[Dev Blog] Quick UI Demo & Alpha 4 Update

You know how this works by now.

http://stonehearth.net/2014/08/26/desktop-tuesday-quick-ui-demo-alpha-4-update/

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wow, you ARE magical! i dont even see this on the front page…

you English never cease to amaze and delight! :smile:

edit: and the first comment is from … 37 minutes ago? yeah, it was posted an hour ago…

hits SHIFT + refresh again

odd… the frontpage isnt updating for me… oh well, time to watch! :smiley:

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Wait. Have I broken something? Oh god. Raya forgive me.

I am pretty delightful and amazing.

No for some reason it isn’t on the front page, it’s in the archives though … odd.

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no… i think @Tom just forgot to push the red “publish” button… he’s scared of the color red… long story…

ok, so then the NSA is not out to get me … thanks!

oh, and peaceful mode!! :+1:

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I went on YouTube and it had just been posted ( this was a few Hours ago ) so i looked on stoneherath.net and nothing . . .

They posted it on Facebook a while ago. Fun update!

And you didn’t tell us sooner?! @Silas I sometimes find myself questioning your commitment to the cause.

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My selfishness should not go unpunished!

Goes and eats pizza

The amount of pizza i eat will surely give me a tummy ache… that should teach me!

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Yay for UI updates :slight_smile: . Especially game mode stuff. However (come on, it’s me, of course there’s a “but” involved) :stuck_out_tongue: …

  1. I wouldn’t use a pop-up like that for game modes, because IMHO it’s more awkward when it comes to expanding the list much (wait until the list is normal, peaceful, limited world size, timed, capture the flag, tower defence, goblin waves defence… you get the idea). I think a brand-new screen for game settings makes more sense: you’ll be able in the future to add lots of variables that way, beyond just normal/peaceful mode etc. Okay it’ll be a bit barren now, but frankly big deal - it’s an alpha :wink: .

  2. I worry that the second tier of action bars won’t be big enough, especially when it comes to zones (stockpile, farm, trapper… plus patrol zones, maybe ownership zones, animal grazing zones, forestry / tree-planting zones… the list just keeps growing).

  3. Re-mappable hotkeys probably needs to happen at some point, especially for modding purposes. The number keys are very popular in games for unit actions / abilities after all, so being able to free them up would be helpful.

  4. I’d try for a method that (bearing in mind #3) shows the hotkey always, rather than only on button mouse-overs. If a player has to mouse-over a button to see its hotkey… well they’re mostly there when it comes to clicking it, too. If they can just look and see “hey, farming is bound to 1”, it’ll make it easier to get to grips with.

  5. Controls for rotating objects still seems a bit opaque to my mind. Also, I find myself missing the ability to right-click to rotate things when placing them.

http://i49.tinypic.com/n2k8t0.gif

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i actually hardly ever rotate items… primarily because i always forget the associated keys ( :blush: ), and it just doesn’t feel “natural” using those to rotate… right-click :arrow_right: rotate gets my hardy :+1:

Good UX instincts! It’s true, a much more detailed options screen is undoubtedly coming. But this way, and until we fix the balance, you can’t miss the option, at least.

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Just because we have a “peaceful” mode, please don’t fail to fix the game balance. Practicing making a good game at every level/release/tech level/set of characters will improve Radiant’s ability to balance a game when there are 10, 20, 30 times the complexity we have now.

I’d hope that given the upcoming September date that this Alpha 4 will be released to all backers with a well balanced combat and peaceful mode. I don’t think you have time to squeeze in an Alpha 5 before September and a rebalance of all the new tech that would introduce.

Of course, I’m not trying to tell you your business, just sharing my concerns as a backer and fanboy (and software engineer, who has been CIO for 10+ years and still codes everyday in every project my company produces).

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@sdee I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere, maybe I’ve missed it, but is there going to be any changes to the scrolling updates on the bottom right?

I just ask as firstly it’s a little small to read, and secondly I’ve found it to be in the way at times, or just generally making the place look untidy :stuck_out_tongue:

Any planned changes?

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Oh, we definitely want to fix game balance! We’ve just never made a game before, so bear with us as we iterate our way slowly to something that works for everyone.

We do want to go back and do another pass on these, especially after we do a bit more with personalities, but it’s on our medium-long list, not our short list. Thanks for letting us know that it’s hard to read and sometimes too big? I take that it’s getting in the way of clicking on things?

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to me, its not so much that it gets in the way, its more that it… just doesn’t seem to “fit” with the rest of the UI?

while I like the feedback from the units, that area just seems to float there, unattached to the main UI bar… a kneejerk suggestion would be to add another icon next to the notifications… that when clicked, opens a box upward (similar to how the other UI elements expand/collapse) and shows all the recent dialogue comments… perhaps with a scroll as well?

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Aha, gotcha! Lovely illustrative mockup, too!

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Any chance of switching the performance bar and speed buttons around?

The reason I ask is I can almost guarantee that every time I want to change the game speed, I get a damn steam friend notification!

It’s minor,and I could disable the overlay… just a suggestion :slight_smile:

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