Cleanish GUI

Galen · Thu 27/12/2007 13:59:59

Well this is my attempt to create a clean GUI that could be modified easily to fit any game:

I think it fell short though. The spacing and lettering just looks off to me. I'm hoping you guys might have a better eye as to what is wrong.

space boy · Thu 27/12/2007 14:14:57

Modified some of the letters(E, K, X and T). Otherwise it looks fine to me.

tuntis · Thu 27/12/2007 14:17:22

I guess it's just the dull colors, but as it's a template (right?) it's an easy fix.

Galen · Thu 27/12/2007 14:20:38

I'm planning to overlay an image over it ala Reactor 09.

I was using those little boxes for icons until I realised that I forgot a TAKE action so I had to redesign it a bit. Hmm...

or without the faint bordering:

Renal Shutdown · Thu 27/12/2007 14:55:25

I'd combine Use and Take into just one action, and place it where the Take button is now. I don't like the way USE is vertical, with the rest horizontal.

I'd also buttonise the arrows on the inventory window, as they look a little flat compared with the rest.

The S in Save/Use also annoys me, too. It's a pixel too wide compared with the style of the font.

Galen · Thu 27/12/2007 14:59:40

Yeah, the S annoys me too. But I don't know how to fix it without turning it into a "zigzag".

DoorKnobHandle · Thu 27/12/2007 15:24:34

How about this?

Code: ags


-XX
X--
-X-
--X
XX-

Arboris · Thu 27/12/2007 15:25:52

It's hard to get a decent S in such a small space without gradients

Radiant · Thu 27/12/2007 15:34:19

I think dkh's S is better, yes.

I wouldn't call this GUI "clean", though. Primarily, the way the "use" button is crammed in-between in slanted fashion is not clean at all. Then, I wonder what those three small buttons next to "use" are for, and I think the black square boxes are unnecessary. They are intended as checkboxes, yes? A better way of indicating which button is active is by using a "pressed" graphic, or recoloring it. Also, I note that the load/save/exit buttons cannot truly be active like the other three can.

How does this look:

Code: ags



  (---examine---) (----talk-----)    <  ,---,  ,---,  ,---,  ,---,  ,---,   >
  (----take-----) (----use------)    <  |   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |   |   >
  (save-) (load-) (about) (exit-)    <  `---'  `---'  `---'  `---'  `---'   >

Galen · Thu 27/12/2007 15:44:41

The black boxes are supposed to contain small icons indicating the function of the button without the use of text.

Ghost · Thu 27/12/2007 16:06:03

Quote from: Crazy on Thu 27/12/2007 15:44:41
The black boxes are supposed to contain small icons indicating the function of the button without the use of text.

But they are very small, and it will be extremely hard to create good icons in such a confined space. Plus, why having an icon when you already have TEXT- one of both should *of course* be there, but both at the same time, no...

But I must say that the basic outlay, together with the sharp and clean colours, have a certain appeal, especially if you are going to use this as a template. I bet a great many newcombers will appreciate your work!

Edited for manual spell-checking

Galen · Thu 27/12/2007 16:13:17

Quote from: Ghost on Thu 27/12/2007 16:06:03
why having an icon when you already have test- one of both should *of course* be there,

I really don't understand what you mean by "test"?

voh · Thu 27/12/2007 16:33:22

Test = text.

Why even use icons if you're spelling it out right next to it?

That's what he's trying to say, and I agree. It seems kind of over-the-top, really.

Ghost · Thu 27/12/2007 17:05:03

Sorry, typo... Got it corrected.

On second thoughts, if you are already going the extra mile- why not include an option to have either TEXT or ICONS- it would require some re-arranging of the buttons (icon buttons tend to be square, text buttons rectangular) but, well, you *are* already putting some effort into the thing...

Galen · Thu 27/12/2007 17:09:31

I was thinking of multilingual convienience. But I suppose that's just retarded now that I think about it.

Galen · Thu 27/12/2007 17:21:14

Done to Radients ASCII example. Still more spacing/scaling issues though.

Ghost · Thu 27/12/2007 18:08:04

Quote from: Crazy on Thu 27/12/2007 17:09:31
I was thinking of multilingual convienience. But I suppose that's just retarded now that I think about it.

No, not retarted at all. An icon usually needs no translation, because a mouth as a "speak" icon is easy to comprehend in all languages. It's eleganz and economic.

I was just pointing out that a text saying "walk" close to an icon with, say, a footprint seems too much of a good thing.

The new design looks very nice- have you considered to make "examine" "look", to get rid of the one long word?

Galen · Thu 27/12/2007 18:33:53

It'd make sense if I wrote the game text in an uncommon language. Anyone likely to download it once/if released would be able to read English to a basic level.

I suppose with your comments about long words you'd have a problem with:

A game involving a long-winded aristocrat-type-person?

voh · Thu 27/12/2007 19:07:22

Oooh, I like that, nice and pretentious

Ghost · Thu 27/12/2007 19:49:43

I do not have a problem with that at all. Why should I? "Procure" is a little masterpiece.