On Mon, 09 Oct 2006 01:10:52 -0700, Mark Wedel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Standardize on 19x19 map size. > > This size was chosen as that the map could still fully fit on lower > resolution > systems. Standard size so that map makers know what to design to, and so > players don't have an unfair advantage (if I have a 25x25 map and you only > have > 19x19, I have more info).
Well, I disagree with a fixed size of 19x19 because it would be difficult to use it on a 1024x768 screen (sorry, I cannot easily switch to a bigger screen on my laptop). I have currently set my gtk2 client to use 20x15 for the map size and this works quite well. Here is a screenshot of my gcfclient2, with some comments about where some space optimizations could be implemented: http://wilber.gimp.org/~raphael/crossfire/gcfclient-ui.png > Make client fullscreen. > [...] Like you, I also find fullscreen applications annoying. Although this is good for many games such as action games that are played without interruption, I often like to switch from crossfire to a text editor or web browser in order to take some notes or read some docs. Maybe it is just a sign that the client does not provide enough features on its own (such as allowing the player to take notes or having a better online help system). But even if some of these features could be added later, I still think that I would prefer to use the crossfire client in windowed mode. > Standardize on one client [...] > My thoughts: As the writer and user of the gtk2 client, I'm biased, but > keeping > the gtk2 clients seems fine to me. I know there are complaints about it, as > well as bugs, but having 3 supported clients I don't think really helps > things > much (it becomes too easy to just not make improvements or fix bugs and keep > using the gtk1 client). I would also like to support the gtk2 client as the main client. The main problem with that client is that it is designed for a screen that is at least 1000 pixels high and this causes most of the widgets to be created out of the screen when the client in used on a 1024x768 screen. It is even difficult to resize the user interface so that most pieces fit on the screen, because even the resize handles for the hpanes and vpanes are off the screen initially. I had to resort to hand-editing of the ~/.crossfire/gwinpos2 file in order to make it fit on my screen because changing the map size or resizing the top-level application window was not sufficient to make all widgets appear in the visible area of the screen. It is much easier for the user to start with a smaller window and make it larger than to start with a window that is too large and try to make is smaller. I would like gcfclient2 to start with a smaller size by default so that it fits on a 1024x768 screen. Those (like you) who have a larger screen will be able to enlarge the window in order to make use of the available space and those who have a small/normal screen will be able to make minor adjustments if necessary. I was a bit disapointed to read in the docs of the client that you were not interested in accepting patches for improving the client on small screens. I hope that you have changed your mind about this and that you would still accept patches that change the initial dimensions of the gcfclient2 widgets. > Improve client UI > > This is often discussed, but I hear few concrete suggestions. > > I'll be the first to admit I'm not wholly satisfied with the gtk2 client. > Yet > at the same time, I'm not exactly sure what I'd change to make it better. > > Here are various thoughts and some suggestions I think people presented: > - Pop up window for inventory handling (one gets so many items in crossfire, > that the normal scrolled area really isn't sufficient) I agree that the inventory handling should be improved. One of the drawbacks of the current solution (using a nested list in the inventory) is that it is sometimes hard to quickly close a container during combat because you have to scroll up exactly to the right place and this is tricky if you have many items in your inventory and in the container. I'm not sure that I would like a pop-up window, though. Pop-ups should generally be avoided because they get in the way and have to be dismissed explictely. It may be better to get back to the solution that was used in the old gtk1 client: replace the view of the stack/floor by the items in the container and have a "close" button in a place that can be found easily. Maybe something similar could be used in the gtk2 client. > - Maybe use themes to make the appearance more that of a game and less that > of > an application (font size, background colors, etc) Hmmm... Themes can be nice. On the other hand, consistency with other applications running on the desktop is also nice. > - Figure out what information is important to display, and what isn't. In > particular, I'm thinking of the stats pane here - most often I use the exp > pane > to see where I am at relative to leveling, less so the resistances, and > seldom > use the overall stats one, since stats don't change very often. Could we > maybe > use icons instead of string names, and scrollbars instead of numbers to > represent progress? Add popup hints so if you hover over the value, you get > the > full info? I put some comments on the screenshot: http://wilber.gimp.org/~raphael/crossfire/gcfclient-ui.png The most important information (from my point of wiew) would be: - The current range/attack: spell, weapon, bow, rod, ... - The total exp: it is very useful to be able to see if that number changes while you are doing something, and by how much. If I want to see the details I can go to the "Skills & Experience" tab, but usually it is enough for me to see if the total is increasing. - The current armor and other protections. I am usually playing characters that have temporary resistances from spell or potions and I do not always see the messages telling me that some of them have expired (especially in the middle of some combat that generates lots of messages). So keeping an eye on the protections is rather useful. These values are the ones that I like to see when I am engaged in combat. When I am exploring, shopping or thinking between battles, I may be more interested in the "Core stats" or the details of my skills (which I can also get via the 'skills command anyway). It would be nice if some of the unused areas (marked in red on the screenshot) could be used to display some of these important values. It may be sufficient to display the range and total exp somewhere so that they are always visible, and then I could have the "Protections" tab visible most of the time, while you would probably choose to have the "Skills & Experience" tab visible. > - Improved help - I don't think the help in the client has much useful > content - > I think a lot of the information currently in various places could make it to > the client so it has a real help system. Yes. See also the previous discussion that we had in August in the thread ``Proposal for better in-game information: client-side "player books"''. -Raphaël _______________________________________________ crossfire mailing list crossfire@metalforge.org http://mailman.metalforge.org/mailman/listinfo/crossfire
