UI Improvements, Round 3: Home Screen

[moomarc]

Looking really good Doublestrike! In the constructed mode deck selections it might be an idea to have a small text line informing players that they can use Ctrl/Cmd + select to select multiple colours and/or random colours. Perhaps the random colour selections could also be labelled as '1st Random Color' etc so it doesn't look like a duplicate line bug.

I'll definitely be creating some new skins once I've got some free time but still a few weeks at least unless I can squeeze something out in the evening next week.

[slapshot5]

EDIT - easy one, turns out. Fixed r12578. Can give gory details if you're curious.

no need. Your fix was right along the lines of what I was thinking.

Thanks,
slapshot5

[ArsenalNut]

The changes in HomeTopLevel.java from r12526 to r12570 (and later) are causing a crash for me. I traced the problem down to where HomeTopLevel() tries to create a new instantiation of ViewQuest. The constructor tries to open "res/quest/questData.dat" which doesn't exist. I never play quest mode so I suspect this file never got created in my project space. I tried creating an empty file but that just caused Forge to crash when it tried to read the file.

[Doublestrike]

@Arsenal - xxxxxxxxxxx (deleted)

EDIT

BTW only constructed mode is cleared for takeoff - quest mode (and all others) aren't quite ready to go yet. Is this happening in constructed?

EDIT 2

How do you put in <del> tags in this editor?

[Doublestrike]

@slapshot - nice idea on the card list button. FYI the fix that now uses

getDeckManager().getConstructedDecks()

didn't (doesn't) work on my system...that's why I had written a custom iterator. Unless I'm mistaken, that's a gub.

(I added a disable/enable condition depending on if a deck is selected and a few aesthetic fixes, but everything else is the same.)

[Sloth]

I can't compile R12602. My Eclipse does not accept "JList<String>" as a type and the JList constructor does not take an argument (like in JList(new ChooserListModel())). Did you forget to commit something Doublestrike?

[Doublestrike]

@sloth - fixed.

I was getting "raw type" compiler errors on my machine at work, so I went ahead and fixed them (and a deprecated error). JLists were complaining "references must be parameterized" so I did. Everything was ok.

Then, I get home, update, and wham! broken! I think my JREs are different or something. Anyway all those parameters have been removed.

[Chris H.]

Using rev 12604 I noticed that there is not enough room to display the new exit button when the window is at 800 x 600.

I received the following crash report when I started forge (using rev 12604) without having a questData.dat file located in the /res/quest/ folder. I placed a questData.dat file in the /res/quest/ folder and relaunched and it started up OK.

Crash Report | Open

This is a Crash Report. An error has occurred. Please save this message to a file.
Please follow the instructions at this address to submit this Crash Report, plus what you were doing at the time:
http://tinyurl.com/3zzrnyb
Reporting bugs in Forge is very important. We thank you for your time.

Error loading Quest Data


Version:
Forge version SVN

OS: Mac OS X Version: 10.7.2 Architecture: x86_64

Java Version: 1.6.0_29 Vendor: Apple Inc.

Detailed error trace:
java.io.FileNotFoundException: res/quest/questData.dat (No such file or directory)
at java.io.FileInputStream.open(Native Method)
at java.io.FileInputStream.<init>(FileInputStream.java:120)
at forge.quest.data.QuestDataIO.loadData(QuestDataIO.java:90)
at forge.view.home.ViewQuest.<init>(ViewQuest.java:65)
at forge.view.home.HomeTopLevel.<init>(HomeTopLevel.java:68)
at forge.control.ControlAllUI.changeState(ControlAllUI.java:101)
at forge.view.swing.ApplicationView$3.run(ApplicationView.java:170)
at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(InvocationEvent.java:209)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(EventQueue.java:677)
at java.awt.EventQueue.access$000(EventQueue.java:85)
at java.awt.EventQueue$1.run(EventQueue.java:638)
at java.awt.EventQueue$1.run(EventQueue.java:636)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.security.AccessControlContext$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(AccessControlContext.java:87)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(EventQueue.java:647)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(EventDispatchThread.java:296)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(EventDispatchThread.java:211)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(EventDispatchThread.java:201)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:196)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:188)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(EventDispatchThread.java:122)

`

[slapshot5]

@slapshot - nice idea on the card list button. FYI the fix that now uses

getDeckManager().getConstructedDecks()

didn't (doesn't) work on my system...that's why I had written a custom iterator. Unless I'm mistaken, that's a gub.

Does it work for you now? I never had a problem with it.

gub?

-slapshot5

[ArsenalNut]

@Arsenal - xxxxxxxxxxx (deleted)

EDIT

BTW only constructed mode is cleared for takeoff - quest mode (and all others) aren't quite ready to go yet. Is this happening in constructed?

This is happening when I try to run Forge as a Java Application from within Eclipse using src/main/java/forge/view/swing/Main.java as the main of the program. I get the normal splash screen that shows the card loading progress. It says "Done, Firing up the GUI" and then I get the following crash

Startup crash stack | Open

Error loading Quest Data
java.io.FileNotFoundException: res\quest\questData.dat (The system cannot find the file specified)
at java.io.FileInputStream.open(Native Method)
at java.io.FileInputStream.<init>(Unknown Source)
at forge.quest.data.QuestDataIO.loadData(QuestDataIO.java:90)
at forge.view.home.ViewQuest.<init>(ViewQuest.java:65)
at forge.view.home.HomeTopLevel.<init>(HomeTopLevel.java:68)
at forge.control.ControlAllUI.changeState(ControlAllUI.java:101)
at forge.view.swing.ApplicationView$3.run(ApplicationView.java:170)
at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue.access$000(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue$1.run(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue$1.run(Unknown Source)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.security.AccessControlContext$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(Unknown Source)

The code is trying to open "res\quest\questData.dat" but it doesn't check to see if it actually exists. I have never played Quest mode in my current project space so this file doesn't exist for me. If this file is really needed just to start Forge, then it should to be part of the distribution or the code should handle this situation more gracefully.

Edit:
Chris H. is seeing the same crash as I am.

[Chris H.]

The code is trying to open "res\quest\questData.dat" but it doesn't check to see if it actually exists. I have never played Quest mode in my current project space so this file doesn't exist for me. If this file is really needed just to start Forge, then it should to be part of the distribution or the code should handle this situation more gracefully.

Edit:
Chris H. is seeing the same crash as I am.

`
The snapshot release that I posted on MediaFire should include a questData.dat file and you can use that for the moment. But yeah, need to get that bug taken care of.

[Rob Cashwalker]

Can I propose that we drop the (Easy) (Medium) and (Hard) from the game type buttons? Put them in tooltips if anything..

Also, make provision for supporting new game types or modes. Maybe convert the quest button to "Casual Mode", which leads to a page of options for quest, commander, gauntlet, some_other_mode_we_havent_made_yet, etc.

[Rob Cashwalker]

The buttons are not clearing the toggle arrows unless I mouse over them. If I carefully edge into each button, click, then jump out, I made this picture.

Also, pulling the window size the smallest it will let me, hides the exit button, as in the picture.

Doublestrike, I really like the overall feel.

The snapshot release that I posted on MediaFire should include a questData.dat file and you can use that for the moment. But yeah, need to get that bug taken care of.

I think I have it fixed in my fresh copy at work. If the file doesn't exist, it returns a new QuestData(). However, the quest page thinks it has a valid fresh quest with a Level 0 mage.... I think it would be better back to the way it was, with a separate window for quest details. Or if it could detect that the quest hasn't been through the "embarking" process which isn't prominent, being stuck at the bottom of that page.

Edit - I committed this fix in r.12611

[Sloth]

Can I propose that we drop the (Easy) (Medium) and (Hard) from the game type buttons? Put them in tooltips if anything..

I agree.

I think it would be better back to the way it was, with a separate window for quest details.

I think having a seperate quest screen again should be a long time goal. The quest mode should be a bit more immersive than the others.

[Doublestrike]

...bugs in quest page and everywhere...

There are apparent bugs everywhere - except constructed mode - because the screen as a whole is not finished yet, as I've mentioned. I had to do it this way because of the "mixed nuts arbitrary JFrame" melange that was in place before. For now, it's a significant time investment ( = waste of productivity) to chase everything down and make it play nice.

I'll announce when various parts are finished, and then debugging can begin for that section. For now, only "Constructed" mode is finished. Quest mode will be finished probably in about 12 hours. Other submenus will be much much faster since they're significantly easier.

Also, make provision for supporting new game types or modes

There already is provision for new game modes - just make a new button and a submenu. Later, when the button area starts to overflow (such as the exit button thing), there can be two columns of buttons, or a slight reorganization, and we can fit a whole bunch of stuff there. Actually, I'll put that reorganization on the short-term-fix list.

...having a separate quest screen again should be a long time goal.

I think so too. That being said, part of the frustrating playing experience with Forge (before) is having to click back and forth between a bunch of frames, and find the shortcut button that lets you back to the main screen, because this one won't close, blah blah blah. So, later I'll make a standardized framework that allows various game modes to be in their own world. I'm also planning on developing a few of these game modes but one thing at a time.

Doublestrike, I really like the overall feel.

Thanks Rob, I was worried I was stepping on toes by refactoring the old work - but glad the results are working.