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V2 Quest UI Documentation And Styling Guide

QuestJournalUI_V2_Contract.json

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This guide is the authoring, implementation, and review reference for Phase 72 quest UI. It connects the quest journal, tracker HUD, map layers, wayfinding, toasts, accessibility, localization, and validation gates that protect shipped quest surfaces.

Source Of Truth#

Surface Inventory#

Quest UI is a set of connected surfaces, not one screen. Each surface has one primary job and should pass state to the next surface by stable ids.

Surface Primary job Required ids
Quest journal Inspect, filter, sort, pin, and compare quests. QuestId, TitleTextId, DescriptionTextId
Tracker HUD Keep the current or pinned quest visible during play. TrackerId, TrackedQuestId, ObjectiveId
Map markers Show quest givers, objectives, and turn-ins. MarkerId, QuestId, ObjectiveId, TitleTextId
Area highlights Mark normalized search or destination regions. AreaId, QuestId, ObjectiveId
Waypoints Point to current objectives in compass and screen-edge space. WaypointSystemId, TargetId, TitleTextId
Breadcrumb trail Optional guided world path for difficulty modes. TrailId, QuestId, ObjectiveId
Quest toasts Announce quest lifecycle events through the notification surface. ToastType, QuestTitleTextId, ObjectiveTitleTextId
Difficulty indicators Summarize recommended level, duration, and combat intensity. QuestId, LevelLabelTextId, DurationLabelTextId

Do not add a new quest UI surface until the job cannot be served by one of these surfaces with clearer state or a narrower view model.

Layout And Density#

Quest UI is operational game UI. It should be dense enough to scan while the player is deciding what to do next.

  • Use cardless layout policy by default: sections, rows, dividers, and compact status chips are preferred over nested cards.
  • Keep journal rows stable when objectives, rewards, difficulty indicators, or completion statistics appear.
  • Keep tracker HUD dimensions stable with MaxVisibleObjectives, ProgressFraction, and OverallProgressFraction.
  • Keep map, waypoint, and breadcrumb glyphs small and shape-coded; do not rely on color alone.
  • Preserve bControllerFirstFocus for screen surfaces and bGameplayInert for HUD overlays.
  • Preserve bReducedMotionSafe, bStableDimensions, and bNoDecorativeCards on every quest surface that declares those flags.
  • In review language, call these policies controller first focus, reduced motion safe behavior, stable dimensions, and cardless layout policy so CI validation evidence is understandable outside the code.

Quest Journal Styling#

The quest journal is a work surface. It should prioritize comparison and repeated navigation over decorative composition.

  • Put filter and sort controls before the quest list. Filter by lifecycle, category, region, difficulty, and completion status.
  • Use EV2QuestJournalSortMode and EV2QuestJournalSortDirection instead of ad hoc row ordering.
  • Show bPrimary, bPinnedToTracker, and lifecycle state as distinct markers.
  • Render objective checklist rows with CurrentCount, TargetCount, bRequired, and bCompleted.
  • Keep reward preview rows compact and stable. Show rewards before acceptance only through RewardPreviews that opt into bPreviewInJournal.
  • Show CompletionStatistics, CompletionPercentage, and time spent as secondary summary data, never as the dominant first read.

Tracker HUD Styling#

The tracker HUD is a compact status surface. It should show the next useful objective without taking ownership of player attention.

  • Track the pinned quest first, the requested quest second, and the primary quest third.
  • Show no more than MaxVisibleObjectives.
  • Use progress bars or rings only when bShowProgressIndicators is true.
  • Show QuestTitleTextId and objective TitleTextId as the text anchors.
  • Keep failure and completion states visible through bQuestFailed and bQuestCompleted.
  • Keep pin and unpin controls explicit through PinTrackedQuest, UnpinTrackedQuest, and bCanUnpinQuest.

World cues are optional guidance. They should support exploration without turning every quest into a rail.

  • Map markers must distinguish quest giver, objective, and turn-in types.
  • Area highlights must use normalized polygon points, normalized bounds, and a normalized centroid.
  • Waypoints must support compass and screen-edge placement with safe-area clamping.
  • Breadcrumb trails must support Off, Minimal, and Guided difficulty modes.
  • Distance, bearing, and opacity should update through state fields, not authored display strings.

Notifications And Feedback#

Quest toasts reuse the existing notification surface. They should be informative without blocking play.

  • Use QuestAccepted, QuestObjectiveCompleted, QuestCompleted, and QuestFailed notification types.
  • Route quest toast actions to ModeSpecific.QuestLog.
  • Keep toasts screen-reader announced and controller non-modal.
  • Use cooldown and burst limits from FV2QuestNotificationToastCatalog.
  • Do not create a second toast stack for quests.

Accessibility And Localization#

Accessibility and localization metadata are part of the styling contract, not late polish.

  • Use FV2QuestUIAccessibilityDescriptor for screen-reader summaries, high-contrast marker tags, and objective progress announcements.
  • High-contrast markers must not be color-only. Pair color with icon, shape, or label state.
  • Every player-facing quest UI text binding must use string ids through FV2QuestUILocalizedTextBinding.
  • Use SourceStringId for direct quest text and FormatStringId plus DynamicTextArguments for progress text.
  • Dynamic insertion arguments must be named, such as CurrentCount, TargetCount, CompletedObjectiveCount, ObjectiveCount, ProgressPercent, and StateTextId.
  • Do not render QuestId, ObjectiveId, or fallback ids directly as display copy except in debug-only tooling.

Authoring Workflow#

  1. Add or update quest definition text ids before touching UI layout.
  2. Confirm every quest, objective, reward, map marker, waypoint, and toast uses stable ids.
  3. Update the relevant contract if a surface gains a new field or policy.
  4. Update the journal or tracker view model only when a Blueprint binding needs the field directly.
  5. Run the validation commands in this guide before content review.
  6. Include screenshots or captured UI state in review notes when the visual layout changes, even if only the contract checker changed.

Review Checklist#

Before content review, confirm:

  • Journal rows still support active, available, completed, and failed quests.
  • Sorting and filtering work without changing selected quest identity.
  • Reward previews remain stable before accepting a quest.
  • Pin/unpin updates the journal and tracker state consistently.
  • Tracker HUD still shows only current visible objectives and progress.
  • Map markers, waypoints, and breadcrumbs remain non-color-only.
  • Screen-reader summaries include state and progress.
  • Localization bindings use string ids and named dynamic insertion.
  • Completion statistics do not overpower the selected quest content.
  • Every changed surface keeps reduced-motion and cardless layout policy.
  • The checker, contract, workflow, Horde metadata, and TODO evidence changed together.

Validation Commands#

Run these commands after changing quest UI docs, styling policy, UI contracts, quest UI widget state, or review guidance:

bash
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-quest-ui-documentation-style-guide.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-quest-journal-ui.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-quest-tracker-hud.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-quest-ui-accessibility.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-quest-ui-localization.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-ui-module.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-ci-workflow.py
python3 -m json.tool V2/ue/Content/V2/UI/Quest/QuestUIDocumentationStyleGuide_V2_Contract.json
python3 -m json.tool V2/ue/Build/Horde/v2-buildgraph-job.json
python3 V2/tools/validate-v2-docs.py
pnpm exec prettier --check V2/docs/modes/quest-ui-documentation-and-styling-guide.md TODOS/phase-72.md V2/ue/Content/V2/UI/Quest/QuestUIDocumentationStyleGuide_V2_Contract.json V2/ue/Build/Horde/v2-buildgraph-job.json