General Chat

[BTGBullseye]

I'll give it a go... Make sure it doesn't have any internet requirements though, as I block them.

[Woah_G!]

Sometimes it's alright to get high and listen to a bit of Freeman.

[BTGBullseye]

And sometimes it's not... Like when you're at work... lol

[Woah_G!]

I picture you at work like this:

 

[BTGBullseye]

No, that's when I'm gaming... Or watching Star Trek... Or Firefly...

 

Work is more like this...

 

[Jeb_CC]

Hey guys, I need some advice and some tips and help and, everything. X3 I'm making a very small Java game in my spare time. I'm not expecting to make money off it. I just want it to be something small and fun that I work on in my spare time. Anyway, I'm absolutely terrible at designing GUI's and interfaces. So I need help. It's a 2D game so, I don't need nothing flashy. It's an RPG aaand it's about dragons. That's I think all I need to tell you guys. It's about dragons so I expect the time period to be like... 4508213080 BC or some snot.

 

 

DRAFT OF ALL DRAFTIES. It's not up to quality obviously but I just wanted to show the basic idea of it. The concept of a draft.

The top right is the health "bar" and mana "bar" The less purple stars you have, the less mana you have. The less spines on your dragon you have, the less health you have.

 

EDIT: I made it look more lovely!

 

 

Edited November 16, 2014 by Guest (see edit history)

[Psychotic Ninja]

I, too, am seeking help. Tuesday, Source Filmmaker seemed to be very cooperative with me, on Thursday, it decided to fuck with me, models would disappear at specific times, when they didn't before, animations would run backwards, facial animations weren't working (and yes I'm using HWM models), and the graph editor just was plain ol' fucked up, words can't begin to describe what was wrong.

 

I basically was doing this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?start=32&v=DNnrWJhZ7XM

 

So, Farmers (please don't let that be the official title for the forum users, I fail at titles), you have two people problems to help with!

[BTGBullseye]

EDIT: I made it look more lovely!

 

You might want to make it red colored spines, just to help denote a 'health' feeling to it, since 99.9% of RPG games use red colored bars or other indicators to denote health. You might also want to make the 'mana stars' be a little more linear in their layout... I'm thinking something like a semi-circle pattern over the 'dragon'. (the choice of that purple as the color for mana is actually quite nice IMO)

 

Lastly, I've always disliked the RPG UI designs that cover the top sections of the screen, and much prefer the classical layout of it crossing one side, (only in menus) and the bottom only. Also, minimalistic UI is the way to go at this point for ease of use, and mass appeal. (the more gameplay area visible, the better)

 

Other than that, looks fairly interesting.

 

PS: Higher rez textures will go a long way towards good will with a lot of people. (especially since the texture rez shouldn't significantly affect the way the game runs, or the size of it)

 

PPS: If you need any help with texture modification, or testing, I'm available.

[Jeb_CC]

Oh I should add. It's a very point and clicky game. I don't want it to be spectacular. X3 I'm planning on making a PC version first, and then copy it over onto android. I just think it'll be easier that way. But, since it's a point and click, I don't really know if I NEED much game space. :I And with the side menu, if you mean something like hiding it away and having it prop up when a button is pressed, everything on the GUI is important. X3 Minimap, buttons, health and manager, etc. So yah. Difficult. But I will move the top GUI to the bottom, change the colour of the health and sort the mana stars that seem to have the same orientation as puke from 100 yards away.

For health, red to black maybe? I really like my colour changing health bar. XP But if it's not really necessary I can just stick with red.

 

EDIT:

 

 

Also, thanks for the offer. :3 I probably will take that up sometime. X3 I can't make a game ALL by myself. So far I'm the graphics designer, programmer and soundtrack composer. So. XD Once I'm done with the GUI, I will probably get your help.

EDITEDIT: Holy snot there's a bit of graphic missing that I didn't notice. This is terrible. What is wrong with me. How could I let this slip? (Bottom left)

[BTGBullseye]

It really doesn't matter that's is a point-and-click, more viewable gameplay space is always going to nicer than less. For the non-Android version I do highly recommend making sure you're filling those sidebars to the brim, or shrinking them. For the Android version, you'll want to keep in mind that people would need enough space to use an imprecise clicking device. (finger on a touchscreen is about 1% of the accuracy of a mostly broken 1st-gen optical mouse that has grease and dirt on the optical lens)

[Blightmare]

When it comes to UI it's best these in mind:

 

1. Keep it simple. UI's that are too busy and complex are major turn offs and can ruin an otherwise good game. Seeing your example image I can tell that's not a problem, but I figured I'd say this anyways for good measure.

2. Don't take up too much space. The amount of space you can get away with using varies depending on the game and platform but either way you should keep the game view itself as majority of the screen.

3. Don't leave empty space. In the case of boxed in UI's like yours, like BTG was saying you want to make sure that it's using all that space.

4. Have it frame the game. This is easiest on the eyes as it helps keep the UI from feeling lopsided or awkward.

 

On to what you have, I think what you have now is fine, but like BTG said you're gonna want to make sure you fill in a lot of that sidebar space if you're going to keep it that large. I really think there needs to be a more clear indication of how the health works. Something that at quick glance the player can tell it's the health bar without needing it spelled out in a tutorial or something. The dragon idea is creative but you're gonna need to make it obvious his scales are the health level. One suggestion for the mana too would have it wrap around the dragon, like say the stars start at the head and travel down the back above the spines, etc.

 

It's all up to you in the end, this is just something you could consider.

[danielsangeo]

Also, give your users a "reward" for clicking something. Even if something takes several seconds to activate, an immediate "reward" to announce to the user that the program acknowledges your request can work wonders. On a button, this can be a simple "depressed button" image. It can be a chirp sound. Something to let the user know that the program acknowledges the request.

 

It frustrates the user when one clicks on something and there's no acknowledgement to the user. Even if the program is processing the request, if nothing visibly or audibly happens, the user may think the program hasn't started processing and repeatedly attempt to begin the request.

[ThePest179]

Only thing I can think of is get a different computer, or post the problem on the Steam forum for Blue Shift.

 

Well everyone ignored me, and I can't get a new computer.

 

Fuck.

[BTGBullseye]

Bump your thread then.

 

Oh, I finally got my new phone activated on T-mobile... And despite their network frequency documentation that says it wouldn't work at 3G on my phone, I'm getting 3G. Poor documentation is a PITA.

[ThePest179]

Bump your thread then.

 

It's the fourth thread there, and on the first page. I doubt that's the issue.

[BTGBullseye]

You'd be surprised what bumping can do... It makes the thread a big orange target for people to read, instead of something that everyone's already read. New people won't even bother reading usually since it isn't an 'active' thread.

[BTGBullseye]

New topic: I love Google voice typing... I can text a full paragraph in 15 seconds, instead of a full sentence in 30. Minimal errors, except for complete lack of punctuation. (unless I say the punctuation)

[ThePest179]

Back to my problems:

 

As it turns out, Opposing Force now has an error message: "W_LoadWadFile: coun't load gfx.wad"

 

Talk about really bad luck.

[Psychotic Ninja]

Things like defraging, verifying, uninstalling/reinstalling should have done the trick, but you've already tried those, so the next logical step is this:

 

Tnod9vtB4xA

 

evilmastermindlaughterisoptional

[ThePest179]

I wish.

 

Why can't I burn my computer?! WHY!?