JA2-like hud

[Bartleby]

i never played ja2 and i dont see anything special in those screens. do i miss a thing?

why off topic? we are discussing other games hud.
btw. admins are never off topic .

[mor2]

the difference is that he wants to separate the interface into two parts, the soldier bar and the "action" bar.
the first shows only portraits and gives you general info (weapons/health) the second is used for more detailed.

[bayo]

, would it be possible to keep the current HUD as another alternate, please?

Yes, but if we create this new thing it will be another alternate, it will not became the default one.

@bayo, i know you can make them small, the question is if you should?

wasn't this one of the biggest critics regarding UFO:ET interface that the portraits was too small and that it wasnt personal enough?

That is funny cause, http://www.cpugamer.com/downloads/UFO:%20Extraterrestrials/117794980310.jpg look like what i would like for the second screen. I dont see this little heads small, it is only an help we a better feeling than number, but it is only something we can click on, no more.
* About the global view only, we can do some improvment by reusing concept we often see with phone (touch-drag motion) or with dock bar (magnification by changing element sizes). I mean we should not think about that now, cause we can't do all this things at the same time.

also if we make the weapons so small, does it matter if we actually draw them or make an icon to represent what they are, its not like we have such huge verity and i for once prefer to know if its a sniper/heavy/closecombat/etc so i know what role this soldier play in my team.

* I dont think icon is the right way... i mean to force user to learn new kind of consept he see nowhere. User already must learn weapon look, i dont think it is a good idea to learn more.
* if icon is a group for soldiers (sniper/heavy/closecombat). I dont really like the idea, anyway, It need to know what it will look like, how we can edit it... how, when, where... no body will implement it. Then it is another subject too hard to think about it on this thread. Plus, i think weapon image is more useful in this case.

BTW talking about phone: minimalistic hud for phone is an interesting subject. Multiplayer party need only few screens. Thats maybe a work we can do (anyway i dont know about phones and 3D).

[mor2]

too bad i am new, so only now i figured out that the alt.hud, which i was asking about before is not just an extension library but actually a different layout. (was there a screenshot of it in the whole 10p thread  )

anyway, bayo, i dont understand what stops you from making the JA2 like hud, you already have most of the things you want in a.hud, separate it in two panels which you flip between with two buttons, then adapt it to what you want and when its done, post it here and we try to dress it in some graphics... (you know there is many very talented people on the forum, i bet at least one of them is good at this, if not i'll give it my best shot)

which is what i do, right now i am testing some other colors scheme, since only grey/green is depressingly annoying to work with, i am trying a bright theme so i can work with wider range of greens (does it have to be green?!?!?!?), probably i am going to need to darken them a little to keep the mood.

[bayo]

an extension library

?

Most of the main panel is not ready. And it is the more importante screen. Here some improvment. We need to display the soldier name (done), a button for stats (not done), soldier navigation (done). Maybe we can found better layout, i dont know. I think it is already a big improvment from the default HUD, then if it work well, we can overwrite the default one with this one.

Anyway, nothing is magic, implementation need a lot of work, and i have no time. Then i prefer to have something "final" and doable than a draft or an incredible new GUI.

[H-Hour]

I really like the placement/size of the line of soldiers in that mockup. It's small but sufficient and sits comfortably on the eye.

[mor2]

Most of the main panel is not ready

after loading few examples into the game, i think it will be little to small but we can manage.
also the ammo icon is too small, 2 tile clips will be squeezed, the fire mode display is nice  (ammo, chance,TU  is it?)  but its missing few other things that usually shown there and its not very easy to understanding to newbies.

ok, so what do you want me to do, make this layout with the current set of graphics or?

implementation need a lot of work

from what i seen the above panel doesnt need much work, mostly moving around few buttons from panel to panel and updating path's
and speaking of implementation where does the 2.3 version, editor saves the changes under win7   (no idea whats home)

[H-Hour]

and speaking of implementation where does the 2.3 version, editor saves the changes under win7   (no idea whats home)

On my Win7 it's here:

C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\UFOAI\2.3

[bayo]

after loading few examples into the game, i think it will be little to small but we can manage.

Yes, and i think if in few time we can remove the reload button (and the fire button), we can have a little more spaces for this element.

(ammo, chance,TU  is it?) but its missing few other things that usually shown there and its not very easy to understanding to newbies.

I only copy-paste it from a screenshot. I dont think about the content, but sure there is way to improve it, and/or to use this space better.

ok, so what do you want me to do, make this layout with the current set of graphics or?

* If you have an idea where we can add the soldier stats button, maybe near the inventory icon (but it need to rework the panel containing the head), and a better integration on the soldier name.
* provide cleaner background panel
* rework the soldier selection design, we can see it as tabs, maybe it can look like tabs, i dont know
* provide cleaner buttons (split the background button and the icon, and create 4 stats: normal, disabled, hovered, and clicked (which is the same as hovered)) A pressed state (with normal, hovered, disabled...) can also be useful for buttons which push popups.
* and yes we whould use the current style. It can have some *effects*, but it should look like the current style.
If you work with Photoshop or Gimp and use layers, it is ok for me. I dont know about Paint.

[mor2]

sorry no photoshop here, but i use paint.net and it has layer too (although doing basic stuffs like making gradient takes some effort)

anyway if you wish the same, then here i replicated the layout you wanted  (your mockup)  if its ok we can start adding stuff.
i also made an adaption to the default layout, keeping it mostly the same (for those who like i this way) only fixing the RF/stance/reserve
and here is another suggestion for a.hud like floor selector (its the same but faster to scroll and more compact)

beside that, here what i am working on and or this one maybe you'll see something you like or have some insight on one of them.


btw for those who doesn't know, in normal browsers you can use middle mouse to click links so they open up in a new tab (greatly speeds up work with multiple link post like this)

[Crystan]

Your work looks definitely much better than the old one. I really like it. *thumps up*

[bayo]

I rework the soldier bar cause i really think it is need to have that size ATM. I also think the merge between that bar and the soldier panel is not very nice. Anyway, i think i can work with that content. Will see.

[mor2]

 i made it smaller 32x32 squares, if you want it smaller tell me exactly how much on how much you want it.

personally i think its too small and unless you add some way to distinguish which one is selected it will be very annoying, which is why i kept one with spaces, so you can add a selector, i suggest the one at the bottom right, around the fourth from the right head here. we can do something else but i think that a selector is must.

btw does the game support semi transparency? if so we can do it with highlight on top.

I also think the merge between that bar and the soldier panel is not very nice

i think its butt ugly, just as the merge between the portrait and the space for buttons on the left or most of that original theme (its wasnt designed to be placed like this, look at the corners at opposed sides), anyway what you want me to fix and is the space i left for the name is enough? (dont worry blur, transparency and other effects can be added later)


EDIT:
i actually think it so ugle that i made a quick fix, little different than your mockup but i think its better: http://i51.tinypic.com/9h0z9l.png

[bayo]

personally i think its too small and unless you add some way to distinguish which one is selected it will be very annoying

* we need space for a big shot button, and a relead button, then this space is need for anotheer thing http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5477.0;attach=5773;image
* plus, we dont have a lot of faces, then we can't anyway distinguish soldier with heads. We must create something when we hover heads with mouse (updating soldier panel, tooltips, or another way, your selector? but i dont well inderstand it). See it as a way to access to soldier not a way to distinguish them.
See http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5477.0;attach=5776;image as a contrainte (it can be 1 or 2 pixel bigger per box, but i dont thing it can be more)

btw does the game support semi transparency?

Yes.

i actually think it so ugle that i made a quick fix, little different than your mockup but i think its better

The weapon zone must be bigger cause there is ammo model. And i already talk about soldiers tabs. And there is no space for the soldier name (which should be inside a green panel (with another image anyway, but i mean it need more height than the text height))

I only create this mockup (http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5477.0;attach=5773;image) to constraint some box position and size. You can do everything you want with the style. It only must look like our grey-green style, but you really dont need to reuse the real current style. I mean, it can be more modern, while there is not a very hard gap between the geoscape and the battlescape.

[mor2]

by selector i meant something like that because 16 tiny heads is confusing, adding a marker to know which one you are using will make it much more easy to select the next one.

and here is an even smaller version

the weapon zone is bigger than the one in your mockup, so you want the panel on top thinner or make it wider?
and you want the "standard name box" to fit under the portrait, maybe we can do it with plate instead, like in the MP menu but instead of a vent put two bolts  on each side and place there the name, it sure will take less space ...