Main Menu

[SneaksieDave]

Okay, it basically just cuts it off. Ellipses(...) would probably be better but I don't know how hard that would be to implement. Result is in image below (not shown/cut off, is "The Comedic Actress").

 

BTW for the record, note that TDM uses the darkmod.txt in the /darkmod/fms/saintlucia folder, not the one in the installed mission folder (/doom3/saintlucia). I figure that might be unintentional.

 

Let me know if issues are desired for:

1. emphasis on mission name

2. ellipses (or some other method) for long mission names

3. use of installer folder darkmod.txt instead of installed folder darkmod.txt

[Dram]

IMO it could either be a more defining font, or a different colour (grey-ish?).

[SneaksieDave]

Colors are a good idea too. Anything really, size, bold, color, just something to make it stand out more. Currently it's like reading three uncomfortably spaced lines each time, in contrast to the rest of the layout which is aesthetically pleasant.

[greebo]

Well, feel free to play around with the colours. It's in mainmenu_newgame.gui, line 121.

[SneaksieDave]

Played around with various setups for a while, and I think I've got something. What do you all think of this? Intention behind it is,

 

1. breaking the monotony of previous layout

* did away with three evenly spaced lines, instead attempting 'appealing' alignments

 

2. emphasizing the FM name strongly

* reddish brown to match gui theme

* slightly larger font

 

3. support for longer mission names

* field is larger vertically, supporting two full lines of text for names

* if FM only uses one line, still has the 'appealing' alignment

* if FM uses between one and two lines of text, second line is still horizontally centered (see third image)

 

No use of ellipses at this point, but in most cases shouldn't be necessary. FMs with really, really long names will simply be truncated as they were previously.

[Springheel]

Are those different options or just examples of the same settings with different names?

 

If the former, I prefer #1. "Start This mission" needs to be sufficiently far away from the other text so people realize it's a button, which is why I would avoid two lines for the title.

[SneaksieDave]

They're three different FM names for the same gui setup, to demonstrate how it works under different conditions. If an FM has a long name, there's space for two lines (#2, #3). If not, it looks like #1.

 

Edit: should also mention, I did have the name itself up higher in earlier layouts (to set apart from Start) but it looked waaay too high (silly even) with only a one line FM title, so I settled for centered when multi-line.

[SneaksieDave]

Well hrm. I suppose I could just upload it and if everyone hates it, we'll just revert.

[Crispy]

I like it. Might be nice to shift the Start This Mission button down a tiny bit when there are two lines of text (if that's doable); SH is right that the button needs to have some space around it to show that it's a button.

[SneaksieDave]

I assume it's doable, but it might be handled in a different way, since it's a button (haven't tried yet). I think I'd be quicker to shift the other lines up, instead of the button down. Keep in mind though, as the distance indicated in the attached image for single-line named FM's increases, it really starts looking goofy, like something is missing.

[Dram]

Yep I like it, though the two line names look very untidy. It might be good to just leave the one line and warn FM creators to make sure it reads out as one line.

[Fidcal]

Try reworking the other lines. How about replacing them with one line, eg,

 

 

-----------------------

play current mission

 

SON OF THE TEARS

OF ST. LUCIA

-----------------------

or...

 

----------------------

SON OF THE TEARS

OF ST. LUCIA

 

play current mission

----------------------

[greebo]

Did some changes to the main menu tonight:

 

- FM list has a larger font plus wider spacing now

- Moved Main Menu button to the right for consistency with other pages

- Redid a few graphics to make them clearer

- Added "Uninstall" button (which basically clears currentfm.txt)

 

edit: screenshotsky

[SneaksieDave]

Lookin' good.

[Fidcal]

Confirmed uninstalls OK and much clearer list.

[SneaksieDave]

What do you think of this slight mod, so the description can also support two lines like the Installed sheet?

 

Edit: ah crud, nevermind, I don't think this will work. In a one line FM, the author would be set down too low and look silly.

[Tels]

Just to repeat my earlier question (maybe I missed the answer?):

 

Why do we have the cumbersome install/uninstall setup, when all that basically happens is that the tdmlauncher copies the PK4 and the .cfg around? Or in other words, couldn't we instead of:

 

* user copies .PK4 to fms/

* use tdmlauncher

* click install

* user plays

 

Have this setup:

 

* user copies .PK4 to doom/

* use tdmlauncher

* tdmlaunchers sees that there is a new directory with a PK4 (and proper TDM files inside), so it ask the user "want to clone your config, or create a new default one from scratch") (alternatively, don't ask, just copy it over)

* user plays

 

That would avoid having each PK4 file twice on disk and remove one step for the user. As a bonus it will avoid confusion over things like:

 

* where are my savegames stored?

* are they removed when I uninstall a mission?

* and if not, how can I clean them up

 

etc. With the new scheme it would be clear for the user that the FM is in its own folder, and only there and all data is at that location.

 

Might be worth pondering over.

[greebo]

Might be worth pondering over.

Not convinced - the cost/benefit ratio is too small, sorry. Just to save the user one step (clicking Install in the FM menu)? - come on. For this I should rearrange the whole FM handling? At this point?

 

Generally, TDMLauncher is not aimed at doing any FM installation - that's what TDM itself is doing. It's just a launcher, as its name states. TDMLauncher also doesn't have any GUI code in it to ask the user anything, as this would require hooking GTK into it (or something else cross-platform), which would bloat tdmlauncher up to several MB. tdmlauncher != darkloader, tdmlauncher is just a shortcut app.

 

* user copies .PK4 to doom/

* use tdmlauncher

* tdmlaunchers sees that there is a new directory with a PK4 (and proper TDM files inside), so it ask the user "want to clone your config, or create a new default one from scratch") (alternatively, don't ask, just copy it over)

* user plays

What's the point about "cloning the config"? This is already done by darkmod.pk4 code, so why would tdmlauncher want to do this. And where does the user select the actual FM?

 

* where are my savegames stored?

There is a folder named brokenfence/savegames, for instance.

 

* are they removed when I uninstall a mission?

No.

 

* and if not, how can I clean them up

Delete the folder.

 

This is what a FAQ is for, isn't it?

 

Also, I don't give a single damn whether the PK4 file is duplicate on the client's machine - we're in 2009, the days of 2 GB harddisks are gone, long gone. Even large FMs like saintlucia only have 10 MB. Games like Left4Dead have 4.3 GB upwards, and I should bend over backwards to save a few dozen MB. Not convinced, I've got better things to do.