New client menu mock-up

[Jarld]

Just a thought, some players have troubles typing @ and # characters (due to special keyboard layout, or so): it might be good to add menu items to type them.

[evilmangopie]

Just a thought, some players have troubles typing @ and # characters (due to special keyboard layout, or so): it might be good to add menu items to type them.

 

Also ever tried to do something like #guild_info a guild with an accent in its name? Pretty hard if you dont have the character on your keyboard, so you could have a few other characters.

 

I like Usl's idea of having one button/one key to switch between the screen states. I also like your general idea about the menu's and it definetly does look like it fits in with the rest of the windows and such. I think it is the best real idea so far, definetly better than the WoW one

[Rehdon]

Just a couple of notes on Usl's post:

 

- I fully agree on separating actions from switches, be it by visually separating and/or distinguishing them, or by grouping actions in a switch as I suggested in my previous post;

 

- I also agree about using the Tab key to change circularly the screen state (3d view -> map -> console), this way every screen is at most two tabs away;

 

- I don't agree in creating "simple" and "advanced" UIs, IMHO it's not good usability practice for lots of reasons (if you followed the evolution from Gnome* 1.4 to 2.0 you know what I'm talking about

 

- I like the icon+text menu view, but not the two rows icon-only view, I still think a single row of icons is the better way (unless you have more than 8-10 of them).

 

Rehdon

 

* Gnome is a desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-inspired operating systems.

[ttlanhil]

If I do end up doing the keybind editor window I've considered, then that will take care of the @, #, %, /, and whatever else... It would also be able to allow the user to assign hotkeys to commands, actions, config options, etc. I just don't know if I'll have the energy, time, and inclination to build that system or not.

[Rehdon]

If I do end up doing the keybind editor window I've considered, then that will take care of the @, #, %, /, and whatever else... It would also be able to allow the user to assign hotkeys to commands, actions, config options, etc. I just don't know if I'll have the energy, time, and inclination to build that system or not.

 

Well, that would be a great improvement, I hope you'll do it!

 

Rehdon

[Usl]

- I like the icon+text menu view, but not the two rows icon-only view, I still think a single row of icons is the better way (unless you have more than 8-10 of them).

From a purely geometric point of view, the "pack" form is preferible, in that it guarantess the minimum average mouse movement, and thus allow for quicker issue of commands.

Notice that the pack form is not necessarily on two rows. The idea is to have, for n icons, either a square block of size ceil(sqrt(n)), or -- more stylish -- the minimum rectangle large enought to contain all the icons and which best approximate the h:v ratio of your current screen, which of course is configurable already in the Options window.

With the second option, people with a 16:9 screen would get slightly more "rectangular" packs, whereas people playing in 4:3 or in a standard window could get more "squared" packs. But these are subtleties... what really counts is that with a single stripe, your mouse pointer has to travel farther away, which is bad. Depending on where the stripe comes up, it might even obstruct more of your visual.

 

Just my .02 €, of course.