I think structurally we have the blue print. We've raised questions and answered them; we've made a slight amendment to the width of the scroll box but, I think, we've moved into stage 4. We're getting there.
Maybe it's actually one of those films where all the strangers get locked in the house with all the fiendish traps ...
I can see that. We'll be picked off one by one and then the last forumite will perform one last dramatic martyrlike act to send off the report to Redmine.
I feel like any moment now Pecca is going to present a stunning blueprint and concept art that none of us have thought of.
Naah, it's pretty good now.
I just have one thing about the BG2 art. The top of the window (with screen name and character name) has kind of a trademark design that I really like and I think it should be kept in all the main gameplay windows. It was there in vanilla BG2, however much less in the BG2EE (so I reintroduced it in my old BG2EE Tweaks mod). The mockup I presented earlier used the art of the top of the screen from that mod. Since there seem to be an agreement that the character name/class row should spread across the left side again, I'd personally like to see this trademark design reintroduced again into BG2EE.
@Pecca That +1 Damage, is that +1 Damage over the currently equipped item, or +1 damage in general?
The reason I ask is that if the weapons do different types of damage, that may be significant; +1 to Damage but the damage is Piercing instead of Bludgeoning is a big difference when you're fighting Skeletons.
I like that it summarizes how much of an improvement the item will bring, though.
I like this idea as well, @Pecca . I do like the slightly fancier way that @Adul dressed it up at the top. It helps to soften up the overall harder feel of the new screens. Helps to reintroduce some of the charm and bring back some of the familiar vining patterns that were lost from the outer edges of the original screens.
Man, I leave for two days and you guys have a 7 page conversation without me But I think it's looking good, blueprints and art both.
Quick question, do you think this is the place to bring up any concerns about the new color selection window? It's not exactly part of the inventory page but it is related and I have some trouble with it as well.
@Adul Can I suggest a couple of changes from an OCD perspective?
Orange lines mean extend/move this area to align with the associated black line. Green circles represent @Pecca 's request for the original style ornamentation in those areas - which I agree looks fantastic.
Maybe I am misinterpreting what your saying @Mr2150 But your lines seem to move things around so they no longer match what Adul posted. I like how he has it better.
Yes they do... because things aren't aligned (OCD-wise).
Take for example the slots at the bottom... the inventory slots are higher (just a few pixels) than the ground slots... In practise that might look something like this:
My lines in that area suggest making it like this:
@Mr2150 On the green circles, this is a thing that will ultimately come down to personal preference, but since we're still discussing layout changes, I'm thinking this is a matter for us to deal with later, in the next stage.
On the orange lines, I've thought about those areas too. At the risk of sounding incredibly pedantic (I know, too late), let me try to justify my decisions about them:
1. The "PAUSED" box and the gold counter. Yes, there is a difference in the elevation here, but if you look at the BG2:EE background art in this area (this is one of the hindrances of using only blueprints that I've been trying to argue earlier), you'll notice that there is a frame around the "PAUSED" box that evens out the picture.
Besides, as far as I can tell, the equipment panel (left side) was never really part of these discussions since there aren't really any complaints about it, so it's a matter of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
2. The difference in the vertical elevation of the inventory slots and the ground slots. Okay, I don't think there is a good solution here. If you lower the inventory slots, they will no longer be centered vertically and there will be a larger unused area above them that's not even filled with interesting art, there's just a background texture there. It's really just an empty hole. If you raise the ground box instead, the ground box will no longer be vertically centered, and the "Ground" title will be crammed in between the ground slots and the box above.
3. The difference in width between the breakdowns box and the ground box. I worry that having them be the same width could form a large vertical structure on the right that might not work very well with the BG2 art style. I can't be sure without seeing it though, so I think we could try this with some arty mockups.
If you look at the picture of the original game’s screen that @Pecca posted, not everything lines up perfectly. There is an organic feel to it. I don’t think everything should necessarily look perfect. Symmetry is good but having nothing but perfectly straight hard lines adds to the database feel.
Your latest examples also don’t have the outer frame that his does. His is centered on the inventory slots. I think having it centered rather then straight across is a good thing.
1) Also fair point on the paused box. Maybe put it into a grey box frame to indicate that thicker border ornamentation (with the grey box then aligning - much like the ground slots have a border) ?
2) I think it's one of those points where the ornamentation will 'make the difference'... for me, aligning so many independent elements would be important as it's visually more pleasing when things align - so it's the quantity of elements aligning that would be the focus.
3) I hadn't considered that but it's a fair point too. I think it would look better if they aligned and maybe that's a requirement - eg the ornamentation around the ground box should ensure that it is a distinct area and not connected to the text box above even though it is aligned to make it more visually pleasing.
I think a lot of the original elements don't look like they line up because there was a much big limitation on space in the vanilla game.
However, there is still symmetry and alignment for major elements top to bottom, left to right ... things like that make it more visually pleasing overall.
I drew some lines around elements in @Pecca 's picture to illustrate:
Sigh… I don’t find it visually pleasing to see all these hard data base angles lined up. Add loosing the old iconic font and replacing it with one that feels out of place, then taking a significant portion of the screen to emphasize that font… It needs to loosen up somewhere. This is Baldur’s Gate, not a data screen.
Comments
Didn't you see that @Dee locked the door ?
I just have one thing about the BG2 art. The top of the window (with screen name and character name) has kind of a trademark design that I really like and I think it should be kept in all the main gameplay windows. It was there in vanilla BG2, however much less in the BG2EE (so I reintroduced it in my old BG2EE Tweaks mod). The mockup I presented earlier used the art of the top of the screen from that mod. Since there seem to be an agreement that the character name/class row should spread across the left side again, I'd personally like to see this trademark design reintroduced again into BG2EE.
The reason I ask is that if the weapons do different types of damage, that may be significant; +1 to Damage but the damage is Piercing instead of Bludgeoning is a big difference when you're fighting Skeletons.
I like that it summarizes how much of an improvement the item will bring, though.
Quick question, do you think this is the place to bring up any concerns about the new color selection window? It's not exactly part of the inventory page but it is related and I have some trouble with it as well.
@Ratatoskr589 I'd say in order to keep this discussion focused, suggestions for the color window should be brought up in the UI Improvement Suggestions Thread.
Orange lines mean extend/move this area to align with the associated black line.
Green circles represent @Pecca 's request for the original style ornamentation in those areas - which I agree looks fantastic.
Take for example the slots at the bottom... the inventory slots are higher (just a few pixels) than the ground slots... In practise that might look something like this:
My lines in that area suggest making it like this:
Although I think you'll find it easier to visualise when Adul edits the grey blueprint.
@Mr2150 On the green circles, this is a thing that will ultimately come down to personal preference, but since we're still discussing layout changes, I'm thinking this is a matter for us to deal with later, in the next stage.
On the orange lines, I've thought about those areas too. At the risk of sounding incredibly pedantic (I know, too late), let me try to justify my decisions about them:
1. The "PAUSED" box and the gold counter. Yes, there is a difference in the elevation here, but if you look at the BG2:EE background art in this area (this is one of the hindrances of using only blueprints that I've been trying to argue earlier), you'll notice that there is a frame around the "PAUSED" box that evens out the picture.
Besides, as far as I can tell, the equipment panel (left side) was never really part of these discussions since there aren't really any complaints about it, so it's a matter of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
2. The difference in the vertical elevation of the inventory slots and the ground slots. Okay, I don't think there is a good solution here. If you lower the inventory slots, they will no longer be centered vertically and there will be a larger unused area above them that's not even filled with interesting art, there's just a background texture there. It's really just an empty hole. If you raise the ground box instead, the ground box will no longer be vertically centered, and the "Ground" title will be crammed in between the ground slots and the box above.
3. The difference in width between the breakdowns box and the ground box. I worry that having them be the same width could form a large vertical structure on the right that might not work very well with the BG2 art style. I can't be sure without seeing it though, so I think we could try this with some arty mockups.
Your latest examples also don’t have the outer frame that his does. His is centered on the inventory slots. I think having it centered rather then straight across is a good thing.
1) Also fair point on the paused box. Maybe put it into a grey box frame to indicate that thicker border ornamentation (with the grey box then aligning - much like the ground slots have a border) ?
2) I think it's one of those points where the ornamentation will 'make the difference'... for me, aligning so many independent elements would be important as it's visually more pleasing when things align - so it's the quantity of elements aligning that would be the focus.
3) I hadn't considered that but it's a fair point too. I think it would look better if they aligned and maybe that's a requirement - eg the ornamentation around the ground box should ensure that it is a distinct area and not connected to the text box above even though it is aligned to make it more visually pleasing.
However, there is still symmetry and alignment for major elements top to bottom, left to right ... things like that make it more visually pleasing overall.
I drew some lines around elements in @Pecca 's picture to illustrate: