a complete graphics and interface overhaul

[Meyer1]

ORIGINAL: ncc1701e



Formation and units display could be inspired from SSG series (Kharkov in particular showing the unit hierarchy if TOAW IV will finally implement more advanced HQ rules and the possibility to change the units from one HQ to another.

I would like to see a screenshot of that.

[sPzAbt653]

Terrain Tiles and Unit Counters have always been modifiable, which is great, but not everybody wants to tinker with that stuff. It might be nice if there were an extra drop down menu in the game for terrain and/or counter package choices. There would have to be an override for scenario specific items, though.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653
Terrain Tiles and Unit Counters have always been modifiable, which is great, but not everybody wants to tinker with that stuff. It might be nice if there were an extra drop down menu in the game for terrain and/or counter package choices. There would have to be an override for scenario specific items, though.

I really like that idea. And there's not really all that many great packages that would have to be included. Perhaps it might be possible
to swap such terrain tiles and unit counters without having to restart TOAW to see the resulting change.

[ncc1701e]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

Perhaps it might be possible to swap such terrain tiles and unit counters without having to restart TOAW to see the resulting change

Great idea.

ORIGINAL: Meyer1

I would like to see a screenshot of that.

Here is the screen I was thinking about presenting the unit and its location in the OOB. If such a tree could be preserved (may be a little smaller) while also displaying the unit TO&E in the same window, this would summarize plenty of useful information in one screen. The advantage of this tree system was that it was also easy to navigate in all levels of the OOB.

[Meyer1]

ncc1701e: nice, I like it. Thanks for posting it.

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: HPT KUNZ
I quite agree. It was an "ah-ha" moment when I discovered how to use the Circle of Stars to monitor use of rounds of combat I had used....

Honestly it has been long enough that I've played that I don't recall how useful the Circle of Stars is, but even if very useful, it seems like the information could be conveyed in a "spatially more efficient" way than currently, which requires a big square block of screen space.

[shunwick]

ORIGINAL: ncc1701e


Here is the screen I was thinking about presenting the unit and its location in the OOB. If such a tree could be preserved (may be a little smaller) while also displaying the unit TO&E in the same window, this would summarize plenty of useful information in one screen. The advantage of this tree system was that it was also easy to navigate in all levels of the OOB.

WOW. I certainly hope the UI update to TOAW IV looks better than anything we have seen in this thread.

Best wishes,
Steve

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: shunwick
WOW. I certainly hope the UI update to TOAW IV looks better than anything we have seen in this thread.

Well, me too, but almost anything would be better than the current UI. If you have specific suggestions, please make them now, while there might still be a chance of them being implemented. Most of the screenshots have been from games at least 15 years old, so I'm sure there is rather massive room for improvement.

[larryfulkerson]

Actually, to be honest, I rather enjoyed the UI when I was playing WITE a couple of years ago. While
it's not perfect it was close enough to make playing enjoyable rather than a click-fest like with WITP-AE.
Which needs a UI overhaul almost as badly as TOAW.

[Lobster]

Does it really matter what we think? I've not seen any official request for suggestions.

[ncc1701e]

ORIGINAL: 76mm

ORIGINAL: shunwick
WOW. I certainly hope the UI update to TOAW IV looks better than anything we have seen in this thread.

Well, me too, but almost anything would be better than the current UI. If you have specific suggestions, please make them now, while there might still be a chance of them being implemented. Most of the screenshots have been from games at least 15 years old, so I'm sure there is rather massive room for improvement.

Agree, don't look at the graphics. [:D] It is just the principle of the tree that I found interesting to display the OOB and for easy navigation between units.

[sPzAbt653]

ORIGINAL: 76mm

ORIGINAL: shunwick
WOW. I certainly hope the UI update to TOAW IV looks better than anything we have seen in this thread.

Well, me too, but almost anything would be better than the current UI. If you have specific suggestions, please make them now, while there might still be a chance of them being implemented. Most of the screenshots have been from games at least 15 years old, so I'm sure there is rather massive room for improvement.

With an experienced professional doing the overhaul I don't expect a copy of something dated or a hack job like the screen shot I put together. However, sometimes when a non-user makes changes there is a risk that the results are less than what could have been. The point I've been trying to convey is that the more input from us the better chance we have of avoiding that.

Meanwhile, we have the opportunity to throw out our opinions. Personally I'm not concerned about things that might be new features. Matrix and the Graphics Artist know what they are doing so they don't need to ask us for any help. I am sure the end result is going to be awesome. Its the old functionality that is my focus in this thread [what we are used to and how changing that could affect us, what works and what could be improved, like assignable hot keys].

[shunwick]

In TOAD I trust.

The important thing is continued support for the game and that seems assured.

Best wishes,
Steve

[Lobster]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

There's plenty of room over and under the "death star", at least at high res. Ideally, this unit panel (and others) could be minimized so...

Yeah, but different resolutions use different death star space, so that might not be possible.

Maybe the Unit Display at the upper right could be slightly expanded ?

I like having as much map as possible at sight

You've got 2560 x 1440 and you want MORE ?? Seriously though, what if there were more zoom choices [other than the three currently available] ? I mean, I think you can get to a certain point where you get a lot of map, but its not really playable because the units are too small.

The 'death star' that you guys mention is actually redundant. The battle planner shows how much of a turn a battle should take, although not entirely accurate due to randomness. And at the end of each round of combat you are told how much of the turn is left. Why not eliminate that redundant visual, the star, and stretch the buttons down to occupy that space giving more room for other things that are important.

[ncc1701e]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

1) the terrain background in the unit boxes makes everything difficult to see/read--better to give the unit boxes a plain background

I agree, and like I said earlier there is a mod for that. Somebody step forward and provide a link, please !

From what I understand there are files called bk_*.bmp that are used to generate the background terrain in the unit display
and I've made a file that has only a single color for the background ( I'm using black ) and I've copied that file into the
bk_*.bmp files one at a time so that they all are a single color and note that this is in the AltGraphics directory that I'm
doing this. That way you should have a plain background.

By the way, forgot to say, select Maximum value in Options -> Text Contrast and the background of the unit box becomes black directly without file manipulation.

[larryfulkerson]

By the way, forgot to say, select Maximum value in Options -> Text Contrast and the background of the unit box becomes black directly without file manipulation.

Way cool beans dude. Good catch. I did all that file manipulation for nothing. D'oh. Live and learn I guess.

[Freyr Oakenshield]

ORIGINAL: Lobster

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

There's plenty of room over and under the "death star", at least at high res. Ideally, this unit panel (and others) could be minimized so...

Yeah, but different resolutions use different death star space, so that might not be possible.

Maybe the Unit Display at the upper right could be slightly expanded ?

I like having as much map as possible at sight

You've got 2560 x 1440 and you want MORE ?? Seriously though, what if there were more zoom choices [other than the three currently available] ? I mean, I think you can get to a certain point where you get a lot of map, but its not really playable because the units are too small.

The 'death star' that you guys mention is actually redundant. The battle planner shows how much of a turn a battle should take, although not entirely accurate due to randomness. And at the end of each round of combat you are told how much of the turn is left. Why not eliminate that redundant visual, the star, and stretch the buttons down to occupy that space giving more room for other things that are important.

The "death star" is not redundant. It's very informative and enables you to quickly see how much turn will be burnt. As for the battle planner, come on..., who uses the battle planner but absolute beginners...?

[berto]

ORIGINAL: Lobster

The 'death star' that you guys mention is actually redundant. The battle planner shows how much of a turn a battle should take, although not entirely accurate due to randomness. And at the end of each round of combat you are told how much of the turn is left. Why not eliminate that redundant visual, the star, and stretch the buttons down to occupy that space giving more room for other things that are important.

Yes, the "death star" takes up much screen space. How about a progress bar with explicit % -- e.g., "******.... 40%" -- employ a visually appealing progress bar graphic, of course! -- in the below-the-map Status Bar, showing how much of the turn is left? You don't need to take up any more screen space than that.

[Freyr Oakenshield]

ORIGINAL: berto

ORIGINAL: Lobster

The 'death star' that you guys mention is actually redundant. The battle planner shows how much of a turn a battle should take, although not entirely accurate due to randomness. And at the end of each round of combat you are told how much of the turn is left. Why not eliminate that redundant visual, the star, and stretch the buttons down to occupy that space giving more room for other things that are important.

Yes, the "death star" takes up much screen space. How about a progress bar with explicit % -- e.g., "******.... 40%" -- employ a visually appealing progress bar graphic, of course! -- in the below-the-map Status Bar, showing how much of the turn is left? You don't need to take up any more screen space than that.

It doesn't have to be a "death star." But, IMO, there should be some easily accessible and visible info on how much turn has been/will be burnt without the nuisance of entering the battle planner.

edit:

Yeah, an easily visible progress bar would be OK, I guess...

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: berto
Yes, the "death star" takes up much screen space. How about a progress bar with explicit % -- e.g., "******.... 40%" -- employ a visually appealing progress bar graphic, of course! -- in the below-the-map Status Bar, showing how much of the turn is left? You don't need to take up any more screen space than that.

+1

I really hope to be pleasantly surprised by what Matrix's "experienced professional graphic designer" comes up with; while I can't remember any Matrix UIs that really blew me away, most of them are fully adequate and functional.