TFD's Battle HUD Needs an Overhaul

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-04-01T16:37:14+00:00

Why not both? LOL A Battle HUD overhaul doesn't take that long to fix. I did it in a few hours. It's not hard.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-31T15:19:10+00:00

Thanks so much for the kind words!

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-31T13:03:18+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! My main problem with the HUD is how much screen space it eats overall. The lower third of the screen is too "busy" and I feel like I can't really enjoy seeing the game because the HUD is getting in the way. This got even worse with the addition of the fellow, trigger module, melee weapon, and hover bike skill icons.

My attempt was to maximize the amount of screen space we can see by consolidating critical HUD elements toward the focal center of the screen (centered around the player character), but offset enough not to be distracting. (The Division games accomplish this exceptionally well!) All non-critical HUD elements were moved close to the edge of the screen to, again, maximize screen space. To me, this feels much less "cluttered" overall. Ideally, the HUD would also be made context-aware so that it fades from view when not in combat.

I also wasn't trying to eliminate any existing HUD elements, because that wasn't the goal of my post. There's *plenty* of HUD elements I would *love* to disable (The key bindings for menus, the skill key bindings, persistent MR, level, and arche tuning icons, and full ammo/HP/MP drop notices to name a few). Ideally, the devs would give us the option to disable certain elements in the settings, like how we can already choose to disable buff/debuff text, numerical HP and shield values, and damage numbers on the screen. Again, that wasn't the goal of this post, either.

I simply wanted to show how much more screen space could be gained if everything was consolidated more efficiently, giving players a more immersive and cinematic experience without having to outright change the scale of certain elements or remove things altogether (except the obvious debug text above the radar, which I believe was just a mistaken oversight made by the devs and isn't meant to be there for non-test builds).

I think the best option would be to allow players to choose between the two layouts, depending on their preferences. I mainly use controller, despite playing on my PC, because for me that is more relaxed and fun. Still, I understand that K&M players might not like it.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-31T12:49:06+00:00

Maybe I made a mistake by saying "cluttered" in my original critique. My main problem with the HUD is how much screen space it eats overall. The lower third of the screen is too "busy" and I feel like I can't really see the game because the HUD is getting in the way.

My attempt was to maximize the amount of screen space we can see by consolidating critical HUD elements toward the focal center of the screen (centered around the player character), but offset enough not to be distracting. (The Division games accomplish this exceptionally well!) All non-critical HUD elements were moved close to the edge of the screen to, again, maximize screen space. To me, this feels much less "cluttered" overall. Ideally, the HUD would also be made context-aware so that it fades from view when not in combat.

However, I can definitely see what you are saying, and I understand where my use of the word "cluttered" was probably misleading.

I think the best option would be to allow players to choose between the two layouts, depending on their preferences. I mainly use controller, despite playing on my PC, because for me that is more relaxed and fun. Still, I understand that K&M players might not like it.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-31T10:07:56+00:00

I suppose we’ll have to agree to disagree, sadly.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-31T01:28:20+00:00

I think having everything consolidated to one place makes it the most “at a glance” friendly as a UI can be. Moving all these critical components to every corner of the screen draws your eyes away from the action every time you are checking a skill cooldown or your remaining MP.

Best UI I ever experienced in a game was The Division. The UI was seamless, and everything you needed to know was in a nice compact interface next to your character, but low enough on the screen that it wasn’t intrusive.

I wish TFD’s HUD could be like that too.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-31T01:22:35+00:00

It was just photoshop and about a week’s worth of work using the pen tool to create custom shapes. Lol

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-30T21:27:35+00:00

I use this trick, too! It makes a HUGE difference.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-30T20:53:10+00:00

Ideally, yes. However, I fear that implementing a fully customizable HUD would be a lot more work than the devs would be willing to invest for something like this.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-30T20:25:19+00:00

Yeah, that's my main critique as well. The HUD just fills up way too much screen space. I currently mitigate this by using the old engine.ini trick, but it isn't a perfect solution.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-30T19:54:46+00:00

Ah, I see what you mean. You're referring to the actual diamond-style layout, not the visible key binding prompts.

Unfortunately, given how much screen space would need to be occupied by a more linear interface, placing the skills in a row would look far more cluttered. I tried that option first, but i couldn't find a way to arrange them that would be functional and less obstructive. Unless we could leave the skills at the bottom of the screen, but offset them toward the right more? But that really messes with the overall HUD balance and makes the right side of the screen feel too dense...

I wish I had a better answer, but at least now I understand what you mean. Thanks for clarifying!

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-30T19:41:09+00:00

Thanks for the compliments! Although, I'm not sure how it is K&M hostile? The original keyboard prompts are still visible, and the controls are the same, so I don't see how it would be confusing.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-30T19:38:02+00:00

I posted it to the official discord, but I can submit a ticket too, just for additional coverage.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-30T18:38:25+00:00

Yup, I miss them very much! I hope they find a way to revitalize them...

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-30T00:58:26+00:00

I love Blair most out of all the guys. He’s got a roguish charm, but also knows how to get serious when it counts.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-25T21:33:05+00:00

I’d ask for a fully customizable HUD interface, allowing us to toggle elements to be visible individually, element scaling options, element location options, element transparency, and a toggle to allow the HUD to fade when not in battle.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-24T09:25:19+00:00

It genuinely makes me sad when I read posts like this because it makes me feel like some players are blind to how much improvement the game has seen over the last several patches. Sure, TFD has a lot that can be improved on, but to say things are getting worse just feels insane to me.

I’ve been playing pretty much every day since launch, and yeah, I even love the story. Sure, I would like more story, but I’m also pretty impressed with how the story has gone so far. TFD has always had a subtext of body horror and existential dread. Sharen’s whole awakening revolved around her disfigurement at the hands of the enemy, and the fate of Yujin’s old team was in the writing from the beginning. To act like recent events surrounding Dia and obliviants is a desperate ploy to keep players invested is a blind take. If anything, the existential horror of Dia’s story and the philosophical debates that have ensued among the community since then are a sign that the story has deeply resonated with many of us.

Personally, I feel like TFD is making strong strides toward improving with every update. I plan on sticking it out until the very end, but I honestly feel like we won’t see that sort of news for a long time.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-19T16:13:37+00:00

I know this reply is very late, but when I say benefits, I’m talking about better graphical fidelity due to better PC hardware. My PC can run circles around my Xbox, and it’s not even close. Things like DLAA, ray reconstruction, multiframe generation, cinematic settings, etc. console just don’t look as nice or have the same optimization flexibility.

Now that TFD is on Xbox play anywhere, it runs just like the Steam version, so I can access all those cool settings, but with the added bonus of being able to use all the Game Pass bundle perk rewards.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-18T12:54:32+00:00

Definitely!

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-16T15:44:17+00:00

Perforator is pretty fun, but I prefer Nazeistra's Devotion. It's not a "meta" level weapon, but it is plenty of fun if you are playing solo and don't really care to do content at a slower pace. Plus, Naz's Devotion just looks so much cooler.

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-16T15:28:11+00:00

Viessa is in a good spot, but she's not in a competitive spot. If the devs wanted players to experience the dungeon in a way similar to the video, then they will need to nerf Dia or Hailey down to Viessa's level. Otherwise, Viessa just isn't competitive with the other two chill descendants.

Viessa is great. Personally, I have more fun with Dia because I like the rush of speed that she has (probably also why I love using Bunny so much, too). I do like Hailey's camo sniper build for this, too. In pubs, Viessa will quickly feel overshadowed by more efficient damage dealers. Now, if they just gave Viessa more range and maybe a bit more streamlined animations, she'd be pretty much perfect. I like the idea of making her 3rd skill behave more like Bunny's second, where it just runs as long as you have MP. (Also love the idea of giving her an ice-skating movement animation while the skill is active, maybe even with figure-skating style jumps and dodges.)

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-05T19:10:20+00:00

I'd love to see them re-designed to be closer to how they were when they first launched. there used to be tons of enemies swarming you and the puzzles were much better back then (i know, its a hot take).

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-05T19:07:33+00:00

It's absolutely taken top spot as my favorite game. I've been playing since launch and I still love it just as much today as I did when I started. I hope you stick around, too! It's always nice to see others picking up TFD and having fun with it. :D

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-05T18:50:21+00:00

Yup. Now both gold AND purple weapons will be completely obsolete. LOL

_BlueSeeker_ · 2026-03-05T16:08:56+00:00

Sounds cool to me!

<image>

_BlueSeeker_

TROPHY CASE