Finally… A Custom UI
February 3rd, 2011 by Samodean

It’s taken six years,. but I finally bit the bullet and spent some time making myself a full-custom WoW UI. You see, I’m old school; I’ve been playing since before UI modifications became a “thing.” Sure, I used a few simple things like map mods and Auction House scanners, but I was mostly-stock for a long, LONG time.

One of the reasons I never dove too far into UI mods was the limited hardware I was working with. When every trip to Ironforge involved a tour of the lag pit, I didn’t want to commit even more resources I didn’t have to bells and whistles. Once I upgraded to a more capable system, I stayed with my stock setup because I was used to it.

Another thing holding me back from going full-custom was aesthetics. So many custom setups, while functional, look like ass. I don’t play a game like WoW just to “win” it, I play for the full experience, and having my screen be pleasing to my eye is part of that.

Enter SpartanUI.

I was introduced to this addon suite by Roger, and instantly fell in love with it. It pulled all the key UI elements (map, unit frames, action bars) into one place, increasing playability while looking damn good at the same time. I loved it.

Fast forward a bit, and I finally got myself a Razer Naga. I knew I wanted a UI setup that would compliment the Naga’s button layout, and Spartan couldn’t provide that. The Naga has a UI mod of its own, but it was completely lacking in the aesthetics department.

It was time to get custom.

That was… a lot of work.

I’m not looking to turn this into a guide. Naithin over at Fun in Games is wrapping up a fairly comprehensive guide on that exact subject. Additionally, WoW Insider’s addon columns are a great resource, some of the most useful information on the site. Instead, I’m just going to give you guys a quick rundown on what I’m using and why I’m using it.

First of all, for anyone serious about an interface project like this, get the Curse Client. trust me, you don’t want to have to keep track of keeping all these addons updated yourself. Patch day could put you in an asylum.

Addon Control Panel: A necessity, especially when you’re working on the setup. ACP allows you to turn your various addons on and off from inside the game, instead of having to log out each time.
Sunn – Viewport Art: Essential for someone looking to build a cohesive UI. Sunn actually changes the size of the screen display, meaning that the game won’t render anything under your UI. Otherwise, your amazing setup could hide important things. Like Rogues. Plus, with the many available art packs make things look nice.
Bartender4: the core of just about any custom setup. Bartender allows you to make your action bars any size or dimension you want, put them wherever you want and bind the keys however you want. It’s what enabled me to make my custom Naga frames.
ButtonFacade: Along with its army of skins, ButtonFacade is a “pretty” addon. It makes you buttons look nice. However, it’s also a nice “at a glance’ addon, enabling you to highlight your buttons based on different criteria, such as active buffs.
OmniCC: An obvious representation of cooldowns, right on the button. Handy.
Titan Panel: With an entire library of plugins, Titan Panel adds the bar at the top, providing an almost endless amount of information. This was fairly necessary for me, as my minimalist bar setup involved removing many “default” elements, such as the experience bar.
SexyMap: Makes the map sexy. It also allows you to move the map, as well as other UI elements, most notably that damn Objective panel, which always seems to be in the way.
Quartz: A nice castbar addon, enhancing the default functionality.
Skada Damage Meter: An all-in-one damage/healing/threat meter. You can have multiple panels active at one time, without having to run separate addons.
Shadowed Unit Frames: I tried out several unit frame addons (XPerl is the one I’m using in the images above). SUF just works,- without an unnecessarily complicated configuration.
Chatter: Get that chat box in line.
Combuctor: I’ve always been OCD about my bags. With Combuctor, I just throw everything in there and use the built-in filters to find what I want without wasting time meticulously organizing things.
TotemTimers: A shaman without TotemTimers is a sad, sad thing.
AuctionLite: While not as robust as other auction mods, it’s beautiful simplicity makes it my choice.

Now, I’m still tweaking things here and there. Now that I’m all-in, I doubt I’ll ever stop messing with things.

Any favorite addons out there to recommend?

Tags: addons, interface, UI, World of Warcraft, WoW