GUI improvements

from Elemental Forums

heres a list of some stuff I already found annoying in beta but didn't post because it was said the gui will be changed a lot with the 0-day patch. apparently, none of my issues have been resolved, so here's the collection:

- esc is not working to leave options menu, only to open it (in options, esc should bring me back to the game, or generally speaking, esc should close the current window until one is back to the map - except of course, when in dialogues or stuff like that where closing is not an option)
- doubleclick on savegame overwrites (good, but maybe should ask (with a 'don't ask again checkbox') whether to overwrite), second click is transfered to underlaying gui and thus enables/disables options sometimes (very bad)
- aswd/arrows should be configurable to be used as move map or move unit or at least move unit should be possible to disable, because I for one associate those keys with map movement when one plays on a map like in elemental - aswd as movement is more common for fps, ego perspective action rpg etc, not for iso view games.
- configurable key bindings
- quick save on a key more often used in other games for this purpose (ie F5)
- auto and quicksaves using a rotation system of 1 to x rotating savegames where x is configurable)
- auto filling the name of the world and the current turn into the savegamename in the save menu, autofocus the input box, enter = click on save button
- direct key to open save menu (F6) and load screen (F10/F11)
- esc/menu doesn't work in battles
- city upgrade window should show the cities current production. just from the name I never now if this was the city with the lost library or the one with a mine etc.. or add an option to postpone setting an upgrade and get back to the map to find out exactly which update would be suitable, then reopen the dialog with an action button on the city
- doubleclicking a spell in the spellbook should cast it, not abort silently (something similar seems to be a known issue, but I'm not talking about spells that fail but spells that should work and just don't without reason)
- maybe clean up the options menu completely. the first page shouldn't show such special options as it does now. I'd prefer tabs like General, Audio, Video, Advanced.
- save game menu should (if possible on current resolution) show more savegames, so one can use his own rotation system with more than just 4 saves without having to scroll
- save game menu shouldn't show autosaves (who'd want to overwrite an autosave?)

 

ora

4,517 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I'd rather see "open save menu" be ctrl-S and "open load screen" be ctrl-L as seems to be standard in Windows programs -- unless, of course, Elemental eventually becomes a cross-platform game!

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

well, which exact shortcuts are used is rather irrelevant as long as there is one at all. but as I said, shortcuts should be configurable, so we'd be only talking about a sane default. while ctrl+s is THE standard in desktop software, I myself never came across a game using this shortcut (not that such a game doesn't exist at all) and would assume that a shortcut which at least has been used by other games (especially rpgs) might be easier to adapt to by other players. but thats details, I'd rather see the larger problems fixed/improved than discuss the merits of one key combination over another ;-)

TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

the gui is still quite horrible in some ways

 

I haven't seen any changes, except one/two minor (but a good start anyway):

- when doubleclicking on savegames it overwrites without activating any options in the underlying options menu

- doubleclicking on a spell now tells me invalid target (seems to target where the cursor was when I clicked). for non-targetable spells (ie the 'hit a random enemy', or greater haste etc) doubleclicking now works.

 

please give the gui some love!  just a few simple improvements could make it feel so much less intruding.

 

Ora