folks really enjoyed the new S2 UI, while others say they prefered the style of Season 1. There’s a good chance some people might find the new UI offputting and miss the older style(s), while others will think it’s another improvement. So I have devised a neat plan to make as many people happy as possible; once Season 3 runs it’s course and the game is -for all intents and purposes- “complete”, how about we let users choose the theme of their UI/menus?
The way I see it, once the season is over with, Killer Instinct should just be called Killer Instinct. Once the seasons are out of the way, the seasonal title seems a bit silly (of course, for purchasing purposes and organization, I still think seasons work as a good divider for character select…granted, it should probably be a bit more subtle.) However, with the game being a very easily customizable experience, with he unique payment options so you only get what you want, wouldn’t it be cool to allow even more customization?
Here’s the basic concept: Most of the actual buttons and menu items remain the same between themes, and the character preview loops remain in the background through the themes. In the options menu, there’s a “themes” tab, each one of these color schemes representing different eras of Killer Instinct.
-Fire/Blood theme (S1)
-Ultratech theme (S2)
-Green Whispy Spooky stuff theme (S3?)
-Classic/Classic2
-Developer themes (DH, IG, or MS Xbox…maybe)

So, what do you guys think? Would you like to make use of customized UI themes, or is this sort of feature unimportant to you? Leave your thoughts and debates in the thread, friendos!

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2

I like this idea. I actually want to somehow keep the Season 2 makeover because I LOVE the menu screen.

3

I like the season two update. There was something demo-like about season 1 UI.

IF they change it again, I won’t be affected. It’s just UI

4

I’ve mentioned something similar to this a few times between this board and the old ones, but yeah OP, I’m in 100% agreement with ya! Love the idea.

Given that we can choose character colors, accessories, looks (modern or retro), and even announcer voice, UI seems like a great final step for a variety of reasons.

For one thing, as OP rightly pointed out, everyone has their opinion on what a good UI looks like and some feel strongly about what a “true” KI user interface should look like.

So if some prefer the one line scrolling character select from classic KI games, they can have that. Maybe some prefer season 1’s UI. Maybe some would prefer combo fonts that match the “Awesome Victory” font, or maybe the character name font on the select screen. Maybe you want KI1 FMV style versus screen character videos with KI Gold’s glowing gold “V” between them, or a large rotating KI logo or flames behind them. Perhaps you want to mix and match and make a complete UI that’s uniquely yours.

But also, people like unlocking stuff. They like getting things for gaining levels. How about adding 20 different combo font styles and effects on the fonts like blooming, shining, etc. Twenty different versus screen templates and effects. Title screen colors. A bunch of different items that are unlocked by playing.

I’m not saying any of this would be easy and sure, some might not care about this stuff, but if opinions on accessories, retros, and the 30+ pages of opinions on the UI from the old forum are any indication, I’d think that this would be the type of thing that could make a lot of fans happy. I know I’d be down for it!

5

I’m in favor. Obviously it will just be a color scheme, not a reversion of any other changes to the UI, but I think that’s great.

As far as making other “customizable” options for the UI, I think that’s just too complicated and I don’t see MS/IG investing the time and resources in doing that.

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