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BotW is the only game I can no-HUD for a better experience

I use the no hud option in DS3, but really because because the hud in DS3 is awful.

If a game's hud is bad, I'll try to turn it off, if I can.
 
My only gripe in this regard is that the very first indication you get in the game is "Go to the marker on the map". I think it would be better than the old man told you about the place.

I play with no HUD and no quest markers. It is so great to play this way!
 
Horizon Zero Dawn has a really good dynamic HUD that only comes up when you need it. I can't seem to get rid of the objective marker on the screen though

Yeah it has all these options but when it comes to a good way to hide quest waypoints yet still have them available when pressing the touchscreen it fails big time. It's a bug or some huge oversight that I'm sure will get patched.

and holy shit at that screenshot lol
 
I noticed that I only look at the weather forecast and when I'm having a quest marker active I look at the basic direction without really using the minimap. But the main reason I still have the hud active is the shrine sensor.
 
I noticed that I only look at the weather forecast and when I'm having a quest marker active I look at the basic direction without really using the minimap. But the main reason I still have the hud active is the shrine sensor.
can't turn off the shrine sensor, not even in pro mode
 
and that's supposed to look good ? no offense but jesus looks awful for a 6" and 720p
if you scroll up a few posts you'll see that what you're saying is subjective and others disagree with you. so, no offense taken.
 
I played my first few hours of the game glued to the radar and am having a measurably better experience without it. Don't sell your spacial awareness short - you don't need the radar and will be more immersed without it!

You actually got me pretty excited to try it out haha. I'll report back once I've played HUD-less a bit after work!

would go pro mode but my inner completionist needs the shrine indicator. Not relying on any online guides, just give me the shrine radar and I'm fine. It's like searching for dragon balls

As someone who (so far) feels needs the radar at all times, I honestly think the shrine radar is super unnecessary. They're very easy to spot from afar, and marking them is way more fun. Definitely play the way you want though, obviously.

Also once you upgrade it it does get a feature that's very useful, so there's that.

and that's supposed to look good ? no offense but jesus looks awful for a 6" and 720p

It's technically a PS3-era game, running at 720p on a 720p screen, so obviously it looks better in person as well. I don't know what else you expected. I think it looks great all things considered.
 
I love just having a compass on screen. All map screens are default north facing so it's easy to work out which direction to go.

Having a compass would be great... but I love you can use death mountain or twin peaks as a reference (sorry if the names are not correct, I'm playing in Spanish)
 
and that's supposed to look good ? no offense but jesus looks awful for a 6" and 720p

Try opening the image in another window, then zoom out until it's roughly 6" on your screen—for me this is at about 50%. I think you'll be surprised how fairly clean it looks. Also bear in mind there is some JPG compression on the image as well. Personally I didn't think the game looked all that great either until I started playing it.
 
The less HUD the better for me, in any game. When developers utilise the actual game world & animations to convey useful information instead of just piling it in your face, it's always a far more immersive, engaging experience & a sign of good world design. The only time I like HUD is if it suits the context of the game, e.g. Metroid's visor or Fifa's scoreboard.

Otherwise you spend more time looking at a minimap, prompts or various stats than you do taking in the environment & other features. I imagine a lot will disagree, but i'd prefer all games to start with minimal HUD by default, with the option to turn features on if you need them, not off.
 
The less HUD the better for me, in any game. When developers utilise the actual game world & animations to convey useful information instead of just piling it in your face, it's always a far more immersive, engaging experience & a sign of good world design. The only time I like HUD is if it suits the context of the game, e.g. Metroid's visor or Fifa's scoreboard.

Otherwise you spend more time looking at a minimap, prompts or various stats than you do taking in the environment & other features. I imagine a lot will disagree, but i'd prefer all games to start with minimal HUD by default, with the option to turn features on if you need them, not off.

I am tired of playing with a HD big screen and only using the bottom left part of it to follow a yellow line.
 
On the advice of this thread I tried out the Pro mode... enjoying it so far. I do wish there was a compass. I don't need a mini map but it would be nice to know which direction I am running sometimes. And a compass could sit right next to the hearts without cluttering the screen. Just an arrow pointing to north would be fine.

I don't think Pro mode is ideal just starting the game, though. You need to get your bearings a bit before it makes sense. My first 5-10 hours I didn't know enough to get rid of the mini map.
 
100% go with Pro mode, makes for a far more immersive experience!
You can still keep the Shrine Tracker on, it only displays when it's locating so is absent most of the time.
 
Mini-maps take so much out of the experience. At least try it (for a good hour to get accustomed to it, though it should only take 10 minutes), and I sincerely think you will appreciate it.

Tried it without and I still don't get why I should have it off, nor do I feel that it takes anything out of the experience.
 
Too many open world games have been designed for you to just follow your quest markers as you're ferried from one location to the next. Turning off the HUD in these games just make for a frustrating experience. One of BotW's greatest strengths is that it is not designed this way. Smart layouts, unique landscapes, and the world just generally being packed full of activities means I'm really enjoying just picking a direction and getting lost.

Tried it without and I still don't get why I should have it off, nor do I feel that it takes anything out of the experience.
It's an issue of controlling focus. If I have my eyes glued on the minimap, not only will I just beeline straight to the destination, but I'll also miss out on a lot of things I would only have noticed if I was 100% attentive to my surroundings. Getting lost in this game is fun, but you'll never be truly lost if you have a map glued to their screen. The full map is at least on a different screen that you can choose to consult sparingly.
 
Yeah it has all these options but when it comes to a good way to hide quest waypoints yet still have them available when pressing the touchscreen it fails big time. It's a bug or some huge oversight that I'm sure will get patched.

and holy shit at that screenshot lol

Yea, the active quest marker not being dynamic is the one thing they missed, but it's so good playing Horizon hudless. Hope they do patch it.
 
Same here. Even regular HUD is rather non-invasive, but pro HUD is the way to play. You can always press - to bring up the map.
 
Thanks for this thread, I tried it for the first time after your recommendation and am never going back. The game is super immersive now, it makes a difference.
 
Addition by subtraction. Your mini-map dictates how you navigate.

Not really, I set a way point for Kakariko village and I still haven't reached it because I diverted off the broken path to find shrines when the radar goes off, climbing towers to update the map and gathering collectibles.

At the moment my current objective is to find every shrine towers so I have the map filled in, so there will be times where the mini map will be useless, times where I will follow it and times where I will follow it but break off the path because something caught my attention.
 
Turned on pro the moment I started and have never looked back. It emphasizes how well designed the world is when I can just use landmarks - named or unnamed - to navigate.
 
I've been kinda wanting to do this but I like being able to place pointers on things that I want to visit like towers and shrines. Maybe I'm just a baby.
 
Played about 20h before turning Pro-mode hud on. When I arrived to
Gerudo Desert
turned it on and never looked back. It is the best way to play.
 
I have never been a no-hud guy, but I can confirm that no hud and shrine marker off is the way to play this game. I feel like I'm genuinely exploring, and the discoveries mean so much when I use context clues to find them instead of a mini map.
 
The reason you can turn the HUD off and play just fine is the reason I don't care if it's on or off - I'm not using or noticing it either way. Therefore it doesn't make a difference to my gameplay experience if it's on or off. I probably played half of the game with it off.
 
So I switched (lol) with some hesitation. Can't go back now!

I'm loving it.

Turned on pro the moment I started and have never looked back. It emphasizes how well designed the world is when I can just use landmarks - named or unnamed - to navigate.

Played about 20h before turning Pro-mode hud on. When I arrived to
Gerudo Desert
turned it on and never looked back. It is the best way to play.

These testimonials! Glad others agree.
 
I finally gave this a try last night and it is wonderful. It's really well designed too since contextual stuff like the sensor will still pop up when there's something nearby. I don't think that I'll be going back.
 
I assumed Pro HUD meant playing with the pro controller so it avoided putting stuff in the Wii U pad. I turned it on before starting so I thought this was how the game was...
 
I switched on Pro HUD as soon as I started the game because of this thread.

I don't really know what I'm missing as a result, but the interface seems very unobtrusive as a result, which is nice.

Navigating without a minimap is fine so far. I'm setting pins and stamps on places of interest, and busting out the slate or checking the main map whenever I feel I'm a bit too lost.
 
It's crazy how removing something so simple can heighten the level of enthusiasm I feel when I make a new discovery or reach a destination that furthers the story.

This is great stuff.
 
I don't like having the mini map but I do like having the time of day and weather. Wish you could disable them each individually.

Time is located on the map and current weather is obvious, but still like them for some reason.
 
I haven't played with the pro HUD, but I'll try it out tonight. I like the mini-map, but I guess I can go to the proper map screen if I really need it that much.

Not like I'll miss anything else honestly.
 
After putting in at least 20 hours into the game, I think I'm comfortable enough with the mechanics to make the switch (pun intended) to Pro-mode. I never really paid attention to the weather bar until it was already raining, the temperature gauge is not all that necessary since it is only relevant for extremely hot/cold areas, and the noise indicator doesn't do much of anything since noise is sorta binary in this game (running = lots of noise; sneaking = little noise).

The biggest thing I'll miss is the mini-map, but I think I can manage without it now.
 
I was super worried when they introduced the
shrine detector
cause I thought it would only show up in the "regular" HUD. Glad it's not the case (and I think you can turn it off).

They do a lot of smart stuff, like giving you 100 stamps to mark stuff on your map? That shouldn't be a big thing but so many games don't give you the option to mark your map.
 
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