Custom UI

[H-Hour]

This has now been merged as a mod into 2.5-dev. Because the UI system is also being reworked, it will no longer be compatible with older versions. You can follow the progress here.

[Crystan]

AWESOME! I hope youre going to finish it and replace it with the old standard UI. Anyway iam posting some screens on IndieDB right now. Btw. whats wrong with the main menu?

[H-Hour]

whats wrong with the main menu?

Not sure what you mean...

[Crystan]

Well i mean the "vertical distortion lines" on the menu buttons and on the background. Perhaps its a scaling error? Because the png of the background for e.g. have no lines.

Btw. people on indiedb loves the hud too - IndieDB

[H-Hour]

Well i mean the "vertical distortion lines" on the menu buttons and on the background.

Ahh yes. This is a deliberate effect I suspect people will either love or hate.

[MCR]

The battlescape HUD looks great, I also like the new futuristic font you chose.

I am not sure if I like the distorted menu gfx, maybe the effect could be used background only ?

[bayo]

Hi, it looks very nice.

* IMO there is still some work to do arround the list of heads and there respective health bars.
* IMO the option icon (on the top) should be more flat, with the perspective it is hard to see it is a tool.
* The floor selection is missing?
* And special congratulation for your stand-up/crop button cause it is perfect.

BTW you should pack your content on a pk file when you distibute it. It is more easy for people to drop a pk file on the base.

[H-Hour]

* IMO there is still some work to do arround the list of heads and there respective health bars.

I agree. It still doesn't feel quite right to me.

* IMO the option icon (on the top) should be more flat, with the perspective it is hard to see it is a tool.

I can see your point but probably won't prioritize the change for now.

* The floor selection is missing?

Yes, still missing.

* And special congratulation for your stand-up/crop button cause it is perfect.

Thanks! It took me a while to figure out how to get that right.

BTW you should pack your content on a pk file when you distibute it. It is more easy for people to drop a pk file on the base.

Currently I'm distributing it as a mod, so it shouldn't go into /base/. But a pk3 might make an easier install. I'll try it out for next round.

[bayo]

Oh, and do you know if the font is open source, or do you already search an open source one? i know it is very hard, especially with custom font, and with needed unicode characters.

[H-Hour]

It is from The League of Moveable Type, licensed under the Open Font License. But I'm told by Kildor that it doesn't support some of the Cyrrilic characters used in the Russian language. Font names are translateable so a new font could be set for a different language. Not ideal, but fine for me.

[Kildor]

To be correct, it support only latin set, and no more.

[bayo]

Oh, and the third bar is about mind? right?
You should use something like a brain-icon.
Something like http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farm-Fresh_brain_trainer.png with our style should be better.

[bayo]

And a last little thing, i see IndieDB screenshots. I think you should use more width of the screen in case of wide screen. IMHO there is 2 choices, 1) center the bottom panel (but the soldier model can looks strange here) or 2) align the soldier panel on the left and the weapon panel on the right (but it can be hard to use in very wide screens).

(or something between with a dynamic margin, but it is harder to code).
If you need help with code, u can ask me.

[Crystan]

I think its fine if he just align the weapon box to the right border. I shot the screenshot in window mode, actually iam using a resolution of 1680x1050 in fullscreen (dont know if that means very wide for you).

[H-Hour]

Oh, and the third bar is about mind? right?
You should use something like a brain-icon.
Something like http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farm-Fresh_brain_trainer.png with our style should be better.

It is "morale", but maybe that's what you meant. (My understanding is that "mind" will eventually be a psionics-like skill?) Not a fan of the brain idea, but I admit "morale" is not an easy concept to describe in a small icon.

I think you should use more width of the screen in case of wide screen. IMHO there is 2 choices, 1) center the bottom panel (but the soldier model can looks strange here) or 2) align the soldier panel on the left and the weapon panel on the right (but it can be hard to use in very wide screens).

All soldier/squad functions are bottom-left. All battlescape info is top-left. All game-control icons (+radar) are top-right. It expands/contracts correctly with widescreen.

I think its fine if he just align the weapon box to the right border.

I tried that at first but didn't like it. Looks and feels off. Having the firedef's pop-up like you have in the screenshot makes it seem strange, but in gameplay the positioning (and the firedef's) feel fine.

Still don't know exactly how I'll handle the second hand, though.