future face

[Bungle]

Out of curiosity when will the face of Harpoon be bought in line with contemporary standards. Will the UI catch up with the new century? I personally would like to see this sooner than later.

Its academic now I know, but would it have been more benefical to improve the interaction between the game and user first (ie ehance the look and feel) rather than the anw gameplay/AI changes.

I wonder how others would like to see the UI improve?

[cuthbo2001]

I seem to remember a poll on HHQ asking for priorities for development. If I remember interface came fairly low.

[Dagooz]

Considering the current problems with the game I would have to agree with that assesment. he UI might be outdated but it works as intended.

[Bungle]

Im surprised, I thought the hhq elders were advocating the benefits of v3.6.etc over anw, maybe this issue came later. Can you supply a link to the poll if still available please
 
thanks

[Dagooz]

Nobody is advocating 3.6 in place of ANW. Merely pointing out what worked in 3.6 that got broken in ANW and thus need fixing.

[Bungle]

Oh, Im sorry dagooz did you misunderstand me?
 
'advocating the benefits' means very much the same as 'pointing out what worked' it does not mean in the slightest 'in place of' as you suggested.
 
So it seems that you and I are in total agreement on that point.
 
I'll do my best to keep it as clear as possible from now on, please accept my apology
 
thanks

[BurntFingers]

To answer the question;-
 
Current UI depends on the Allegro coding tool, which gives easy access to Windows without requiring a MS license.
 
First step would be ditching Allegro. Which will cost plenty money.
 
Allegro is at least free, open source etc. 

[MarkShot]

I think I have said about H2/3's UI is that it is an interface that only a software historian could love.

Certainly, it is the engine upon which any sales are based. At the moment, I see the UI as a wall that is a barrier to potentially new players interested in exploring the game.

[Dagooz]

Hehe, no need for apologies[;)]. Might as well be me who read it wrong. Yeah it seems we agree.

[Bungle]

ORIGINAL: MarkShot

I think I have said about H2/3's UI is that it is an interface that only a software historian could love.

Certainly, it is the engine upon which any sales are based. At the moment, I see the UI as a wall that is a barrier to potentially new players interested in exploring the game.

I think your right, I have had people watching me play and they are very interested in the game concept, even considering the lo fi graphics [:D] but are very doubtful about the clunckiness of the interface, I remind them to type slow!

I can see that the HCCE interface is looking much as it always did, but it was quite user freindly and windows savy.

thanks

[analog]

FWIW, I'll take an accurate simulation that is more or less user friendly over eye candy graphics. The guys fighting the ship look at pretty much the same as the existing UI, so I do not have a problem with it.

That said, changing the UI to suit a larger mass of "armchair admirals" for marketing reasons makes sense, part of this whole thing is putting food on the table for the developers and everybody else in the "food chain", so market forces and paying customer desires count.

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]

[rich12545]

Personally, I'm not interested in 3d graphics for this game.  What I'd like to see is solid colors for the different land elevations / water depths instead of having it all black with those crosses.  Shouldn't be too hard to implement since the basics are already in place.

[Bungle]

I think just about everyone agrees that G-play rates above the UI, yeah? But if you had that chance to change the UI in anyway what would blow your hair back?
 
Personally the first thing I would like to see is some 'contemporary' looking and functioning in game control panels/windows, standard 1 click buttons, perhaps the addition of scroll buttons when not in max mode. When repositioning panels they move smoothly across the game window without trails when the action is getting 'large'.  Simple things to me but maybe not so simple to accomplish? What about those load out windows for launch and mission .... select and re scroll to select next and re scoll to......aaaaaagghh!
 
Interesting about the 3d aspect tho......... Im not sure how this is applied,  which maps are you guys thinking about toying with VCDH?

[JRyan]

I think first get the accuracy and models right. The 'Eye Candy" can come later...

[Procrustes]

It's more than "eye candy" that's wrong with this UI - it's just really, really bad.  It was really bad back in 1995? on my hot new 66mhz 486.  I'd really hoped that some basic improvements had been made for this release - instead I ended up putting the game in a drawer.  I don't care what other aspects are patched, I'm unlikely to take it back out unless I hear the UI has been updated a bit.

[MarkShot]

I just realized why this games looks so much older than many of the other old DOS games I play like: Aces of the Deep (original), Silent Hunter (original), 1830, Railroad Tycoon Deluxe, Complete Carriers at War, ... These games I just listed are actually older, use true DOS, 256 colors, and in some cases CGA or EGA graphics ...

My games playing under DOSBOX despite being old do look like PC games with PC style interfaces. H3 on the other hand looks more like the early raster oriented terminal work stations of the 70s/80s that were just just one step up from the original monochrome and pure text based terminals that appeared as an alternative to punched cards and print outs following the 1960s. Harpoon3 looks nothing like anything that typically was developed for the PC AT or compatibles.

So, what you have is an extremely spartan interface that reflects the state of hardware prior to the introduction of bit mapped devices and applications. The game's interface only reflects two concepts that are fairly standard for the modern day: the mouse and resizeable windows. Even the true DOS games which I listed above running in very low resolution, without windowing, with limited mouse support, and very blocky graphics reflect a higher level of hardware/software evolution (the comming of bit mapped graphics and integrated hardware video cards with mapped memory displays).

---

So, enjoy this interface while it still exists. Such a presentation ceased to be common place for 30-40 years and is as foreign to young people today as record players, audio tape, coin operated telephones, steel wheel roller skates ...

[Dagooz]

Record players and Coin telephones foreign? Damn, I need to catch up then [:)]

[MarkShot]

Add B/W TV to that list too; exhorbitantly priced long distance/overseas phone calling; communicating via written letters; the Berlin Wall ...

Maybe it is time for a new advertising campaign for Harpoon3. "Harpoon3 a software time machine ready to transport you back to the Cold War. Other games merely attempt to simulate history. Harpoon3 is history!"

[Banquet]

There are two aspects here.. the graphics and the UI.

I personally like the graphics. I know they're simple but they look like the sort of displays I imagine are in warships. I have no idea what they have in warships. They're probably more advanced in modern warships and don't exist at all in older ships... but I think it's a good compromise and they get my imagination brain cells ticking. When I look at H3 on my computer monitor I see fast jets, helo's, frigates, etc.

Then there is the UI. To me it's pure Windows 3.1. The first time I played H3 (some version prior to 3.6) I couldn't get into it at all because of the UI. When ANW was released I gave it another go and tried to get past the UI, into the flashes of greatness I'd seen in the earlier version. It worked and I've had a lot of great, tense, times playing ANW. It's my favourite naval wargame and imo the best carrier ops game I've played.

Even playing it now, though, I can't help but dream of how more manageable it would be with a re-designed interface. It would make so much difference!

I also agree with a previous poster who mentioned the map graphics (land, sea depth, etc) graphics could be better.

I am a believer though. I can see why other games, attempting 3d graphics, have failed.. where H3 has lived on. It's got atmosphere in spades..