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Topic: [GUI] Priority and max fill indicators

fraang

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Joined: 2010-02-15, 13:13
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Posted at: 2012-03-13, 23:29

I have noticed recently that the idicators for the priority and max fill are - I guess - placeholders. So here is my attempt to improve them.

Priority:

Max fill:

Old:

New:

Comments are welcome.


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Nasenbaer
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Joined: 2009-02-21, 18:17
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Posted at: 2012-03-14, 08:17

Hey fraang,

the new ones look indeed a lot better. Very nice graphics :). However I find it very counter intuitive to have a red bar as max priority - for me red is like a red traffic light like "stop", so it should be as before, that the red means "low priority" and green means "high priority".

Other than that, I vote for inclusion. face-smile.png

Cheers Peter


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SirVer

Joined: 2009-02-19, 15:18
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Posted at: 2012-03-14, 11:25

I personally like the old priority indicators better. I find them easier to distinguish and also prettier - mainly because they do not waste space but use the whole canvas. I'd like to see them reworked. There does not seem to be an international sign that signifies priority. The things I could think off were

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priority_signs in Traffic. They should be clear to most people as they are very international - but somehow they do not fit widelands.
  • one, two or three exclamation marks (!). That seems quite common in email programs.
  • Turtle vs Leopard to indiciate priority. I do not know what 'normal' should be.
  • Arrow up, Dot, Arrow Down to indicate priority.

Those are just ideas of course :).

I love the max fill indicator you made! But as always, the call is on chuck with every graphics wise face-tongue.png

Edited: 2012-03-14, 11:34

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fraang

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Posted at: 2012-03-14, 12:22

Thanks for your feedback! It is much appreciated. face-smile.png

The priority indicators are just "prototypes" or ideas. I think the idea with the up arrow/dot/down arrow seams pretty cool. And of course I will swap the coloring which is much more logic.

As of the max fill indicator I will crop the image to save space but I have to take look if it is scaled to fit the "image box".


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PkK

Joined: 2012-01-06, 12:19
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Posted at: 2012-03-14, 14:31

As for the max fill indicators: I'd prefer if we could make the design and mechanism the same for both soldiers and wares. After all, a soldier isn't really that different from a stone.

Philipp


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wl-zocker

Joined: 2011-12-30, 17:37
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Posted at: 2012-03-14, 15:11

PkK wrote: As for the max fill indicators: I'd prefer if we could make the design and mechanism the same for both soldiers and wares. After all, a soldier isn't really that different from a stone.

I don't agree. I think some icons are bad recognisable when a black box is in the background. What do you mean by "mechanism"? In a military building, there are buttons to change the number of soldiers, and in a civil building, you have buttons with arrows, that change the numbers of wares, too.

By the way, I'd prefer if there was a second possibility to set the max fill indicator: clicking or dragging the max fill indicator to the space (between the icons) where one wants to have it. This would make it easier to get the wares out when a building is upgraded or dismantled. Currently, the window of a civil building is moved by "drag and drop", but when you click on a soldier, he is sent out (and the window doesn't move). I think the behaviour should always be the same (eg: clicking=send soldier out/set max fill indicator; drag=move window).


"Only few people know how much one has to know in order to know how little one knows." - Werner Heisenberg

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QCS

Joined: 2009-12-29, 22:47
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Posted at: 2012-03-14, 16:59

First, I like the Queue Fill icon.

But I have to say I don't really like the priority buttons.

  • As others already said, the colors are wrong (we are used to the other way face-wink.png )

  • Please do not make the buttons smaller than now; they are small enough. When I'm trying widelands on a 16" 120dpi screen, it is hard enough to hit the buttons in the current size.

  • Please do not make the most used button (to lower the priority) the smallest one.

Though I have to say, I somehow like the idea of "arrow up/dot/arrow down"; I'd like to see how that could look...

Edited: 2012-03-14, 16:59

CMake is evil.

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PkK

Joined: 2012-01-06, 12:19
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Posted at: 2012-03-14, 18:59

I don't agree. I think some icons are bad recognisable when a black box is in the background. What do you mean by "mechanism"? In a military building, there are buttons to change the number of soldiers, and in a civil building, you have buttons with arrows, that change the numbers of wares, too. For wares we have big bright arrows pointing left and right located on the left and roght of the window. For soldiers we have small arrows located at the right pointing up and down. For wares we move a yellow bar. For soldiers we set the size of a black area. I don't see a nedd for this difference, and think it would be better to unify this.

By the way, I'd prefer if there was a second possibility to set the max fill indicator: clicking or dragging the max fill indicator to the space (between the icons) where one wants to have it. This would make it easier to get the wares out when a building is upgraded or dismantled. Currently, the window of a civil building is moved by "drag and drop", but when you click on a soldier, he is sent out (and the window doesn't move). I think the behaviour should always be the same (eg: clicking=send soldier out/set max fill indicator; drag=move window).

I agree. Setting the limits needs to many clicks, and it should be possible to adjust this more easily. But why not set the limit for soldiers in the same way (i.e. clicking in between two soldier slots sets the limit).

Philipp


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chuckw
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Posted at: 2012-03-14, 22:51

Here is my 2 cents. face-smile.png

First, I particularly like the style and color fraang has chosen for the Queue-fill indicator. The current indicator is difficult for me see. Fraang's use of the brighter shade of orange and higher specularity in combination with the "raised" look really improves its visibility and still does not over-power the rest of the window. +1 for fraang's version

I like SirVer's concept of the up-arrow/dot/down-arrow buttons, also. QCS makes a very valid point about visibilty AND click-ability on smaller screens. And Nasenbaer's preferred order of the colors is very logical, especially as long-time players are used to seeing them in that order. I very much would like to see what you come up with for these buttons, fraang.


I see little people.

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wl-zocker

Joined: 2011-12-30, 17:37
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Posted at: 2012-03-15, 11:05

PkK wrote: But why not set the limit for soldiers in the same way (i.e. clicking in between two soldier slots sets the limit).

It would be a nice idea, but I don't often change the number of soldiers (I rather dismantle the building). I don't know how other players handle that.

Another problem is that soldiers are, in contrast to the wares, individual: They can have different training levels. So I send often out untrained soldiers and hope that they are replaced by trained ones. How will the player decide if he clicks on a soldier (to send him out) or on the small space between two of them to set a new limit. Currently, there is very little space.

So all in all, I personally don't think that such a feature is needed.


Sorry for being a bit off-topic; now about the graphics:

  • The new max fill indicator looks better than the old one.
  • As for the priority buttons, I think they should either be the old one (traffic light colored) or arrow up/dot/arrow down. They should have the same size and the same color (I imagine dark-blue). If they had different colors, I think it would be to variegated (so either different colors or different symbols).

"Only few people know how much one has to know in order to know how little one knows." - Werner Heisenberg

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