How to handle widget selection

[Jools]

Currently XTA supplies about 70 widgets with the game, they can be turned on/off using the F11 meny or my typing "/selector" (without the quotes) in game chat. This sounds as many widgets to handle, but many do very small things, such as displaying a label above the commander, or putting some artillery units to "hold position" by default. But people want different things, so that's why these are not included by default in the interface, but left as 'options'.

But I realise it's tedious to shuffle between 70 or so widgets, and then also maybe some third party ones. The main problem is the widget selector itself. I think this could be improved in two ways:

1) Make a filter/search button, such as in iTunes or Mozilla Thunderbird.

2) Put some widgets that 100 % of people always use as 'system' widgets. This would mean setting hidden=true in GetInfo callin. But would it be possible to construct a checkbox somewhere in the widget that would then show all hidden ones, such as [ ] show system widgets?

The main issue is that the widget handler itself is not part of xta, it's path is "spring/luaui/selector.lua". Can we edit this file at all?

[jK]

wait for new widgethandler

[Jools]

Cool!
Awesome!

(Edited to comply with our american readers)

[Funkencool]

BAR pretty much has that as well

[Jools]

Hey, that's very nice!

[Funkencool]

Hey, that's very nice!

Thanks

[PepeAmpere]

Hey, that's very nice!

Sorry, but this is not nice.

Try better funk!

[Silentwings]

What's wrong with it? Looks alright to me, although I don't like the font much!

[Jools]

I like the design of the interface. It looks a bit like the general interface in civilization 1, which had the best GUI of all civ games. It also fits well with the future genre of our games.

[PepeAmpere]

I thought BAR is project with aim to be unique game with UI which such unique game deserves. And lack of DTP feeling or good taste isnt reason to say "Cool".

I think its better Interface then many of the current Spring games have, but if someone say "Cool" (and author answers "Thx"), i think, its time for someone to say "no, its not 'cool', its maybe 'good', or 'ok', but really not 'cool'".

[gajop]

Negative opinions without any explanation can only leave a person depressed. Point out what you don't like instead, so the person can fix it and do better next time.

Example: I find it misplaced that "Resign and Spectate" and "Exit to Desktop" are found in the interface configuration panel.

[PepeAmpere]

I don't want to spread depression. Gajop, as usuall, don't get a point. I was correcting not deserved positive criticism, not spreading negativity. My target was not Funk and his work, my target was Jools' comment.

If Funk wants long critics, i can write it of course:

• my "don't like" was aimed to general feeling of that screenshot, that Ui is not complete
• on many places this UI lacks of proper spacing on key places (= margin and padding if I use CSS terminology). Titles, paragraphs/lines needs some spacing (top/bottom), the same buttons (buttons need good balance of padding), the same those two columns (at least 1px left/right padding would be much better)
• font is nice, style is nice too
• some elements don't fit the style - like horizontal line (in this case touching the border), borders are at least strange, if not bad
• Why "- Sound -", if Im in category "Sound" - for me it means: "author has no idea how to make the title interesting"

[smoth]

W hat is dtp feeling?

[Jools]

But we should also give positive feedback when it is deserved, noting that of course everything can always be improved and that for a good engineer, a product isn't ready when there nothing more to add, but when there's nothing more to take away.

Still, as a response to what PepeAmpere wrote, to be as critical as that with the current state of the product we have is anachronistic. We have a spring product where:

* There is no difference in audio for explosions in water and lava

* Right click sometimes means 'execute order', sometimes it means 'cancel' order

* Orders are merely dropped with no response to the player when they can not be completed.

* Units that has an attack order on another unit that is retreating will never actually shoot at the unit, because the retreating unit will always move away to a new position outside the range. Therefore, a retreating unit will usually win a 1v1 combat, whereas IRL the opposite is usually the case.

* Many more serious issues like this, cf: 21 spring game&engine quirks that can make you win(or lose)

And you have the nerve to complain about some aesthetic lines here and there.

[PepeAmpere]

Jools, don't mix apples and ... rocks . Important part of UI qualitiy IS aesthetics. And if I see correctly, theres no link for Funk's UI to test the Funk'tionality. So, I expect, your "very nice" was aimed just to visual part of it, because we dont know how good/bad that Funkendude's menu works.

About spring issues we can discuss on PM channel.

[smoth]

W hat is dtp feeling?

[Jools]

Jools, don't mix apples and ... rocks . Important part of UI qualitiy IS aesthetics. And if I see correctly, theres no link for Funk's UI to test the Funk'tionality. So, I expect, your "very nice" was aimed just to visual part of it, because we dont know how good/bad that Funkendude's menu works.

About spring issues we can discuss on PM channel.

Yes.

Well, I assume the buttons do what they say they do :) But I do like the visual appearance. Compare it to what we have now and you'll see why.

[knorke]

Think all it needs is some way to group or mark some widgets that players will basically never turn off.
For example:
custom formation
healthbars
button reverse toggle
initial build queue

Something as simple as having some prefix in front of name.

Could already order/group widgets by putting prefixes in front of their names, similiar to how the file names are gfx_dynamic_blob_shadow.lua
Just change the name= in getInfo so that in F11 it shows as
(GFX) Blob Shadows
(GXF) Projectile Lights
(GUI) Custom Formations
...

---
Introducing UI Frameworks (redUI, chili, whatever) or other large changes are imo not good for XTA because I do not see that such task would be completed. Imo not even other games have those GUIs really working. Some parts are nice and interessting but for everyday playing it does not convince me. Think it might turn out to be a half-usuable mess for a while (which then most players just turn off) and then eventually given up.
---
imo can remove some widgets:

unit_stockpile_dynamic.lua, unit_stockpile_dynamic_alt.lua
think just one is enough.

gui_fps_xta.lua
basically same as typing /fps

[malric]

Can't comment on whatever an UI framework should be used, but now that I play sometimes also zero-k, I think that their UI is very nice and I miss it in XTA. So, I would say something should be done to improve the current status...

[Jools]

The problem with UI frameworks is that everything should be made to suit that framework, a nice UI is consistent. We can not have individual skins for all graphical widgets. I don't know how to solve that. But I like RedUI for now and CtrlPanel++. But people will always have different opinions.

Here's a analogue to the problem we have: http://www.flowtown.com/blog/9-websites ... he-1990s-2