Requesting Editor Artwork

[fabi]

A first screenshot.

Screenshot of the editor

[Amorphous]

Wow, those look fantastic. Must remember to try the editor some time just to see them

[LordBob]

Screen mock-ups for the editor. The effort here is to clarify the layout of the different groups of buttons, but we're also thinking in the longer term by trying to anticipate how some of those changes might eventually be shared with the game UI . Functionally speaking, we would split editor buttons into the following sets:

• common-use editor actions: buttons that are usable at any time independently of the tool currently in use, such as undo or redo. Clipboard actions such as copy/cut/paste may also enter that category.
• map display actions:buttons that affect only the display, such as zoom controls or the grid toggle. These would preferably be placed near the minimap, and could at a later date be added in the game UI.
• editor tools:commands that activate the mutually-exclusive modes of the editor, such as brush, fill, units, etc. The selected tool affects the palette, and possibly the display of a number of tool-specific actions.
• tool-specific actions: buttons that are only relevant when a given tool is in use. this category may or may not be limited to the brush tip size buttons.

Note that the attachments below are horribly hacked mock-ups done in Photoshop and not actual screenshots, so don't jump on your feet if the background is screwed or an icon is upside-down. They're a tool to help with the concept phase and not a definite workplan, so not all of them are good, maybe none actually. To me, the winner should be a mix of 3, 5 and 6.

[GunChleoc]

I like the general layout of 2 or 6.

[vultraz]

I vote for #2.

[Sleepwalker]

I like #2 the most as well.

[Astoria]

#2.

[lipk]

#3

[8680]

I dislike grouping the copy etc. buttons with the variable tool-specific options, as in #2, on grounds of both aesthetics and minimizing potential confusion.

Aesthetically, I prefer the tools being in a column on the left, as in #6, but I fear this would be to the detriment of functionality, due to time wasted moving the pointer from one side of the interface to the other, so overall I am against this.

I like having more space in the palette, as in #5 and #6, but due to such coming at the cost of having less space for the map, to which I would give greater weight, I prefer overall having the tools between the minimap and the palette, as in #1..#4.

Aesthetically, I prefer the map view controls being in a row below the minimap, as in #3 and #4, but I think their being in a column to the side of the minimap would be functionally superior, as it leaves more space for other elements of the interface (excepting the minimap), so overall I support vertical view controls.

[beetlenaut]

I like #6. I think the lack of clutter on the right side makes up for the slight lack of functionality. Only slight because you stay in paintbrush mode for most of the edit process.

[artisticdude]

As much as the layout of #6 appeals to my photoshop workflow, I'm going to say #3, just because I don't like having the minimap squished or distorted by the map controls (it's already pretty darn small as-is). If it weren't for that, I'd have to go with #2, because the layout is really clean and well-organized. Maybe in #2 the margins between the button groups on the right sidebar could be decreased slightly to see if the map controls couldn't fit below the minimap without encroaching too much on the terrain palette below?

[LordBob]

More mock-ups and lots of considerations ; most of them are based on #2 from above, a concept we're progressively refining thanks to everyone's input.

* 30 pix icons for common-use actions, tools, and tool-specific actions, - which are differenciated by a tighter layout.
* 25 pix icons for map controls in order to reserve space for the minimap.

* 30 pix icons everywhere; tight even spaces between buttons; tools and tool-specific actions are differenciated by their background
* map controls are relocated in the top bar to free up space for the minimap, and also because functionnaly they do not directly interact with the minimap.

* 30 pix icons everywhere; wide even spaces between buttons; no particular differenciation between tools and tool-specific actions.

* 30 pix icons for common-use actions and tools
* 25 pix icons for map controls in order to reserve space for the minimap, and also for tool-specific actions in order to differenciate them from the tools by their size.

Some radical changes here. The upper-left corner becomes icon-heavy, but this frees up a lot of space for the palettes, which is especially fine in the lower resolutions (see below)
* 30 pix icons everywhere; tight or wide spaces, doesn't matter here
* both the tools and tool-specific options are relocated in the top left corner
* map display controls can be located either on the top bar or next to the minimap as in 2-3, or even right below since we've freed up all this space

extra mock-up: small res screen with 25 pix icons everywhere. the space gained compared to 30 pix icons isn't all this much, so all in all I'd gladly drop the 25 pixels buttons.

[beetlenaut]

The second one looks the best--nice and even, with plenty of space for the minimap. You could also consider putting the map tools above the minimap.

[artisticdude]

I agree with beetlenaut; the second one definitely looks the best to me! I especially like that the tools and the tool-specific options are in such close proximity in these new mockups, as that decreases the amount of cursor movement needed to switch among the various tools and settings. Personally, I'd be inclined to keep the map tools where they are in #2, because like LordBob pointed out earlier, putting them right next to the minimap could initially imply that they operate on the minimap itself rather than on the mapview.

[GunChleoc]

Personally, I'd be inclined to keep the map tools where they are in #2, because like LordBob pointed out earlier, putting them right next to the minimap could initially imply that they operate on the minimap itself rather than on the mapview.

Good point. I have never really used the editor escept for testing my translation, and this is exactly what i thought, so they should not be close to the minimap.

I'm also for #2 of this series.