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UI Adjustments: Battlescape

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H-Hour:
I decided to first focus on the weapon panel, pulling together the ideas both Kildor and mor2 have put up in the GUI thread. I wanted to concentrate all weapon-related functions/information together without creating too many buttons. The only thing missing I think is reaction fire reservation, but I think all TU reservation should be concentrated in an overall soldier-status panel instead.

* Button style is just a mockup and could be done as the current blue buttons or any other way.

Kildor:
> We can do horizontal bars for health/etc, but is it possible to do vertical bars as well?
Yes, it is possible.

> Is it possible to have a box that collapses when not in use? I'm thinking of the left-hand weapon. If there is no weapon, can you change the size of the box or is this not changable based on such parameters?
I think it is possible too.

> Is it possible to insert a button onto the edge of a container, as the attached image shows, and would this break with the existing UI style too much?
It will be very unintuitive, have you ever seen 2.2.1 geoscape? There were 3 buttons like that, and many questions on the forum about «ufopaedia», «new base» and «options».

mor2:
i love aesthetic and minimalist design but it should get in the way of accessibility, functionality  and user friendliness. the way i see it the
interface functions should be clear and consistent, with big buttons and clear icons, all this to avoid mistakes and speed up the interaction for both new and experienced users. op top of that its important to locate and group commonly used functions in place them together in a logical order.

we dont want to headshot those buttons, miss click change stance instead of reserve, run around the screen doing a routine stuf and shuning new users because its just to confusing to remember what does what and where.

mor2:
for example, here what i mean (please ignore the art style its irrelevant to the topic @h-hour i'll make a "current art style" version after i see an answer to your third post)



first from the design perspective, i tried to make it clear, easily understood and distinguishable (over every terrain)
instead of many small buttons, i prefer few big buttons that combine multiple functionality and provide me with more information.

after selecting a soldier, i focus on the stats(TU/Health/moral) the weapon/ammo, fire mod TU cost, reservations etc.. so all those was grouped together and i tried to arrange them logically, here: (i had it done already)



so you click on the weapons to fire, on the ammo to reload on the stances to set them, any simpler than that?
also its not shown in this screenshot but clicking on the that arrow near the weapon/ammo will open the inventory just above it. it is the same location where a window for fire/RF mods opens it there consistently and at the same time it doesnt obstruct the main view.

i hope my rumbling helps.

H-Hour:

--- Quote from: Kildor on October 20, 2010, 05:33:27 pm ---> Is it possible to insert a button onto the edge of a container, as the attached image shows, and would this break with the existing UI style too much?
It will be very unintuitive, have you ever seen 2.2.1 geoscape? There were 3 buttons like that, and many questions on the forum about «ufopaedia», «new base» and «options».

--- End quote ---

I haven't seen the 2.2.1, but I have no problem turning them into the standard blue buttons. To me, placing them on the edge like I have makes it more intuitive that they will pop-up, but maybe that's just me.


--- Quote from: mor2 on October 20, 2010, 05:36:52 pm ---we dont want to headshot those buttons, miss click change stance instead of reserve, run around the screen doing a routine stuf and shuning new users because its just to confusing to remember what does what and where.

--- End quote ---

I'm not sure if I understand you here. What do you mean "headshot those buttons"? If you're making a comment about my proposal, please be specific about what it is you're talking about.

If you're saying the buttons are too small, they can certainly be made larger. I think the whole box is probably a bit small.

Thoughts on mor2's proposal
These may be a bit obvious because I've taken what I like and discarded what I don't like from your proposal in mine, but here goes. I'll just comment on the weapon/ammo part because I want to stay focused on one thing and I think both of our proposals still group the same functions under the weapon/ammo area.

1) I don't think there should be so much text/numbers. We should avoid representing things in text/numbers as much as possible on the main screens (ie - anything that doesn't pop-up and is always there). This is why I chose the bar graphs to show ammo count and TU-cost of weapon fire. Numbers force players to do math (is 6 ammo a lot or almost gone?).

2) I think there needs to be a clear separation between clickable buttons and information display. This is the main problem I have with your reloading function. There is no clear indication that clicking on the ammo will reload the weapon and having an icon like stance/rf mode to say "I'm clickable" seems to me to create more clutter. Also, it would be quite easy to go for "fire" and accidentally hit reload since they are visually linked closely.

3) I do like the idea of displaying the ammo cartridge in the same box as the weapon, and the popup with weapon firemodes and info. It seems fairly intuitive to me the way you did it and I incorporated both things into my proposal as well.

ps - You don't need to do your mockups in the current art style. Certainly don't redo anything just for that.

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