Know any UI Developers? (Bounty Inside)

[Rob Cashwalker]

I figured it was just a sample... just wanted to make sure.

[moomarc]

Thought I'd make a quick fun splash for the inner Star Wars geek in Rob... May the Forge be with you!

Themed splash

[Braids]

Thought I'd make a quick fun splash for the inner Star Wars geek in Rob... May the Forge be with you!

forgeSplash.jpg

hilarious, but shouldn't it be a protocol droid?

[Chris H.]

Nice work Marc, and the sense of humor is a nice touch.

[Rob Cashwalker]

That IS a nice job. In theory, the graphics could be customizable by the user...

[Braids]

That IS a nice job. In theory, the graphics could be customizable by the user...

"Don't make me destroy you."

[Rob Cashwalker]

"Strike me down, and I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

"I don't know, I can imagine quite a lot."

[moomarc]

That IS a nice job. In theory, the graphics could be customizable by the user...

That was one of my initial hopes when I first posted the UI screen. We could release theme packs (and special holiday editions?) that the user can overwrite the default with. I don't think it would be necessary to have it adjustable from within Forge, just have a jar that contains the replacement graphics. We could post a template and instructions on extracting/adding the graphics for other graphics modders, and add a new dedicated subforum if there is enough interest.

[steve]

Yikes! I came back to the site after a week or two and now we've got a new UI!

Actually, I had decided to take this project on but I hadn't told anyone. Why? Because I'm a frontend web developer, a whiz in PHP and Javascript, but didn't have any Java skillz. So, I learned Swing, and took a swing at forging my own Swing layout. Then, I come back here and wham it's done already!

But anyway, here's what I've got, if you're interested, I can take on this project.

The current manifestation of my efforts includes:
- A tab-based format (only the menu tab is coded right now)
- User can set font
- User can set texture(s)
- User can set button background colors
- A custom sprite which users can use to make different skins
- Up to 10 buttons for developers
- Easy-to-set sprite cutting, margin, spacing, and thickness dimensions for developers
- Full-screen resizeable (scaled resizing)
- Separate class encapsulation for each button (not fully implemented but should be easy)

The source code, images, and fonts are attached below. For now, it runs as a separate Java application. Should be three classes, an image folder under /src, and a fonts folder under /bin.

Good news? I'm a webdev guy, used to slicing up images and creating layouts from screenshots. Bad news? Just learned Java for this project, so there will definitely be lots of "why the hell did he do it that way" and time delays while I bumble around in the dark. But that will go away after a few months, I suppose. Of course, I'm wide open to tips.

So, here's the input I'm looking for from the powers that be:

1. Is there something I can do to help or take over? (Do you mind a little noobishness?)
2. Should I continue with this layout, or throw it out?

If I continue with this layout, the next steps (for me) are
- to figure out how to slide this neatly into the source
- to "pretty up" the folders so all the customizable stuff is in one place
- fully implement button class encapsulation (i.e. "Quick Duel" button is tied to "QuickDuel" class, settable by developer).

Anyway, I'm here to help

[steve]

Oh, BTW, here's a screenshot.

When a button is clicked, the right-side panel will turn the same color as the background of the button (not implemented yet). The other attachment illustrates what I mean. An image could go there too...

[Rob Cashwalker]

Thanks steve.

To be honest, the UI work we've done so far hasn't been incorporated into the real project yet... I've been dabbling with it using WindowBuilder in eclipse. Really helps you to jumpstart GUI design, because you don't have to write Swing from scratch, it helps give you a skeleton.

Not sure about a tab layout.... But it looks neat and clean..
A while back someone sketched out some screens that would give forge a more minimalistic layout.. like a "real" game. Just a stack of menu items, each launching another stack of menu items.... I don't think we liked that idea much either.
What marc has designed is a bit of a cross-over of the designs. Settigns will go to a new screen, all other functionality is in the main gui.

[Braids]

Yikes! I came back to the site after a week or two and now we've got a new UI!

Actually, I had decided to take this project on but I hadn't told anyone. Why? Because I'm a frontend web developer, a whiz in PHP and Javascript, but didn't have any Java skillz. So, I learned Swing, and took a swing at forging my own Swing layout. Then, I come back here and wham it's done already!

the code is far from done . . . i've just started on the splash screen, taking the time to separate the model from the view while i'm at it.

Good news? I'm a webdev guy, used to slicing up images and creating layouts from screenshots. Bad news? Just learned Java for this project, so there will definitely be lots of "why the hell did he do it that way" and time delays while I bumble around in the dark. But that will go away after a few months, I suppose. Of course, I'm wide open to tips.

are you using Eclipse? if so, i would suggest downloading the Checkstyle, FindBugs, and PMD modules. they can help you avoid simpler mistakes, and produce code that is less likely to cause head-scratching and fragility. this table will help you locate the plugins.

also, please only use static fields for true constants. PMD will kick you in the Jeweled Torque for that, anyway. if you absolutely need to use a Singleton pattern, create an ordinary class with private non-static fields and add a static field to forge.Singletons. better yet, bypass Singleton and pass in an instance to all the constructors that need it.

So, here's the input I'm looking for from the powers that be:

i'm not sure i'm qualified to answer your questions. the splash page has been assigned to me, and i think i'll keep working at it. but there's infrastructure change going on there, too.

when i've done web development, i've always preferred simpler styles that are more accessible. we once had a page that looked absolutely awful if the user changed the default font size in the browser. i protested, but my bosses were penny pinching idiots.

speaking of size, i think we're trying to get this runnable on 1024x600 netbook displays. at least, we should be, given that we're overhauling it, anyway.

Anyway, I'm here to help

cool!

[Braids]

. . . A while back someone sketched out some screens that would give forge a more minimalistic layout.. like a "real" game. Just a stack of menu items, each launching another stack of menu items.... I don't think we liked that idea much either.

that's good. forge is a real game. it doesn't need to have a clunky-but-cool-looking UI like so much commercial Nightsoil Kami out there.

[steve]

Thanks for the feedback, fellas.
====
@Rob - Will have a look at WindowBuilder, thanks for the tip. I actually hard-coded this with my new "friend" GridBag.

I went with the tab layout so each screen could be developed individually, and so there could be room for expansion - say, a gauntlet mode, or card editor, or something.

After looking at moomarc's pic on the first page of this thread, my design and his are pretty similar. Changing the colors and the borders is as easy as editing the PNG. There can be custom backgrounds for each tab, too, e.g. the scroll BG for "Quick Duel".
====
@Braids - Yes, using Eclipse, and will get those extras. Got to do some research before I figure out what you mean about the programming standards - but that's good, I'm learning more and more.
====
@Project leader or someone - is there a small something I can start work on?

[Braids]

@Rob - Will have a look at WindowBuilder, thanks for the tip. I actually hard-coded this with my new "friend" GridBag.

i love/hate GridBagLayout. it's so flexible . . . but so hard to read.

@Project leader or someone - is there a small something I can start work on?

project leader? sorry, no such person here. it's more like a distributed technocracy with anarchistic overtones. if you get "git push" access, you're in, but with great power comes great responsibility . . . and public ridicule. not to say that i haven't completely broken forge three times. i managed to fix two of those on my own.

seriously, certain people have certain specialties, some have more opinions, some have stronger opinions, some are snobby and have been coding in Java for more than 10 years, and some can deny your write-access to the source repository. those with the most power do not micromanage. chat around on the forum, add some notes in Mantis, or comment on some commits in Gitorious. you'll get to know us.

one important behavior is to say what you do, and do what you say. preferably in that order. also, try to make sure that Forge works overall before you push any changes into the central repository.

as for an activity, you could peruse the unresolved issues in our issue tracker, Mantis. maybe something there will catch your fancy to get your feet wet. then again, maybe someone can squeeze you into this GUI overhaul somewhere, somehow.