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UI Designs Needed
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Author:  mstrobel [ 16 Apr 2006, 01:39 ]
Post subject:  UI Designs Needed
From a programming perspective, a lot of the basic framework for Star Trek: Supremacy is already in place. Though there will be many changes in order to accomodate the content and features of BOTF2, I expect that the conversion will progress quickly, and it will soon be time to start developing a new graphical interface for the game.

There are two stages to this process. First, we need to design the individual UI components that will be necessary for the player to make use of the game's features. Once the general UI design has been finalized, we can move onto prototyping the individual UI themes for each playable empire. The Federation UI will use the flavor of LCARS that Silvercliff has developed. The other empires are as of yet undecided.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that the UI framework being used (MS Avalon/WPF) is extremely flexible. The UI will all be actively rendered with scalable vector graphics, and will NOT be bitmap-based. Therefore, color schemes and textures should be simple enough that they can be easily replicated as vector graphics. A general rule of thumb is, if you can draw it in the Microsoft Expression Graphic Designer, then it can be reproduced in the game.

UI GUIDELINES
I'm in the process of drafting a document outlining the basic guidelines to follow when designing UI components for the game. The document is very short and simple at the moment, but it outlines the most important things that UI designers will need to know. The document will grow as I have time to work on it.
Download: User Interface Guidelines

WHAT WE NEED
In short, we need a new interface. This should not necessarily resemble the original BOTF interface, as BOTF2 specifies many new features that the original game interface did not have to accomodate. Use your imagination! Think about what the player needs to be able to do, and think about how you might like to see that represented in the game. You don't have to be an expert or even have any UI experience in order to contribute. Anyone with ideas is welcome and encouraged to post descriptions and mockups.

Some UI components that need to be designed:
  • A production screen for orbital shipyards. Shipyards have a fixed number of slots available for ship contruction, and I believe some starbases are capable of performing maintenance and upgrades on ships, so there is a definite potential for reusing components here.
  • Diplomacy in BOTF2 is a bit more complex than it was in BOTF, and we'll need a more complex diplomacy overview screen to accomodate this, as well as a treaty proposal form.
  • The main screen (galaxy screen) doesn't necessarily have to look just like BOTF. If you have any cool ideas, post them!
  • Everything! Nothing is set in stone at the moment, so if you have any new ideas for how any part of the interface should look, let us know!

PLEASE KEEP ON-TOPIC IN THIS THREAD. If you have any general questions about Star Trek: Supremacy, then this thread is not the place to post them.
Author:  silvercliff [ 21 Apr 2006, 02:54 ]
Post subject:  Re: UI Designs Needed
Ok I am going to have a go. My plan is to make a UI that will be able to support any number of future additions.

Sean.
Author:  Teleon [ 02 May 2006, 17:01 ]
Post subject:  Re: UI Designs Needed
As far as the UI’s are concerned… what ones are still needed and what ones are done? Also will UI’s need to be created for the minor races?
I am currently working on creating a UI for the Breen.

Just browsing the forums I found UI’s for the Federation, Klingon’s and Romulan’s. I think they were all very well done samples of what a UI could look like in the game.
Author:  mstrobel [ 02 May 2006, 17:06 ]
Post subject:  Re: UI Designs Needed
None of the UIs are done yet. Silvercliff came up with a great color scheme for the LCARS interface, but none of the individual screens have been decided.
Author:  jigalypuff [ 19 Nov 2006, 20:52 ]
Post subject:  Re: UI Designs Needed
Image
been working on this for a romulan design what do you think?
Author:  mstrobel [ 19 Nov 2006, 20:56 ]
Post subject:  Re: UI Designs Needed
jigalypuff wrote:
Image
been working on this for a romulan design what do you think?
I think i want to see more, so snap to it! :D

FYI, those horizontal and vertical borders will scale very nicely because of their simplicity, *and* they look good. Also, the UI screens for the different empires don't necessarily have to have the same layout. They could actually be totally different. So you could do something crazy, like make the planets panel vertically oriented along the right-hand side. (I'm not suggesting you do that, just letting you know you don't have many limitations.)
Author:  Centurion_VarDin [ 19 Nov 2006, 23:14 ]
Post subject:  Re: UI Designs Needed
Isn't that something that would be more fitted for the dominion? It looks good, though! :)
Author:  dafedz [ 21 Nov 2006, 20:23 ]
Post subject:  Re: UI Designs Needed
Looks great Jig, but I'm sure the Rom fans among us will desire a green scheme.
Author:  Hexadex [ 07 Jul 2008, 22:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: UI Designs Needed
yeah looks nice but purple == dominion
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