[BUG] Blue part of the buyscreen

[n0kn0k]

Why oh why is this part of the screen blue? [:D][:-]

[n0kn0k]

Same goes for the diplomacy screen. Blue doesn't really fit with the remainder of the UI.

Also some other parts of the UI could use some depth.
The parts with the percentages and the flags. Your gfx guys should know what i mean. [;)]

[n0kn0k]

Same blue part here. I'd suggest a different color, more fitting with the overall screen.
The "wooden" part also sticks out. May i suggest a light grey color here? Keeping the readability of the text in mind.
I'd also love to see the max research field right under the "Total Research funding screen.
There's no good reason for putting it all the way separated at the bottom.

[jpinard]

Absolutely do NOT change it.

The blue windows are perfect. They help guide the eyes to an extra body of information and makes all that information much more digestible. If one attended an interface design course, this is exactly the kind of thing they teach.

[n0kn0k]

ORIGINAL: jpinard

Absolutely do NOT change it.

The blue windows are perfect. They help guide the eyes to an extra body of information and makes all that information much more digestible. If one attended an interface design course, this is exactly the kind of thing they teach.

Lets agree to disagree.

PS my graduation paper was on Human Computer Interaction. So i kinda know something about UI's. [:D]

[Blond_Knight]

ORIGINAL: jpinard

Absolutely do NOT change it.

The blue windows are perfect. They help guide the eyes to an extra body of information and makes all that information much more digestible. If one attended an interface design course, this is exactly the kind of thing they teach.

Absolutely do NOT change it.

+1

[Hubert Cater]

I'm a bit torn on it all to be honest as I had originally tried to not use too many brighter colors but the screens were then just mostly darkened blobs of box areas and it did break up the monotony... and I did use it as suspected to draw your attention to certain details.

Long answer short is I put these together pretty quick so didn't spend a whole lot of time on them either but hopefully it works for the most part. For the research screen I did experiment with a darker box but then found the text wasn't as readable or you had to switch to white text and then it just felt like a lot of white text on the screen.

That being said I'm not stuck on any implementation at the moment and if anyone finds some improved color combinations I'd be happy to consider them.

[n0kn0k]

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

I'm a bit torn on it all to be honest as I had originally tried to not use too many brighter colors but the screens were then just mostly darkened blobs of box areas and it did break up the monotony... and I did use it as suspected to draw your attention to certain details.

Long answer short is I put these together pretty quick so didn't spend a whole lot of time on them either but hopefully it works for the most part. For the research screen I did experiment with a darker box but then found the text wasn't as readable or you had to switch to white text and then it just felt like a lot of white text on the screen.

That being said I'm not stuck on any implementation at the moment and if anyone finds some improved color combinations I'd be happy to consider them.

There is no need to draw attention to Maximum research.
Nobody ever reaches it during a proper game, except for maybe the USA. [;)]

I'd also recommend to merge the Total Research Funding and Maximum research funding screens into one field like "1250(2000) mpp".
That would be consistent with other applications throughout the game.
It also solves the issue of both beeing apart across the screen. There is no need for that from a UI perspective.
Another alternative would be to make it "count down" like you do with the "Chits" on the diplomacy screen.

And make the values "200x1" along the table that are higher then the "available" MPP red.
Same goes for the ones that are already researched to max. The application is also the same as the red font applied there.
That way you can see in one view on which you can spend your MPP.
If you'd also ad a Max research check and apply red font on those fields when it's at max, then you don't have to check the total, max and available fields at all.
It's a bit of coding work though. [;)] But for an end user it would simply mean "I can only click the white ones, red is bad" [:D]
The funny thing is, this red font is already applied at the purchase screen. It would be wise to keep this up consistently throughout all the screens.
The same solution would also work for the Diplomacy screen. List all the country names that you can't afford to pay diplomacy for with a red font.

[sPzAbt653]

Ghost out the 'N/A' categories.

[jpinard]

ORIGINAL: n0kn0k

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

I'm a bit torn on it all to be honest as I had originally tried to not use too many brighter colors but the screens were then just mostly darkened blobs of box areas and it did break up the monotony... and I did use it as suspected to draw your attention to certain details.

Long answer short is I put these together pretty quick so didn't spend a whole lot of time on them either but hopefully it works for the most part. For the research screen I did experiment with a darker box but then found the text wasn't as readable or you had to switch to white text and then it just felt like a lot of white text on the screen.

That being said I'm not stuck on any implementation at the moment and if anyone finds some improved color combinations I'd be happy to consider them.

There is no need to draw attention to Maximum research.
Nobody ever reaches it during a proper game, except for maybe the USA. [;)]

I'd also recommend to merge the Total Research Funding and Maximum research funding screens into one field like "1250(2000) mpp".
That would be consistent with other applications throughout the game.
It also solves the issue of both beeing apart across the screen. There is no need for that from a UI perspective.
Another alternative would be to make it "count down" like you do with the "Chits" on the diplomacy screen.

And make the values "200x1" along the table that are higher then the "available" MPP red.
Same goes for the ones that are already researched to max. The application is also the same as the red font applied there.
That way you can see in one view on which you can spend your MPP.
If you'd also ad a Max research check and apply red font on those fields when it's at max, then you don't have to check the total, max and available fields at all.
It's a bit of coding work though. [;)] But for an end user it would simply mean "I can only click the white ones, red is bad" [:D]
The funny thing is, this red font is already applied at the purchase screen. It would be wise to keep this up consistently throughout all the screens.
The same solution would also work for the Diplomacy screen. List all the country names that you can't afford to pay diplomacy for with a red font.

It's not about just drawing the eye to something that desperately needs attention. As you rightfully state, players will not be hitting the research cap half the time in their games. But what the blue does is break up the page, and lifts the eye. With so many muted colors, without it, it draws down in a way that is hard to quantity. It is a subtle psychological thing.

I'm going to get a bit personal here which I will apologize for what may sound stupid:
I love the blue, it is an emotional lift. I'm an analytical person with background in computers, genetic engineering, and database design for research. Staring at the same muted colors all the time can be a drag on the eyes. Likewise, seeing something designed with red, yellow, and black text ala Myspace is worse. [;)] [:'(] I really think Hubert hit it out of the park with the contrast here. I would hate to see it go away. Maybe the only other color that would fit would be a forest green, but then it ends up with camo-related colors which is not exactly what one wants when reviewing data.

Going a little further, I think I'm a bit hyper attenuated to things around me as I'm setting up for a lung transplant. So a break in the rain, a good episode of Venture Brothers, or even something as simple as a gorgeous blue on a menu creates a positive feeling. <--- a rather unscientific label but I can't figure out a better way to describe it. It's just a great contrast to look at [:)]

[n0kn0k]

Good luck with the surgery!
I wish you a speedy recovery.