[interface] MP create screen revamp

[lipk]

Seeing how fashionable it became to refactor various GUI elements these days, I thought I'd take my turn on the multiplayer game creation screen.

Poor old mp::create isn't in a good shape. It's been overcrowded and broken on low resolutions since ever, and even with that stellar number of widgets out there, it still doesn't display some important info to the player. Did you know, for example, that scenarios have descriptions? You don't see them only because they're concealed as tooltips! Modifications and add-on options are quite well hidden as well, being displayed in separate dialogs.

To resolve these problems, I propose to split the current single screen into two. The first one would remain the "Create Screen", where players choose which era, map and modifications they want to play with. No sliders, checkboxes and such. Something like this:

It's not quite finished, of course. The free space below the minimap will be used for map/scenario/modification descriptions, and naturally, I'll have to implement a way to select more than one modification.

All the stuff you're used to but don't see in the above screencast would be moved to the new "Configure Screen". The used components and so add-on options are chosen at the time of setting this screen up, we could get rid of the options dialog as well, and simply display everything on a single scrollable panel.

C & c welcome!

[Pentarctagon]

Not sure if this would really be covered here, but would it be possible to have the minimap/preview show the starting locations?

Also, I think it would make more sense if the options for the modifications were on the same screen as the where you choose the modifications.

[lipk]

Not sure if this would really be covered here, but would it be possible to have the minimap/preview show the starting locations?

It sounds like a good idea, but it's not closely related to this project. I'll probably get down to when I'm done fiddling with the layout.

Also, I think it would make more sense if the options for the modifications were on the same screen as the where you choose the modifications.

Note that scenarios and eras can have options as well. It'd be confusing to display some options in the first screen and others on the second. Ideally, of course, everything would go to the same place, but that's not possible for practical reasons.

[Pentarctagon]

Also, I think it would make more sense if the options for the modifications were on the same screen as the where you choose the modifications.

Note that scenarios and eras can have options as well. It'd be confusing to display some options in the first screen and others on the second. Ideally, of course, everything would go to the same place, but that's not possible for practical reasons.

Any idea when the second screen prototype will be done? I'm having kind of a hard time visualizing it in a way that makes sense to me.

[lipk]

Any idea when the second screen prototype will be done? I'm having kind of a hard time visualizing it in a way that makes sense to me.

I don't know. I have a few days of relief now, but I'm afraid I'll soon get swamped by university stuff again.

[Pentarctagon]

I think I'll just wait until both are done then, since its a bit difficult to give feedback on an idea when its only half done.

[lipk]

All right.

Meanwhile (the filtering controls are not yet functional):

[H-Hour]

I see the buttons to show scenarios and campaigns, but where would these be displayed? Would they be appended to an existing list or would the page be reordered to display a new box?

Also, please pardon my ignorance as I only really play multiplayer campaigns, but how is this intended to work? Am I right in thinking players are meant to choose all three of the options (map, era, modification)? How will this work with campaigns or scenarios which only work with a single era or have to start on a specific map?

[lipk]

I see the buttons to show scenarios and campaigns, but where would these be displayed? Would they be appended to an existing list or would the page be reordered to display a new box?

Both scenarios and campaigns will be in the "Map to play" box, just like now. The filtering controls (including Show scenarios and Show campaigns) will be used to remove/readd entries in the box.

Also, please pardon my ignorance as I only really play multiplayer campaigns, but how is this intended to work? Am I right in thinking players are meant to choose all three of the options (map, era, modification)?

Modifications are not compulsory. The new GUI doesn't reflect that well at this point, there will be checkboxes next to each entry. Here you can find some more info on modifications.

How will this work with campaigns or scenarios which only work with a single era or have to start on a specific map?

I'm not sure how to parse this... there's no change in the handling of eras and scenarios, only the interface is reworked.

[H-Hour]

How will this work with campaigns or scenarios which only work with a single era or have to start on a specific map?

I'm not sure how to parse this... there's no change in the handling of eras and scenarios, only the interface is reworked.

Putting myself in a user's shoes, the UI I see in this thread might lead me to believe that I am expected to choose an era/modification, even if the scenario/campaign doesn't want it. But maybe I should just wait to see it with the checkboxes you mentioned. I was just wondering what would happen if, for example, I chose a campaign, then chose an incompatible era or modification. Does Wesnoth discard my choice?

[lipk]

Putting myself in a user's shoes, the UI I see in this thread might lead me to believe that I am expected to choose an era/modification, even if the scenario/campaign doesn't want it. But maybe I should just wait to see it with the checkboxes you mentioned.

Yeah, I think so.

I was just wondering what would happen if, for example, I chose a campaign, then chose an incompatible era or modification. Does Wesnoth discard my choice?

Again: nothing changes about the handling of era/map/modification choices. Modifications and dependencies are already available in Wesnoth 1.11.2. If you select an invalid combination of components, you'll be presented a dialog asking how you want to solve the conflict (revert last selection or keep last selection and change the other problematic component).

[lipk]

Here's the first prototype of the configure screen. Non-WML-controllable settings (timer, observers, password) on the left, everything else (which will include add-on provided settings) on the right.

[Pentarctagon]

Perhaps make the separation between the halves more distinct? For example:

except use the lighter-grey instead of red, obviously.

[lipk]

Hmm, that would be a good idea... if we had light gray line widgets. I'll see what can I do.

[DranKof]

If you select an invalid combination of components, you'll be presented a dialog asking how you want to solve the conflict (revert last selection or keep last selection and change the other problematic component).

I have a proposal that you might consider to adjust: Using "revert last selection" or "keep last selection and change the other problematic component".

Maybe you could keep the selected options highlighted, but make the conflicting ones red (or another color) and replace the "Ok" with "Help!". Then, should someone not understand the nature of the conflict or not even know what the red even means, when they go to find/hit "Ok" and instead see and click "Help!", the popup will tell them exactly what the conflict is ("Modification: A requires Era: B", or "Map: C is not compatible with Era: D", etc.).

That would be less intrusive than a popup-on-conflict-selection. People who know what they want to set up can hit the buttons in any order without worrying about inadvertently getting a popup (thus, saving time). Furthermore, you wouldn't have to worry about the "keep last selection and change the other problematic component" looking for a solution that might not exist.

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On a side note:

If and while you're adjusting/creating the new options page, I think sliders would look better stuck on the left side of the name text instead of the right side. I made an example of what I mean above. (Just my personal opinion, though.)

(Side, side note: not sure if this is a bug or not, but the slider doesn't seem to be slideable to its max value; it can slide all the way to the right, but the value seems to be one step down from the set max in all of my experiments, instead of at the set max. The wiki says it should be: "max: the maximal value the slider can take".)