From Basecamp - the in-game menu.
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:18 am
For a long time the in-game menu was stand-in. Buttons were added and taken away as functionality and the realistic importance of features waxed and waned with more thorough testing. This is one of many of the discusions.
Revised Main and Side Menus
Jeff Dougherty - All,
Proposed final forms for the menus are below. Nothing major, but I think I've made space for some good stuff (external links from Main, easily accessible Help on the map screen) by getting rid of things people weren't actually using. Comments welcome.
Pdf_big Revised Main and Side Menus.pdf
Pat Ward – Yeah they seem ok though don't assume the standin main menu panel is staying as it is. And I kind of felt that review was a better description than replay. You're reviewing a previous move, not replaying it.
One question though . . do we have a solution for the recurring issue of having to go back through the main menu to access the multiplayer game lists?
Miguel Nieves – Does this mean there is no cool movie behind the Main Menu? Sticking to the stock Intro Movie => MainMenu setup?
Jeff Dougherty – As long as the menu still has a panel and a stack of buttons I'd consider the wireframe to be still valid. If you want to rearrange things for aesthetic reasons that's all fine, your call.
"Review" is a more accurate description, but I think for UI purposes consistency is more important.
I thought about having a "Switch Game" button on the Side Menu, but the problem is that it would really only make sense for multiplayer games, and I didn't want to get into having different side menus for local vs. multiplayer games. I think it's a good idea but the implementation might be a little too sticky at this point.
Jeff Dougherty – Totally separate issue, Nick and I are talking about it tomorrow.
David Dunham – “About Us†doesn’t imply going to the web site to me. Previously, our logo seemed like the obvious way to do that (even if not as obvious a button).
Isn’t “Settings†more common in the iOS world?
Actually, the menu button was changed to “Review†recently for consistency with the one in Turn Over…
I am still not sure it’s what we should do, but you could combine the main menu and the Play dialog fairly easily. (It would gain several buttons but lose the close button.) The reason to do this is easier access to Game Center games, so you
David Dunham – “About Us†doesn’t imply going to the web site to me. Previously, our logo seemed like the obvious way to do that (even if not as obvious a button).
Isn’t “Settings†more common in the iOS world?
Actually, the menu button was changed to “Review†recently for consistency with the one in Turn Over…
I am still not sure it’s what we should do, but you could combine the main menu and the Play dialog fairly easily. (It would gain several buttons but lose the close button.) The reason to do this is easier access to Game Center games, so you might want to wait until that is settled before jumping into this.
I will sorely miss Show > Supply. I use it frequently.
Arguably you could have a new Show menu, with supply and dialogs in it. (Help probably goes here too.) Menu would just be actions: Review, Resign, Main Menu.
Pat Ward – A movie behind the main menu was first mentioned many months ago by, I think, Nick, but its never been on the backlog and never been part of the plan. I'd certainly like one and started putting one together when I was doing the mini movies but figured there were more important things to get done.
(Note: the movie behind (rather, on either side of) the main menu was indeed completed but memory issues forced us to leave it out)
Pat Ward – About Us seems more likely to be a run down of the team and company which I'm not sure you really want in a game. I think you could combine it with credits.
Jeff Dougherty – Updated based on comments.
Posted on Oct 3
Pdf_big Revised Main and Side Menus 1.1.pdf
David Dunham – I lean towards “Settings†(per iOS, Ticket to Ride, *) but I did verify that “Preferences†fits in the current button (unlike the wireframe). So trivial to change at any point.
* I also find several games that use “Options.†Haven’t happened to find any with “Preferences.â€
Eric Smith – I much prefer "Settings"
David Dunham – Does it make sense to flip Help and Menu? That way the menu appears closer to the button.
David Dunham – Ahh, sorry to keep going back to this, but does the main menu really need to read “Main Menu?†(I assume you & Nick decided to keep Play separate and not try to merge the two.)
Eric Smith – You realize how helpful it is when you start writing the rules. I think it is helpful.
Nicholas Karp – No strong thoughts on the Settings/Preferences.
Swapping Help and Menu seems like a good idea to me.
On the Main Menu, History above Preferences would group features on the top, vs admin on the bottom.
One feature that is lost for now is the ability to hide units. For me it's important to be able to check terrain that is otherwise obscured (and should include hiding the front lines). But let's see what reports from the testers say. Since hiding stuff is always a "quick check", rather than a play mode, it would be wonderful to have a "press-and-hold" to hide (with units/front popping back on release). No cogent thoughts on how to achieve this, unfortunately.
Agree with David that "Main Menu" is inelegant. We haven't been able to find a better way of clearly establishing the connection between the sub-menu button and where it goes, however. Merging the main menu features entirely into the Play dialog loses the clarity of that dialog.
Would love to have a GC turns-waiting badge somewhere on the main map screen. Encouraging players to flip turns promptly is really a good thing: there's a big difference in fun between games where you get a turn every day or two and games with multiple plays a day. Will refrain from feature-creeping absent strong confirmation from testers that the current 5-tap mechanic to swap GC games is too burdensome.
David Dunham – I don’t think anyone is going to be going “is this the main menu? Oh, it says so, I guess it is.†I don’t think anyone is going to be surprised that tapping a button labelled “Main Menu†goes to an unlabeled screen.
Jeff Dougherty – Okay. Changes as follows for 1.2 and final:
1) We'll switch to "Settings" since I'm apparently the only one who likes "Preferences". Never let it be said I do not listen to the vox populi, especially when some of the populi are the people that sign my checks.
2) Switching "Menu" and "Help" in side menu.
3) Switching "History" and "Settings"
Revised Main and Side Menus
Jeff Dougherty - All,
Proposed final forms for the menus are below. Nothing major, but I think I've made space for some good stuff (external links from Main, easily accessible Help on the map screen) by getting rid of things people weren't actually using. Comments welcome.
Pdf_big Revised Main and Side Menus.pdf
Pat Ward – Yeah they seem ok though don't assume the standin main menu panel is staying as it is. And I kind of felt that review was a better description than replay. You're reviewing a previous move, not replaying it.
One question though . . do we have a solution for the recurring issue of having to go back through the main menu to access the multiplayer game lists?
Miguel Nieves – Does this mean there is no cool movie behind the Main Menu? Sticking to the stock Intro Movie => MainMenu setup?
Jeff Dougherty – As long as the menu still has a panel and a stack of buttons I'd consider the wireframe to be still valid. If you want to rearrange things for aesthetic reasons that's all fine, your call.
"Review" is a more accurate description, but I think for UI purposes consistency is more important.
I thought about having a "Switch Game" button on the Side Menu, but the problem is that it would really only make sense for multiplayer games, and I didn't want to get into having different side menus for local vs. multiplayer games. I think it's a good idea but the implementation might be a little too sticky at this point.
Jeff Dougherty – Totally separate issue, Nick and I are talking about it tomorrow.
David Dunham – “About Us†doesn’t imply going to the web site to me. Previously, our logo seemed like the obvious way to do that (even if not as obvious a button).
Isn’t “Settings†more common in the iOS world?
Actually, the menu button was changed to “Review†recently for consistency with the one in Turn Over…
I am still not sure it’s what we should do, but you could combine the main menu and the Play dialog fairly easily. (It would gain several buttons but lose the close button.) The reason to do this is easier access to Game Center games, so you
David Dunham – “About Us†doesn’t imply going to the web site to me. Previously, our logo seemed like the obvious way to do that (even if not as obvious a button).
Isn’t “Settings†more common in the iOS world?
Actually, the menu button was changed to “Review†recently for consistency with the one in Turn Over…
I am still not sure it’s what we should do, but you could combine the main menu and the Play dialog fairly easily. (It would gain several buttons but lose the close button.) The reason to do this is easier access to Game Center games, so you might want to wait until that is settled before jumping into this.
I will sorely miss Show > Supply. I use it frequently.
Arguably you could have a new Show menu, with supply and dialogs in it. (Help probably goes here too.) Menu would just be actions: Review, Resign, Main Menu.
Pat Ward – A movie behind the main menu was first mentioned many months ago by, I think, Nick, but its never been on the backlog and never been part of the plan. I'd certainly like one and started putting one together when I was doing the mini movies but figured there were more important things to get done.
(Note: the movie behind (rather, on either side of) the main menu was indeed completed but memory issues forced us to leave it out)
Pat Ward – About Us seems more likely to be a run down of the team and company which I'm not sure you really want in a game. I think you could combine it with credits.
Jeff Dougherty – Updated based on comments.
Posted on Oct 3
Pdf_big Revised Main and Side Menus 1.1.pdf
David Dunham – I lean towards “Settings†(per iOS, Ticket to Ride, *) but I did verify that “Preferences†fits in the current button (unlike the wireframe). So trivial to change at any point.
* I also find several games that use “Options.†Haven’t happened to find any with “Preferences.â€
Eric Smith – I much prefer "Settings"
David Dunham – Does it make sense to flip Help and Menu? That way the menu appears closer to the button.
David Dunham – Ahh, sorry to keep going back to this, but does the main menu really need to read “Main Menu?†(I assume you & Nick decided to keep Play separate and not try to merge the two.)
Eric Smith – You realize how helpful it is when you start writing the rules. I think it is helpful.
Nicholas Karp – No strong thoughts on the Settings/Preferences.
Swapping Help and Menu seems like a good idea to me.
On the Main Menu, History above Preferences would group features on the top, vs admin on the bottom.
One feature that is lost for now is the ability to hide units. For me it's important to be able to check terrain that is otherwise obscured (and should include hiding the front lines). But let's see what reports from the testers say. Since hiding stuff is always a "quick check", rather than a play mode, it would be wonderful to have a "press-and-hold" to hide (with units/front popping back on release). No cogent thoughts on how to achieve this, unfortunately.
Agree with David that "Main Menu" is inelegant. We haven't been able to find a better way of clearly establishing the connection between the sub-menu button and where it goes, however. Merging the main menu features entirely into the Play dialog loses the clarity of that dialog.
Would love to have a GC turns-waiting badge somewhere on the main map screen. Encouraging players to flip turns promptly is really a good thing: there's a big difference in fun between games where you get a turn every day or two and games with multiple plays a day. Will refrain from feature-creeping absent strong confirmation from testers that the current 5-tap mechanic to swap GC games is too burdensome.
David Dunham – I don’t think anyone is going to be going “is this the main menu? Oh, it says so, I guess it is.†I don’t think anyone is going to be surprised that tapping a button labelled “Main Menu†goes to an unlabeled screen.
Jeff Dougherty – Okay. Changes as follows for 1.2 and final:
1) We'll switch to "Settings" since I'm apparently the only one who likes "Preferences". Never let it be said I do not listen to the vox populi, especially when some of the populi are the people that sign my checks.
2) Switching "Menu" and "Help" in side menu.
3) Switching "History" and "Settings"