MWIF Game Interface Design

[Froonp]

I see that there is a "back" button in the Flyou form.
I suppose it is used to go to the previous 9 units, if you were seeing more than 9 unit.
Why not have 2 black triangles here instead of that. One pointing left, that would allow to see the previous "page", and one pointing right that would allow to see the next "page".

Also, now that we are looking as if we were going to get rid of the "Units in Hex" Form, why not show all units in the flyouts ? I seem to remember that int he early days when we talked about this form, that it would not show the naval units. But seeing the above screeshot, I see that it shows naval units. Does it show all units in the hex ?

[Shannon V. OKeets]

5th and last in series.

Here is the setup tray expanded so all the USSR infantry and HQs are visible (those buttons are 'lit' on the left side of the setup tray). The cursor is over Yeremenko, so that is the information shown in the Main form's unit data panel.

By the way, the Units in Hex panel (see the first post in this series) can also be expanded horizontally.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Froonp

I see that there is a "back" button in the Flyou form.
I suppose it is used to go to the previous 9 units, if you were seeing more than 9 unit.
Why not have 2 black triangles here instead of that. One pointing left, that would allow to see the previous "page", and one pointing right that would allow to see the next "page".

Also, now that we are looking as if we were going to get rid of the "Units in Hex" Form, why not show all units in the flyouts ? I seem to remember that int he early days when we talked about this form, that it would not show the naval units. But seeing the above screeshot, I see that it shows naval units. Does it show all units in the hex ?

There are space constraints at the bottom of the Flyouts form or I would use Next and Previous. I dislike using arrows since they have so many different meanings within MWIF. Back is fairly common usage for gonig to the previously viewed information, and clicking on the # of units in hex advances to the next page. This can be learned quickly and since it will get a lot of use, shouldn't pose any problems for the players to remember.

Yes, all units are shown in the Flyouts (that has always been true). They are sorted to show land units first, then air units (except carrier air units aboard carriers), and lastly naval units, with the carrier air units shown next to their carriers.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I think the latest changes are great. The form now uses the available space in a much better way so more of the map is shown. Great improvements indeed. [:)]

[Peter Stauffenberg]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

I had another idea for this form. Here is what the form looks like when you first examine it.

The new button I have added is the Expand List button.

I think it would be an improvement if the text in the location and destination columns are sorted this way instead:
Country, city, coordinate instead of city, country and coordinate

Then the text in the location would be United Kingdom, Cardiff [48, 25] etc.

The reason for this is that it can then be possible to sort on the column location and see all resources that would be sent from a specific country. This makes it easier when placing convoys so you don't get no path for any resources.

I think the form should be made in such a way you can click on a specific column to sort according to that column. Alternately it should be a button where you can choose the sort order. E. g. by selecting type as level 1, location as level 2 and action as level 3. It could even be a choice to select ascending or descending for each sort order level.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Borger Borgersen

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

I had another idea for this form. Here is what the form looks like when you first examine it.

The new button I have added is the Expand List button.

I think it would be an improvement if the text in the location and destination columns are sorted this way instead:
Country, city, coordinate instead of city, country and coordinate

Then the text in the location would be United Kingdom, Cardiff [48, 25] etc.

The reason for this is that it can then be possible to sort on the column location and see all resources that would be sent from a specific country. This makes it easier when placing convoys so you don't get no path for any resources.

I think the form should be made in such a way you can click on a specific column to sort according to that column. Alternately it should be a button where you can choose the sort order. E. g. by selecting type as level 1, location as level 2 and action as level 3. It could even be a choice to select ascending or descending for each sort order level.

Putting country before the city is an excellent idea.

I haven't gotten to sorting these entries yet. I think I might want more flexibility than what you suggested - but I am not sure.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Here is today's revision to the Main form's layout.

By reducing the size of the menu bar at the top and shuffling things around, I was able to free up enough room to place the form 100 pixels to the right. What you see here is a 1280 by 1024 monitor. With the minimum monitor size, the Main form will be against the right edge of the screen.

The reason I want the 100 pixel width on the left is I am going to put a column of units there for air missions. It will list all the units capable of flying during the current subphase of the air mission. So, it will start by showing the defender's units that can fly CAP (Combat Air Patrol), then show the attacking units that can fly the mission, then the defender's interceptors, and so on.

One of the problems when playing WIF (over the board or using the computer) is finding all the units that are eligible to move. That's especially difficult with air missions because of the long range of some of the bombers and naval air units. The left and right arrow keys help, but actually having the units listed is even better (in my opinion).

I'll try to get to programming the Eligible Unit List this week. There is a companion list I want to create for it: eligible destinations. So you click on a strategic bomber and a list of all the possible targets appears - most likely where the sequence of play form is being shown right now.
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I changed the panel that describes what factories, resources, and ports are in a hex. I toned down the color for it too. Previously Stettin would have had the cryptic notation: "F:1/P+". The replacement "Fact: 1/Major port" is much clearer.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Here is today's version of the main form, with the new Selectable Units form in the upper left corner.

Selectable Units only appears during air missions and even then only for those subphases of an air mission when the player has the option of flying units (or firing Anti-Aircraft). Its purpose is fairly simple: to let you quickly see which units are eligible to move during that subphase. Even when playing over the board, it is difficult to 'see' all the units that can fly at any point in time. There is always the nagging suspicion that you forgot one of them. Now the Next/Previous buttons (red arrows in teh top center of the Main form) lets you cycle through all eligible units but that can be tedious to do.

Here Germany has 6 air missions available (red box with A6 inside of it) and 4 units from which to choose for carpet bombing missions. Left clicking on a unit in the Selctable Units form selects it (picks it up) and you can then place it on a target hex. Or, you can left click on the gray strip just to the left of a unit, and the map is recentered on teh unit's location. The latter action is what I have done for the Ju 88A4.

The screen size shown here is 1280 by 1024 and therefore I have room for the Screen Layouts List and Map Views List form to the right of the Main form (right now they only hold the starting entries). If you are playnig with a resolution of 1024 by 768, then the right edge of your screen will be the right edge of the Main form, and you will have to find another location for the Screen Layouts and Map Views Lists - probably "roll them up" so they are just the thin header bar when they are not in use.

I have some more touchups to do here: (1) I want to change A6 to "Air: 6", (2) the new added yellow panel to the right of the German flag in the Main form has to have the text 'Combined' inserted - its purpose is to indicate the Action type taken, and (3) the scroll bars on the Selectable Units form aren't they way I want them.

[jjax]

Is there an ever useful mini-map available to the user?

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: jjax

Is there an ever useful mini-map available to the user?

Yes, the global map. You can see screen shots of that in the 2nd tutorial thread (it's all about the maps).

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
I have some more touchups to do here: (1) I want to change A6 to "Air: 6", (2) the new added yellow panel to the right of the German flag in the Main form has to have the text 'Combined' inserted - its purpose is to indicate the Action type taken, and (3) the scroll bars on the Selectable Units form aren't they way I want them.

(1) and (2) are very good ideas !
I was about to comment and propose (1).

[Shannon V. OKeets]

I've done some more work on the Main form and the Setup Tray based on feedback from the beta testers.

At the bottom of this screen shot is the setup tray. The beta testers wanted a lower profile so more of the map is visible. Here I have it expanded horizontally. If I wanted to, I could reduce it so only 3 units would be visible in each list. That makes even more of the map visible. Also note that I have added Air Sets and Naval Sets headers for the button groups, clarifying that somewhat.

The changes I have made today are for the flags in the Main form. There are 4 versions of the 8 flag buttons:
1 - current player controls the major power which is deciding: US flag shown in full (not faded).
2 - current player controls the major power, but the major power is not a decision maker:other Allied flags shown in full (faded).
3 - remote (or hotseat opponent, or AIO) player controls the major power, which is not deciding: Axis flags shown reduced (faded).
4 - remote (or hotseat opponent, or AIO) player controls the major power, which is deciding: no example shown here but it is reduced (not faded).

The motivation behind this is so you always know which major powers are making decisions by which flags are bright (not faded). You also are reminded which major powers you control (full size), just in case you forget.[;)]

There is a mistake here: the Vichy French flag should not be visible.

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
The motivation behind this is so you always know which major powers are making decisions by which flags are bright (not faded). You also are reminded which major powers you control (full size), just in case you forget.[;)]

Maybe that's just me, but I feel that either the faded is not faded enough, or the bright flag is not visible enough.
Good idea for the reduced flags !!!

[ptey]

ORIGINAL: Froonp

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
The motivation behind this is so you always know which major powers are making decisions by which flags are bright (not faded). You also are reminded which major powers you control (full size), just in case you forget.[;)]

Maybe that's just me, but I feel that either the faded is not faded enough, or the bright flag is not visible enough.
Good idea for the reduced flags !!!

Its not just you, I agree with that. The other flags should also imo be faded some more.

Maybe this question is answered in a previous post (I havent read all of this thread). But why not show the flags in the setup order?

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: ptey
Maybe this question is answered in a previous post (I havent read all of this thread). But why not show the flags in the setup order?

I think that they are arranged in alphabetical order.
Germany
Italy
Japan
Vichy France
China
Commonwealth
France
USA
USSR

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: ptey

ORIGINAL: Froonp

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
The motivation behind this is so you always know which major powers are making decisions by which flags are bright (not faded). You also are reminded which major powers you control (full size), just in case you forget.[;)]

Maybe that's just me, but I feel that either the faded is not faded enough, or the bright flag is not visible enough.
Good idea for the reduced flags !!!

Its not just you, I agree with that. The other flags should also imo be faded some more.

Maybe this question is answered in a previous post (I havent read all of this thread). But why not show the flags in the setup order?

I had tried a higher degree of fading but it was difficult to see what the flags actually were then. I guess that is less important than being able to tell the 'lit' ones from the 'unlit' ones though. I'll increase the amount of fade.
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As for their order, well, no one ever saw all the flags at the same time before this last change I made.

Patrice is right, they are sorted by side (Axis then Allied) and then alphabetically.

Obviously I could do whatever seems best for their order, and do so with a trivial amount of code. Set up order usually mixes the Axis and Allied (Note: I have changed that for PBEM). Maybe what I should do is setup order to start, and then once setup is completed, rearrange them by side/alphabetically. I don't want this to be too dynamic though - the player should be able to depend on the flag appearing where he expects it.

[brian brian]

why not just have a Convoy Point marker with the total remaining points left available to set-up?

[brian brian]

I like the 2/3 and 3/6 numbers on the planes. Many an experienced WiF player still can't get the hang of how to set up the airplanes using the WiF and PiF columns on the set-up chart. I'm guessing MWiF won't ever show that exact spreadsheet, and that will be a good thing.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: brian brian

why not just have a Convoy Point marker with the total remaining points left available to set-up?

By having units with preset values that are likely to be used, it is easier to simply drop into a sea area a unit that has the # of convoy points you want in the sea area. There are usually a few individual convoy points/units left over and you can drop those in where you want an extra convoy - or put them into a port as a reserve. Another advantage is that you can rearrange the 'units' as you see fit, if you change your mind.

This is much easier than designing a separate system for designating how many of the 'remaining' convoys you want in a sea area - which needs a means for undoing their placement as well.

Keeping the same 'system' makes it easier for people to learn and use. For instance, if you have 3 forts (hexsides) to set up, then get 3 single hexside fort markers to place. And you can pick them up and place them somewhere else (during setup). Saved oil points and relocated factories work the same way.

[brian brian]

but won't you need a system to dynamically 'make change' with the CPs during movement anyway?

in the above example, how do I put 2 CPs somewhere? probably by dragging the 1 CP unit out to a sea-zone twice. but then how do I know how many I have left?

you're probably ahead of these questions already, I'm just wondering aloud based on what I see in the tray.