I'm not that worried about it as I'm not fussed either way.
My only point is that it feels redundant to have two buttons next to each other that do the same thing. It's functionally the same as me hypothetically setting the 'O' key to open the inventory as well as the default 'I' key... I may as well glue I and O together in that case because they are next to each other and they do the same thing
As long as there's no weird blank space, I could go with one large button or two separate buttons.
But I definitely agree with @Thels that it's weird that the single button currently shows the minor color rather than the primary one. So even if Beamdog doesn't change anything else about the button, I'd like that to switch as well.
And I have to say the current mockup @Mr2150 did is looking pretty good to me. I know there was some discussion earlier about the ground box, size and ease of use. Do we have any more opinions on that? I personally would like a faster way to get items from there into my inventory.
@Ravenslight: I'm all in for having both the buttons there, but as I said earlier, in the case that the developers decide to stick with only one of the buttons, I think it would make a lot of sense if it was the button for the major color, rather than the minor color.
For the numbers, you said that the values in the icons reflect the actually equipped items when item comparison is disabled. I agree with you there, except I think that should always be the case, not only when item comparison is disabled.
@Mr2150: Adul has a point. When you click the color button, you can actually see the button getting pressed. I agree with Adul that because of that, it looks better to make two separate buttons (that call the same function), than a single button that encompasses both.
Double-clicking is currently reserved for splitting stacks.
I personally think the ground box is fine, I rarely if ever use it because quick loot exists, and I can also take ground items on the main game screen.
If anything, I think the ground box needs to be made more consistent scrolling-wise with the other looting options. So if the loot box on the main game screen has a downward arrow and an upward arrow button for scrolling lines, the inventory ground box should have the same.
I also think the ground box is fine, except for the lack of a scroll bar. I never use the quick loot option, preferring to walk to each body and search them individually as I always have done.
Correct about doubleclicking affecting stack size, never mind that suggestion.
I think just dragging stuff over is then your best bet. Quicklooting from the main window, or clicking items from the loot window, may be better options.
As for making them more uniform, I'd rather see the loot window get bumped up to 8 slots to be uniform, than the inventory window getting bumped down to 6 slots. The flat ground window should also help making the looks more uniform. Regardless, I still think these need the larger arrows for touchscreen support.
True enough. Inventory management is simply part of the game. And, honestly, if I just give in and buy a new mouse, I'd probably be less irritated by all the clicking.
I also don't really use the loot window enough to care what size it is, but I definitely don't want to see the inventory loot window made any smaller.
Like what you've done with the ground box @Mr2150, having looked at it though I've realised it bugs me that the ground boxes don't line up with the inventory boxes. The ground box needs raised a bit. Other than that I think it's pretty much done.
Ha... @Danathion - I never even bothered positioning them in that respect - but yes, you are right they should line up. In fact, if you look at the boxes you can see the items inside are the wrong way round (all I did was flip the graphic through 90 degrees from the current layout).
OK - this may look better for the ground slots - there's two versions. A scrollbar for PC/mac versions and the existing arrow graphics for tablet / mobile. I'd say that the PC/mac version might even need a toggle in settings for you to choose the arrows over the scrollbar if you'd prefer that.
The boxes should be a bit better lined up now @Danathion ....
Please don't worry about the ornamentation - I've just put it in the way I have to try to make it look balanced and I'm not a graphics artist.
Also - do remember that there is a bug with the ground items currently meaning you cannot have more than 5 pages and that may be a limiting factor. EG a scrollbar might cause the bug / crash to occur more frequently as you are more likely to scroll to the 'broken' section.
At this stage I think just having a scrollbar as a possibility instead of just the buttons is a good thing... the option for the user to choose which (when on PC / Mac) would be the ideal - so maybe that's again an option for settings @Ravenslight ....
Navigating slots: Scrollbars or Buttons Scrollbar style: Traditional or New
Okay, here's some ideas of mine. I'm gonna use original stat icons, ignore those. Also, ignore the simpler graphics I used for now. First of all, there can be two modes for the combat stat information area toggled between by a toggle button somewhere. First mode is simple, only icons and labels. If the cursor is hovered over the icon (or touched on tablets), the full stat information is displayed:
The second mode is what was disscussed here, the icons with area of text with collapsible paragraphs. I like the vertical placement though, because there can be a room for APR too. I believe those icons can be made large enough to account for larger fonts and still have space for five icons there.
@Pecca I personally love the simplicity of the first one but I'm not convinced that there is enough room for 5 icons stacked like that with regular font size text inside. Also, I'm not sure that the general consensus likes having to hover/click to see the extra info...
The second one, I think was tried already. I remember being told the icons can’t run vertically because they won’t fit if made bigger. Also, it now takes up more of the inventory space and some don’t want that as well.
We had the ground slots vertically... so they didn't fit when we first tried five. Since then we turned them horizontally and you've come back in with 5 vertically but with the ground slots in horizontal too. That's why it now works.
So I take it back... 5 icons will fit if the ground slots are horizontally laid out.
Surely enough, the second mode can have the icons placed horizontally if desired, though you will loose the APR in the wall of text. Sometimes it will even need to be scrolled down to.
I suppose my criticism is that aesthetically it looks a bit overpowering. Like as if the stat screen was coming over from the right to take over the inventory. Maybe if there was more space between it and the inventory, and/or if it was just a bit smaller, it would be less distracting.
As for APR, I would argue that it can appear in the text box without having its own icon.
I think I actually prefer the horizontal version as well, though I could work with Pecca's version as long as both options were available. I could see the first version working well with tablets/mobile but I like having all the extra information at a glance.
And I agree it does seem a bit distracting now since it takes up more space. I don't know if you can make it smaller without removing the APR icon, but that may help.
I’m not liking it as well. It has used up the ornamentation space again, and starts to move back in the direction of feeling like a data base. The balance of a role-play back pack, versus making it all about the stats is being lost again.
Although, I will say that having a simplified horizontal version (similar to Pecca's version 1) as an option could be a good thing even if we don't go for the vertical layout. I could see myself using that on some runs. Of course, my vote is pretty much always for more options.
The Horizontal design does feel less invasive to me, perhaps that's only because there are four icons instead of five; there really isn't room for five horizontal icons, or is there @Pecca? I prefer option two, I like to see all the info, and I do like the overall crispness of the design but what I call crispness may be the lack of ornamental artwork that others really like?
*Sigh*, I should explain that when I said "ignore the simpler graphics", I meant focus on the layout proposed and ignore the details. There can be enough ornamentation and nice graphics. The second mode can have horizontal icons, functionality won't change, the first one should stay vertical though. The first one is meant more for people who play with larger font and don't want cluttered screen.
Comments
My only point is that it feels redundant to have two buttons next to each other that do the same thing. It's functionally the same as me hypothetically setting the 'O' key to open the inventory as well as the default 'I' key... I may as well glue I and O together in that case because they are next to each other and they do the same thing
But I definitely agree with @Thels that it's weird that the single button currently shows the minor color rather than the primary one. So even if Beamdog doesn't change anything else about the button, I'd like that to switch as well.
And I have to say the current mockup @Mr2150 did is looking pretty good to me. I know there was some discussion earlier about the ground box, size and ease of use. Do we have any more opinions on that? I personally would like a faster way to get items from there into my inventory.
I also still think the ground box needs a bigger alternative to the scroll bar, as those are too flimsy on touch screens.
All good points, thank you for clarifying for me.
I personally think the ground box is fine, I rarely if ever use it because quick loot exists, and I can also take ground items on the main game screen.
If anything, I think the ground box needs to be made more consistent scrolling-wise with the other looting options. So if the loot box on the main game screen has a downward arrow and an upward arrow button for scrolling lines, the inventory ground box should have the same.
I think just dragging stuff over is then your best bet. Quicklooting from the main window, or clicking items from the loot window, may be better options.
As for making them more uniform, I'd rather see the loot window get bumped up to 8 slots to be uniform, than the inventory window getting bumped down to 6 slots. The flat ground window should also help making the looks more uniform. Regardless, I still think these need the larger arrows for touchscreen support.
I also don't really use the loot window enough to care what size it is, but I definitely don't want to see the inventory loot window made any smaller.
I know it's not a masterpiece, but maybe it could show the areas that could use some prettification.
The boxes should be a bit better lined up now @Danathion ....
Please don't worry about the ornamentation - I've just put it in the way I have to try to make it look balanced and I'm not a graphics artist.
Also - do remember that there is a bug with the ground items currently meaning you cannot have more than 5 pages and that may be a limiting factor. EG a scrollbar might cause the bug / crash to occur more frequently as you are more likely to scroll to the 'broken' section.
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/60473/ub-alternative-scrollbar-art#latest
Navigating slots: Scrollbars or Buttons
Scrollbar style: Traditional or New
First of all, there can be two modes for the combat stat information area toggled between by a toggle button somewhere. First mode is simple, only icons and labels. If the cursor is hovered over the icon (or touched on tablets), the full stat information is displayed:
The second mode is what was disscussed here, the icons with area of text with collapsible paragraphs. I like the vertical placement though, because there can be a room for APR too. I believe those icons can be made large enough to account for larger fonts and still have space for five icons there.
But hey, if anyone can make it work - you can
The second one, I think was tried already. I remember being told the icons can’t run vertically because they won’t fit if made bigger. Also, it now takes up more of the inventory space and some don’t want that as well.
We had the ground slots vertically... so they didn't fit when we first tried five. Since then we turned them horizontally and you've come back in with 5 vertically but with the ground slots in horizontal too. That's why it now works.
So I take it back... 5 icons will fit if the ground slots are horizontally laid out.
As for APR, I would argue that it can appear in the text box without having its own icon.
And I agree it does seem a bit distracting now since it takes up more space. I don't know if you can make it smaller without removing the APR icon, but that may help.
The second mode can have horizontal icons, functionality won't change, the first one should stay vertical though. The first one is meant more for people who play with larger font and don't want cluttered screen.