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UIForge competitive quality pass
Verified local implementation pass, 2026-10-27. Previous functional receipts remain useful regression evidence; they do not establish visual parity or approval. The benchmark is Evil's RPG & MMO UI 6. Reference art is viewed remotely, never imported into the product. No image generation or copied competitor graphics.
Evidence and limits
The listing was read in a browser, including its expanded description. Gallery images 3, 5, 6 and 12–21 were inspected, with original remote images used when the lazy-loaded gallery stalled. Its linked preview video plays in the listing. Initial observed sequences include login, character selection/deletion confirmation and appearance selection. Exact animation curves/durations and underlying implementation are not established by screenshots. Later sampled video sequences also show the HUD and windows/tabs. Their motion is reference observation, not measured animation parity. The linked WebGL demo fails DNS resolution; linked documentation is currently inaccessible. These failures do not prevent independent development.
Seller claims include a scalable, recolorable art kit with reusable scripted controls, windows, overlays, tooltips, tabs and tweening. That is a claim about the Unity product, not evidence of Unreal compatibility, gamepad quality, multiplayer correctness or its internal performance.
The strongest visible result is a shared visual grammar: decorative headers, fine separators, consistent close buttons/tabs, restrained dark content planes, brighter colored actions, beveled resource/slot treatments and a recognizable palette across dense windows. Its HUD differentiates portraits, target/player resources, party, statuses, cast information, objectives, map, action rows and transient announcements. It also includes inventory/vendor/talent illustrations. Those do not expand UIForge into inventory, trade, equipment or progression mechanics.
The native UIForge baseline was inspected in UE5.8.3. Its working menu has a flat tan primary button, generic text actions, a single small frame treatment and a bright floor-heavy backdrop. Combat slots/resources are readable but visually thin; map, objectives and party still read as unrelated small overlays. Existing passing tests do not excuse those presentation gaps.
Feature and gap matrix
| Need / evidence | Existing foundation to retain | Required finished result | Cost / proof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coherent color variants (gallery 5) | Project/local themes, surface keys, fonts | Two genuinely complete theme variants; shared button/state/line/icon tokens, no widget-tree duplication | Medium; live theme swap across HUD, windows, prompts and settings |
| Distinct action states (video and menus) | CommonUI buttons, availability reasons, input focus | Named editable button skins with normal, hover/focus, pressed, selected and unavailable states; bounded feedback, reduced-motion support | Medium; actual pointer/navigation/press/disabled changes and no idle animation work |
| Window family (13,17–20) | Screen stacks, modal/back/focus ownership | Shared header/tab/close/content/footer language in menu, pause, settings, journal, spell/party detail and dialogs | High; open/close/back/transition interruption, long labels, no hidden focus or overflow |
| Dense usable RPG HUD (16) | Top-center target, models, six skills, Sakura tint | Refined resource silhouettes, portrait/identity treatment, status chips, cast hierarchy, compact peripheral controls; no opaque center clutter | High; real casts, resource/status updates, hover/controller tooltips and responsive review |
| Tooltips/list information (18–20) | Anchors, collection entries, selection/recycling | Consistent title/body/stat/help sections; edge-safe placement; input-aware activation and reason feedback | Medium; real data updates, edge positions, focus/tooltip ownership |
| Quests and ability browsing (18,19) | Journal, tracked objective, real six-skill adapter | Multiple selectable presentation entries backed by the actual encounter; coherent detail panes, filtering where useful | Medium; selection changes detail, tracking updates HUD, actions affect encounter |
| Sliders/select/tabs (13) | Transactional four-tab settings, engine-backed remapping/audio/video | Same visual standard as the HUD, readable values/help/errors; complete Apply/Cancel/Defaults behavior | Medium; retain actual old/new-key, reload and failed-validation tests |
| Announcement/loading presentation (15,16) | Notification queue/loading/screen transitions | Original compact announcement and objective-complete treatments, honest loading/progress and cancellable transition behavior | Medium; actual encounter/queue events and reduced motion |
| Mobile variants (6,21) | Device presentation contracts | Preserve extension points and meaningful touch sizing; never infer hardware readiness from a seller screenshot | Deferred hardware; software presentation only until devices available |
| Inventory/vendor/talent drawings (17,18,20) | Generic data/entry/action interfaces | Reusable icon/list/detail/window controls suitable for an external backend | Inventory, trading, equipment and progression rules excluded |
| RTS application | Existing armies, selection/orders/groups/production | Same quality of skins, hierarchy, controls, tooltips and transitions in a distinct strategy layout | High; real army selection/move/commands/queue and multiple selected units |
| Buyer presentation | Playable hub, actual maps, authoring guide | Representative playable flows and engine screenshots for every shipped full window; no explanatory cards masquerading as gameplay | Medium; public Blueprint customization proof, current packaged interactions |
Original AshenForge direction
Keep the existing authored Emberglass identity but finish it: dark blue-black enamel, warm pale text, restrained silver/bronze structural edges, ember or cool mineral action accents. Major windows receive crafted headers; small combat widgets receive quieter treatments. Use an 8-unit spacing rhythm, consistent internal gutters and aligned baselines. Ornament belongs at corners/header/identity points rather than around every label. Large headings use Cinzel sparingly; ordinary controls remain legible body text. Avoid fixed-height wrappers that clip enlarged text. Themeable states must not depend on color alone.
Do not imitate the competitor's swirls, red/blue orbs, logo, portraits or content. Independently authored vector paths and small rasterized nine-slice assets are editable sources. Art provenance and font notices stay explicit. No new gameplay systems merely to fill a window; use existing real encounter/army data and small example-only presentation adapters.
Execution milestones and acceptance
- Public appearance foundation. Named button skins, full states and finite feedback through CommonUI; theme/local overrides, custom Blueprint callbacks, reduced motion, cleanup and no idle ticker. Build and inspect on real menus before propagating.
- One completed RPG flow. Main → settings → confirmation → playable HUD → journal/ability detail → pause → main. Finish window family, controls, action/resource/target/party/map hierarchy and transitions together. All essential behavior uses public features and editable Widget Blueprints. No temporary placeholder screens in the hub.
- RTS consistency. Apply the finished grammar to selection/army management/resources/commands/production without changing strategy behavior or borrowing Game Master's design. Keep an open central playfield.
- Customization and feedback. Two complete theme variants, replaceable entries/brushes/animations/data sources, actual health/status/announcement feedback. Every addition solves a visible developer problem and appears in a working example.
- Release review. UE5.8.3 build, independent core load, clean Blueprint compiles, remap/session regression, software input transitions and popup/focus/back checks; native packaged interactions; 720p/1080p/ultrawide/4K and enlarged text; clipping/tooltips/layering/animation interruption review. Record actual measurements and meaningful failures. Controller/touch/unplug remain hardware-deferred; performance is measured rather than promised.
Only finished, tested screens enter the current gallery/default hub. Historical images stay labeled historical. Public documentation must show exact nodes, asset paths, expected results and screenshots from the matching build. No claim of competitor parity from feature counts or static screenshots alone.
Work record
- Authoritative project remains C:/UEProjects/ashenforge-plugins/UIForge/Project. Bounded evidence lane: Workspace/Rebuild583/CompetitorPass. Reuse CoreLoadHost and Playable; no new hosts/clones/engine caches.
- Original control/theme backup: before-controls.zip (1,341,503 bytes of bounded original affected source/assets). Native current menu capture: Docs/Images/CompetitorPass/before-main.png.
- No Git metadata was found at the active project/ancestors; do not initialize or reset Git to conceal that. Preserve files and keep bounded explicit backups.
- Earlier foundation checkpoint (superseded by the current receipts below):9 button runtime checks,9 resource/setup/capture checks plus five actual visual/pixel cases,92 clean Blueprint compiles, current core-only16-package/four-redirect load and actual native standalone menu/confirm/cast/damage/pause/settings. Evidence: CompetitorPass/{button-runtime,resource-runtime,resource-visual,blueprints-current,core-load-current,native-foundation}.json. This does not accept the remaining visual/product milestones.
Current implementation and runtime proof — 2026-10-27
Milestones1–4 are implemented locally through public controls and editable Designer assets. Current gates:95 saved Blueprints;26 independent core packages/four redirects;9 button-state checks;13 actual ability-browser checks;13 public composition/Blueprint-source checks;24 settings-session checks;12 MMO/17 army scenarios;14 software input cases; actual native key capture→Apply→reload→gameplay→restore. Roster sizing is verified at0/1/24 selected units. Its actual TileView test uses2,000 stable presentation objects with30–40 realized entries, then restores the real army models. These are scoped tests, not a simulated2,000-unit army or UI GPU certification.
Actual source clients measured1280×722,1920×1082 and2554×1082. A3840×2160 request is desktop-clamped to2554×1354 and does not certify4K.150% UI and text review found a bottom RPG shortcut overflow; Auto Height now grows those controls upward. Native remapping preserved the original Three binding after proving Y. After clean editor shutdown, both original preference files were restored byte-for-byte; both gameplay saves were asserted unchanged.
Current screenshots have been recaptured after the Load/Controls/ability/roster corrections. The current installed-source package builds/cooks/stages in88.42s and passes27 scoped native observations, including process-restart old/new key checks, actual RPG/RTS interaction and clean exits. Both source candidates match installed/built runtime source/config/content; the follow-up delta is documentation only. The documentation site builds103pages with no broken local links/images. This record does not assert owner approval or that UIForge has surpassed the competitor.