Hello,
I hope this is the right area...
While taking a break from my primary project, I started doing a little free-time project with a friend of mine. We started thinking about a plot and then we started drawing some rooms and characters and then I started doing the GUI.
I'd like to get a little response...
All the details and a short manual are in the README.TXT file...
A small one room sample 'game' is also included...
Tell me what you think... How does it look like, how user-friendly is it and do you get used to it easily?
README
The sample game included is just there to show the GUI features... You can try to solve the puzzle, but it is really easy and not necessarily bug-free...
Left-click always lets the character walk to where you clicked.
Right-click whenever your cursor turns into a cross ( whenever you are pointing at something you can interact with ) and a window similar to the right-click or context menu in Windows will pop up including all the different ways of interacting...
double-sized screenshot:
(http://datenfunk.bei.t-online.de/gui_screen.JPG)
http://datenfunk.bei.t-online.de/GUI.zip
I didn't try it, but by going from whats in your description (and picture), this sounds a lot like the 7 days a skeptic GUI.
that's true. but inventory items won't appear in the action list... this always confused me in 7days, because actions and inventory items were mixed in one list...
I love the graphics.
One thing I thought of in your GUI, was that the "take" command should not always be "take", but rather "interact" or perhaps something else. When taking your pants or shirt "take" is good. But you don't want to take the door. You want to open it. If you're planning on having this option be dynamic, in the sense that it will say "take" when appropriate or "open", or "move" or whatever then that is fine. If it's to be static, you may want to consider "interact" or some similar word.
btw, I couldn't find any way to exit your game.
QuoteI couldn't find any way to exit your game.
alt-x should do it! the game is far away from being complete. sorry for that!
about the "Take/Interact" thing: I will change it dynamically to "open", "move" or "take"... thanks for the idea!
I couldn't agree more with rich. In fact, I was writing the very same things, but was just too slow and therefore too late. Damn you, rich, >:( all this typing for nothing ;).
Anyway, the GUI looks good. Simple and nice. I think it's one of the user-friendliest interfaces possible.
But there is one thing to make it even better imo: I don't really like when I have to click on something or even look at something to know what it is supposed to be. Although your graphics are really nice, it's sometimes just not possible (because of lo-res etc.) to recognize all the things on the screen at once. So maybe you could make the cursor not only change into a cross when moving over an object, but maybe in a cross with the object's name next to it or something. That's of course just my opinion and my taste. Your GUI is just fine as it is already.
Just one question: How do you use inventory items on obejcts with your GUI? In your test game there weren't any, but as most adventure games have them and I simply assume that the game you are planning will have some as well, you might need to have the possibility to somehow use them on objects or characters etc. If you wanna do this, you need to think of another GUI as you don't want to mix them...
Thank you, venus, :-* ^^
Inventory items are not yet supported... That's the next task I'll have to face...
QuoteSo maybe you could make the cursor not only change into a cross when moving over an object, but maybe in a cross with the object's name next to it or something.
I'll do that...
Allright... Got an update for you...
I implemented the mouse hover help function or whatever you wanna call it...
I still have to implement the dynamic change of the interact action and I have to add inventory item, but I'll do that last because at the moment I am just trying to get as close as possible to the perfect gui, that allows you as player to really get lost in the game environment. A very important thing is that you don't even have to move your eyes from the environment... In a usual GUI, you look at an object, hotspot, character etc and then you look down to the gui and choose an action. In this GUI you can just keep looking at the environment... I think, that helps a lot to build up atmosphere in a game and thats what we all want, isnt it?
Anyways, here goes a screenshot ( double-sized ):
(http://datenfunk.bei.t-online.de/gui_screen2.JPG)
And here is the download link ( updated version ) :
http://datenfunk.bei.t-online.de/GUI.zip
'Futurewars' had an gui like this, and just like rich said, you should use something else for 'Take'.
Futurewars used this list, quite similar to yours:
EXAMINEÃ, Ã, Ã, -- looks at things
TAKEÃ, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, -- picks things up
INVENTORYÃ, -- Inventory screen
OPERATEÃ, Ã, Ã, -- Open doors, pushes buttons
SPEAKÃ, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, --Ã, Blah, blah...
I simply love the updated GUI! Now all that's left to do is to make the verbs change dynamically.
btw, is your little test game part of the game you are planning or was it just make for testing to show what the GUI can do? If this is somehow part of the upcoming game, go ahead and finish it as soon as possible! I love the graphics!
Quote from: [ ... ] on Thu 24/03/2005 23:40:18
Thank you, venus, :-* ^^
Gern geschehen ;D
Feels funny speaking english to someone who's living basically right next door...
No, that little test game is not going to be included in my main project - it's just a side project I started with my friend and I was trying this new GUI out. We will hopefully finish it, but it is going to be a pretty short game, I guess...
It's a very good GUI. Here are a few suggestions:
--List items on the menu from most commonly used, to least commonly used, making sure that the cursor doesn't need to move as far for an interaction. I'd suggest starting with "Interact" (or your dynamic choice), then "Look at," "Talk to," and finally "Walk to." (If you keep it... see next point...)
-You're aiming for simplicity -- streamlining, if you will -- so why have the redundant "Walk to" as the first choice in the right-click menu when you can accomplish it with a simple left click. Why have it there at all?
-Confine the pop-up menu to the screen boundaries. As it is now, you can click the far right side of the door and the side of the menu gets cut off, giving you the options "Wal...", "Loo...", "Tak...", "Tal..."... You get the picture.
-Not on the GUI topic, but a general useability thing: I'd suggest increasing the character's walking speed.
Other than that, looks and works great!
...but seriously, getcho ass back to work on Troopers, man!
Thanks for the suggestions!
I will remove the walk to command since it is senseless ( I thought about that earlier, but somehow I simply forgot about it ), I will rearrange the order of the buttons ( First the dynamic "Interact" button, then "Look At" and then "Talk To" )and then I'll also confine the GUI pop-up window to the screen boundaries...
I'll also consider increasing Joe's walking speed!
Allright - I included all the suggestions so far...
http://datenfunk.bei.t-online.de/GUI.zip
Now I think it's coming really close to 'the perfect gui'...
Any more ideas anyone?
I made a GUI like this a while ago, but i think i deleted it.
I managed to get it to turn off buttons where actions were unavailable and shorten the GUI to fit only the buttons on it. I seem to recall there being a lot of code involved.
But its possible so maybe thats something to look into.
But that would make the game really easy, wouldn't it?
Imagine you can already see what works without actually trying everything out. That's what adventure games are about ( atleast for me ), because that's basically what you do. Run around looking for combinations...
not reallly, i was only talking about taking out stuff like talk to plant ect. Not making it impossibly easy, just more streamlined and flashy.
ah. now I understand. you mean taking out options, that make absolutely no sense at all...
that idea is not too bad, but it would be quite a task to resize the gui window and I think it's not worth the time...
anyways, thanks for the idea.
Well... i just spent the last hour doing it... im bored :=
Here it is, if your interested i might go to the trouble of tidying up the code (its pretty scruffy and there arent any comments).
Graphics are minimal, i took out any sprites i wasnt using to keep file size down and the background is just a 5 min holding bg i use for everything. Its the gui im demonstrating here. This is probably better for the tech forums tho.
anyway, heres the link www.rjtwilton.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/guidemo.zip
Hope it works - Rich
Not too bad. I doubt that "Main Menu" should be in that list and you should put "Manipulate" and "Look at" first in the list, but I guess you just wanted to show the resizing GUI feature and you did a very good job there.
that was just a demonstration, if you wanted to keep your walk to feature, that could replace the main menu one. When i created this i was aiming to emulate the GUI used Albion (actually an RPG but the same feature could quite functionaly be applied to an adventure game).
Mine isnt as functional as it could be, and is missing a few features. For instance the name of the object selected among otehr things. I was trying to show the resizing ability, it could just add some edge to the GUI, its not necesarry, but for an hours coding why not?
Your GUI looks beautiful by the way.
If you want that code then ill fix it up for you, otherwise i think ill have a look at it myself, and add an inventory feature.
Thanks - Rich
Go ahead and have a look at it for yourself and add the inventory feature.
It would probably be faster if I write that resizing stuff for my GUI by myself, because I am bad in understanding somebody else's code and I would probably have to recode most of it anyways.
QuoteYour GUI looks beautiful by the way.
:-* :-* :-* 8)