UI Concept Suggestion

[tebeinteresno]

Hello everyone!
If you remeber, about year ago I tried to make UI concept here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/330720/di ... 439702510/

Now I look at what I have done and I began to realize how much I was wrong in the development of this concept.
At first I was a little idea as to the offer, but then I began to delve deeper and eventually come to rethink my entire previous concept.

I took most popular screet resolution, and right now, i guess, its 1366x768 (you can check stats).
I have much bigger screen resolution, but I tried to make goog UI on smaller resolution, because not many people have a large screen size like 2560x1440.
In any case, if you wish, I can make ui to all other screen sizes.

Well, let's start.

Here is how the interface might look like



And with the map (my attempt to retouch Hells Crossroads)



Yo can see "fog of war", Actualy, Its field of view of every your unit summary. I can be some interestin feature of game. I'd like to see this in the game (with checkboxes to turn on/off).
Also you can see.. well lets make more detailed.


Unit status:



Here is unit status window with subunits window. Now you can read all of information of checked unit. Size, Side, Position, Orders. To make more confortable, I'd placed status bars for Ammo, Readiness and Morale.
At the bottom you can see "Status reports": here you can read all status changes, alerts, or other stuffs.
And minor feature is "Order buttons". Now yo can easily choose and give orders to units. You can make new orders and place them on similat type. I also added a button "Special" with special orders like "Turn on/off" radars, or "Make AA-Guns fire to ground" or something like this. Well, you can add here everything you want, that do not fall under other categories.


Commander notepad:



Well, this window have not so much changes, its just retouched.


Map control:



Here you can see buttons with menus, where you can choose to show some infos (acualy a tried separate "View" menu on top with this).


Message center:



Here you can see filter checkboxes, to show all types of messages, of hide any type of messages.
Also "minimise" and "maximise" buttons need, to make comfortable composition of windows in resolution like 1024x768 (I'll show later)


Time control & Envoirment status:



I think here and everything is clear


Unit icons:



So, here is my vision of unit stats.
First of all, you can see what I deleted platform type and changed this for Posture status. I;d tried to remember, when i'd used platform type info on unit icon last time and I realized that it never did, but postyre status is more important to me. So here is concept of showing posture status.
Also I added a different type of display of shooting, so that you can understand what kind of weapon firing the current unit in current time.


Subunits inspector:



Here is retouched subunit inspector with some feature.
To make people understand what is 2A52 or 9M311, I added new thumbnails that show the type of weapons.
Also, for a more compact description of the type of sensors and features, all types of information, I made a small icons.
I understand that draw all the sensors and features will take some time and effort, but it is quite feasible.


Message reports:



Well, that's might look like a pop-up messages.


And lastly, here is how could look interface with already-established map




So, here is my concept.
I understand that many people often ask you to add something or change or introduce new ideas. Of course, I could describe it all in the text, but I wanted you to facilitate the situation and tried to visualize my ideas, taking into account the technical possibilities and inconsistencies in the design.

Thank you all, it would be interesting to talk and discuss it all here.

[schascha]

I like your work

Is it downlable somewhere ?

I would like to try it.

[tebeinteresno]

Unfortunately it is only a concept, as a proposal of ideas

[CapnDarwin]

Yes, we remember you well and these new images show a lot of work from the ones you showed earlier and there are a number of very good ideas and layouts in there. [&o][&o][&o]

As we noted over on the Steam forum, a few of these things we were looking at already for Southern Storm in terms of color changes, floating panels for info and Rob has based some of the information panels for units on what you showed. I'm sure the rest of the team will be looking this over and I'll pass the word on to Rob to have him review your latest.

Thanks for sharing your ideas and hard work with us. [8D]

[tebeinteresno]

Whoa!

Glad to hear! I have a few ideas that I did not disclose the details in this concept, but in a short time I will tell more with examples.

Thank you guys!

[tebeinteresno]

Well, when I drew the concept, I wanted to try to draw my version of the map, more photorealistic than schematic.

This is version of the map Hells Crossroads



here is png version to test https://yadi.sk/i/9mWk7ZXviwgqB

I understand that there should be a lot of work to do, to adjust the light to allocate relief to correct the details, but in general I'm make stop on this version.

You may notice that the river does not go along the edges of the Hex, and only pass checkpoints Hex, where you can put the bridge.
I also added industrial zones as, warehouses, and large hangars.

[CapnDarwin]

You can use custom maps in the game. That is covered well in the other sub forums. We plan on having a much more informative Sub-Unit Inspector in the new engine. So much so, that it is a 4 or so tabbed dialog box to go over unit abilities and systems in greater detail and relevant game information.

[tebeinteresno]

But that is not all
This is probably unrealizable proposal based on the huge amount of resources spent by computer calculation and time to product the map.

This is the same area,

7 am, sunrise and fog



7 pm evening at sunset.



You may notice shadows on the terrain change their brightness, depending on the movement of the sun.

In theory, map can be applied on top of the normal map to make imitation of light and shadow on the terrain, but it is a question of supporting the engine.

[tebeinteresno]

Oh crap.
I hate this jpeg compressions.

[cbelva]

Really nice map. That is one of the nice things about this program is that maps can be almost anything. A map editor would be nice but I would hate to loose this feature. My only complaint about your map is that hills in forests are a little hard to read. Other than that, I like it.

[tebeinteresno]

Thanks!

I think forest needs different coloring an lighting in difference levels.
Anyway, as I said, there is still a lot of work to do. If it needs, actualy )

[tebeinteresno]

Here is difference modes in some units
I think you will understand this.

[CapnDarwin]

The problems with mode type graphics are 1) not all units have a mode change or one that would be visible at 128x64 pixels and 2) it would require special code and additional graphics to toggle. We already have over 1000 sils with more needing to be done to support future expansions. Still a neat idea to file away for the future. [8D]

[tebeinteresno]

Of course, not every unit has different modes, but at least the artillery can be done?
Their number is not so large, and the change in the amount to be visible in that small size

Sometimes strange to observe how Akatsiya make direct fire at a distance of 15 km)

[tebeinteresno]

Here is about wind strength and his direction
Is it possible to make something like this?



I understand that every suggestion to improving in results increases complexity of the code, but it may be someday?
It probably would be very convenient for the radioactive cloud or chemical weapons.

[CapnDarwin]

The 15km direct fire statement sounds like a bug. Do you have a save game file you could post in tech support? We would like to see that and fix it if it is happening.

As for wind speed and direction, we are planning on expanding the weather model in Southern Storm. Wind is being looked at, but not sure how much influence on active smoke, gas, radiation, etc it will have. Definitely an area we can continue to refine as we go.

[Mad Russian]

We not only remember you well there were multiple discussions about your ideas. Glad to see that you have continued to evolve your thoughts. We tell everyone that all comments and posts are read and all recommendations are considered. Just because we don't make a change based on the recommendation doesn't mean we didn't look at them, discuss their merit and then decide whether or not the enhance the game. Many of your ideas from before, as well as these current ones, could likely be incorporated into the series as it goes forward.

My only comment about your maps is that, IMO, they are too bright for the 'during daylight segment'.

What is the yellow smoke for?

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: tebeinteresno

Thanks!

I think forest needs different coloring an lighting in difference levels.
Anyway, as I said, there is still a lot of work to do. If it needs, actualy )

We have been working on that aspect of map differentiation. The problem is there are only so many shades of green, brown or gray depending on the season you are trying to portray.

I think a set of winter maps would be tremendous for the scenarios we already have. But again, there is only so much time in the day.

Thanks for sharing and if you would like to share your map when you are done I'm sure there are plenty of gamers that would down load it.

Good Hunting.

MR

[WildCatNL]

Awesome! Impressive effort.

There's a lot I like in the UI. Being a maps guy, I'm even more impressed by the map. Great farmland texture, nice tree lines along the roads, original scale for the buildings, and a very effective hex grid 'imprint' on top.

Question: did you try an "higher-is-lighter' elevation coloring? It might work better with your 'dynamic lighting'?

FYI, we'll see industrial zones and rail roads on upcoming Flashpoint maps. I'd like to do the minor / major stream distinction as you have it east of Salzbergen; however, with the 2.0x engine knowing a single type of stream, I don't want to suggest a difference in crossing times that isn't there.

William

p.s. off-topic: what font did you use to annotate your UI elements and silhouettes?

[tebeinteresno]

ORIGINAL: Capn Darwin

The 15km direct fire statement sounds like a bug. Do you have a save game file you could post in tech support? We would like to see that and fix it if it is happening.

Oh, no no no.
I think there is a little missunderstanding.
I didnt mean that my Akatsiya shoot at 15 km with direct line. Its just sils. When artillery fires on that range and the sils looks with a lowered barrel ... I think there would be more impressive silhouette with raised barrel)