PixelGuys
GUI Revamp
Approximations:
This is a rough approximation of how the Cubyz GUI should look. All windows are adjustable, but these are the defaults. It is designed to be concise and not overlap with other window areas. It also allows the player to see the middle of the screen, which is very crucial.
The crafting icons on the left are tabs, meaning there can only be one open at a time, and they all function as the same window.
Somewhat like this:
Also note the pixel size is consistent throughout the GUI. This isn't a requirement, but it does look nicer than the current in-game version.
I've done mockups for some thoughts of my own.
Inventory, when not interacting with a block:
In your mockup you shortened the hotbar to 10 slots (I don't know if this was intentional), so I made it 12 again, and also made the inventory rows 12 slots long.
I added another row to the inventory, bringing us from the current 20 slots to 36 slots. For reference, Minecraft's is 26 slots and Terraria's is 40 slots.
I've removed the tabs so that all the information is immediately visible and not hidden in other menus. The crafting menu would probably still have tabs to seperate recipes into different categories. You mentioned having other blocks show up as tabs so you can switch between them, but I think it would be more intuitive (and more immersive) to just walk up to them and click.
Accessories and armor are on the right, by the health bar, where I assume other stats would be (hunger, defense? etc). This lets the player quickly switch armor/accessories as well as see what they have equipped at a quick glance
When interacting with a block (a workbench):
I understand the concerns about covering the center of the screen, but I don't think it matters for when you're crafting a tool, because you're probably just staring at the top of the workbench.
Also there was a ton of empty space on the right that could be taken advantage of.
You can only have 1 of these "block menus" open at a time so there shouldn't be any clutter.
This also allows for crafting and tool making at the same time (which is something i was doing a lot during the survival test, for example crafting extra planks so i could finish a tool)
I really like this format!
The crafting would obviously have more slots as input but this is really really good
I got to be honest here: I think the white outline around healthbar and selected item are a bit distracting, and the font it rather difficult to read, especially on the bright background.
Spent all day revamping the UI. Please tell me what you think @IntegratedQuantum
Honestly, I'm kind of a fan of the text based ui. It wouldn't be easy to implement though.
The sliders don't have to be text-based, if that's what you're worried about
I'm not sure how much sense the text menu makes if you're interacting with it with a mouse. Usually for menus like this you use arrow keys or wasd, but in Cubyz you have to use your mouse.
I think cubyz should be designed for keyboard-mouse first is my point.
What about text buttons in inventory windows? How do they look? Inventory and settings feel very different stylistically now.
hmm, that is a good point we will need to ask quantum about. maybe something we could do is just make the current gui act like how the new one acts, so you have the buttons floating in the bottom on a grey background, etc.
I think the two styles can co-exist. Inventory ui is styled after interactions you make in the world, while Menu ui is not.
Here's how blocks would look in this GUI. I made a custom isometric render for this.
The reason I chose to separate the "pause" menu from the in-game gui is because new players found the old UI quite confusing to navigate. This menu is better for controllers, is modular, and is easy to navigate. No more windows popping up or changing sizes, no more windows covering up important parts of the screen and having to move it around all the time. I am going on an ARGmaster-type rant right now over this.
Even if you guys don't want this exact layout in this exact style, I am begging you to at least separate this menu from the in-game gui.
I am going to experiment more on this menu tomorrow to see if I can't make it less minimalistic.
I agree with you that it is probably a good idea to separate the settings from the rest of the game, even though I think so for a different reason: Currently the settings menus are squished together quite tightly, e.g. some items in the graphics settings take 4 rows of text just because the window is too small.
However one important thing to consider is how does this react to different aspect ratios and different window scales? This is the main reason why I chose to make everything its own window, to avoid having to deal with the problem of varying aspect ratios of the window contents.
Also, about this minimalist white on black GUI approach, it looks nice, but I honestly don't see it fitting well into the game, especially not for the main menu with its rotating background scene.
This is how I'd imagine it scales. Again, the style isn't too fitting for Cubyz so I might scrap it and try a new design.
Progress report! (the second image is a bit old but still worth showing off)
Yeah, this is nice. I do think however that the partial transparency looks a bit odd, since it only affects the inventory slot but not the window itself.
UIRevamp.zip Here are the files for all UI, including a layered reference file and the slot number fonts. Latin Font replacement is found in #1549