Anyway... to go back to one of the earlier points - the issue of scrolling when you've picked up an item....
It is possible to scroll when you've picked up an item, however it's difficult on mobile (I know I just tried).
We would need to use buttons on mobile/tablets to make that process simpler for the user (that's a more general need than just here but however we 'solve' the issue here could be carried forward).
Yeah, so we should keep the information compact enough that scrolling should most of the time not be required, which is why I changed my opinion on showing an item's base stats. I'd personally still love that, but it wouldn't be a good standard.
As for scrolling the text window itself on mobile, would it be possible that tablet users can just grab any part of the text window, and pull that up or down? It's a standard way to scroll on tablets, and there's enough space in the text window that's not to be interacted with.
Ah, ok, that's good. So for the text window, we don't need big arrows to scroll, tablet users can just drag the text.
For the ground inventory, that doesn't work, as that would lead to picking up an item. So we need to keep the bigger icons there. How big, I'm not sure, but I think it feels better if they're (nearly?) as big as the icons. Maybe they could fit to the left and right of the ground icons, rather than above them?
Placing the text in two separate columns feels crampy. Keep in mind that at least some people were interested in seeing the modifiers, while others prefer to see the end result, so "end result (modifier)" would be nice. Then some of these lines are longer in certain languages (I'm looking at you, Poland!), and does this do away with the arrows or keep them in?
Sure, you could make it fit if you make the text tiny enough, but I'd rather not have to squeeze my eyes to read the text. I'd just forget about it, then.
Just for the avoidance of doubt, for myself as much as the group, I'm going to ask the question again using the greyscale representation. Is this *our* *final* layout? Is there anything we'd like to change? Does anyone have any other ideas? Have we completed stage 3?
Question: how accurate are these blueprints supposed to be?
There are some smaller details that I'm either confused by or not entirely comfortable with, like:
1. The blueprint seems to be considerably wider in proportions compared to the current inventory in v2.3. 2. The title "Inventory" is missing. 3. The entire top of the frame feels crammed to me vertically, like there isn't enough heading to the window before the content starts. 4. Overlaying this blueprint with a screenshot from the inventory, even the item slots seem to be considerably larger than they are in 2.3.
1. The blueprint seems to be considerably wider in proportions compared to the current inventory in v2.3.
Fair point ... our outside boundary should be the maximum pixels allowed within the current UI. That's important due to the scaled/non-scaled functions.
Exactly - an architect would need to make sure all the dimensions were relative in scale to the final product.... likewise, our dimensions need to all be relative, and a scale of 1:1 is easiest...
FOR REFERENCE ONLY, I set the window size to 864x710 and drew a random brown box to illustrate 52x52 for a slot... Result: we aren't far off but we could be more precise.
That may have been a mistake in how I set up my file. I had excluded the title bar as something that wasn't going to change, which obviously was a mistake.
That doesn't mean the use of a blueprint in general is a bad idea, though; it just means mine was flawed.
Here's another random gripe I have with the current blueprint: the 5 little boxes with the stats inside them, those should take up as much space horizontally as the surrounding box allows. The big text field however, which is currently wider than the little boxes, doesn't need to be so wide, as it doesn't need a lot of horizontal capacity. The text box could be made a bit narrower while the icon boxes could be made wider.
@Pecca I haven't checked this, but what about the line width? Could having the lines on add extra width to the UI elements? If so, we should be careful with it.
Here's another random gripe I have with the current blueprint: the 5 little boxes with the stats inside them, those should take up as much space horizontally as the surrounding box allows. The big text field however, which is currently wider than the little boxes, doesn't need to be so wide, as it doesn't need a lot of horizontal capacity. The text box could be made a bit narrower while the icon boxes could be made wider.
Agree on the icon boxes, but I think the scroll box being as big as possible increases possible functionality options - Pecca's suggestion for displaying bag contents (that may be a consideration for a later stage).
We've been focusing on the right hand side of the screen, is there anything we could change about the left hand side that may be more efficient space-wise and give us more room? I've been googling inventory screens and the placement of the paper doll and equipment slots vary from IWD and PST to BG. How many walls do we want to knock through?
Comments
Anyway, it's a bit late for baking, just make an omelet.
It is possible to scroll when you've picked up an item, however it's difficult on mobile (I know I just tried).
We would need to use buttons on mobile/tablets to make that process simpler for the user (that's a more general need than just here but however we 'solve' the issue here could be carried forward).
As for scrolling the text window itself on mobile, would it be possible that tablet users can just grab any part of the text window, and pull that up or down? It's a standard way to scroll on tablets, and there's enough space in the text window that's not to be interacted with.
For the ground inventory, that doesn't work, as that would lead to picking up an item. So we need to keep the bigger icons there. How big, I'm not sure, but I think it feels better if they're (nearly?) as big as the icons. Maybe they could fit to the left and right of the ground icons, rather than above them?
It just depends on the layout you use... Using your text from earlier:
[Header: Longsword +1] THAC0: +1 Damage: 1d8+1 Speed Factor: 4 Proficiency Type: Long Sword Type: One-handed [Header: Mainhand] [Header: Offhand] THAC0: 17 (green) Armor: 6 (red) Damage: 1d8+6 (green) Mainhand THAC0: 22 (red) Speed Factor: 4 (green) Offhand THAC0: 25 Offhand Damage: 1d8+6 Offhand Speed Factor: 4Sure, you could make it fit if you make the text tiny enough, but I'd rather not have to squeeze my eyes to read the text. I'd just forget about it, then.
I think the dark grey boxes need to be within the light grey boxes for the icons and text boxes in the top right.
There are some smaller details that I'm either confused by or not entirely comfortable with, like:
1. The blueprint seems to be considerably wider in proportions compared to the current inventory in v2.3.
2. The title "Inventory" is missing.
3. The entire top of the frame feels crammed to me vertically, like there isn't enough heading to the window before the content starts.
4. Overlaying this blueprint with a screenshot from the inventory, even the item slots seem to be considerably larger than they are in 2.3.
Maybe sticking the inventory header on top will solve the horizontal proportions too? I think we need to check that. Again, fixed items like this should be identical size. I think slot size is currently 52x52 pixels.
Maximum boundary is Width 864 pixels x Height 710 pixels
Slots are Width 52 pixels x Height 52 pixels
FOR REFERENCE ONLY, I set the window size to 864x710 and drew a random brown box to illustrate 52x52 for a slot... Result: we aren't far off but we could be more precise.
That doesn't mean the use of a blueprint in general is a bad idea, though; it just means mine was flawed.
Perhaps with 2 different colors for graphical and functional elements.
We've been focusing on the right hand side of the screen, is there anything we could change about the left hand side that may be more efficient space-wise and give us more room? I've been googling inventory screens and the placement of the paper doll and equipment slots vary from IWD and PST to BG. How many walls do we want to knock through?