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[Toady One]

If anybody has any preferences for the inventory screen, combat options (where you choose which styles and so on you are using), and the movement options (where you choose your stance, and how fast you are moving), now would be an ideal time to post them.  I'm planning the updates of these screens now.  I'm going to try to make things more user-friendly, but if you remember some things you really hated about the old inventory screen for instance, it might be a good idea to warn me

[Demon]

If youre gonna have a sub-inventory to show what youre wearing/using then I think they should have seperate keys to access them.  Its irritating in ADOM to have to bring up your equipment and then browse your inventory through that...  Just make it so you can swap between them and access them both from the main view.

[Harlander]

If the main inventory is split from equipped items in terms of the way they're displayed, it might be more effective to place them both on a single, vertically split screen, which would allow simple click-drag transitions between equipped/stored status of an item.

Overall, when creating the interface, I'd suggest limiting the number of sub-menus within a menu as much as possible, and where many sub-levels are needed, allowing quick access to lower levels from the main screen.

[Toady One]

Right now I think I'll only need two inventory lists...  one for the things that you are wearing and holding, and the other is a contents list for the containers on your person (insofar as you know what is in them).

The split screen sounds like a good idea -- there is a lot of information to display for the equipped items though.  Perhaps I can have three lights/buttons on the inventory screen that select between equipped/containers/split.  There are no inventory "slots", so I can't display worn items simply as "Both Hands: Great Axe" (random creature bodies mess that up).  So I'm going to list the item, then the grasps that hold it, then wield/attack information.  Maybe also your current attack skill with it...  Clicking on the item will describe it, clicking on the grasps will allow you to change them, and clicking on the attack info will allow you to change that (you can also change it directly in the combat options screen).  I think there will be a number of buttons on the side (drop for instance) that you can also initiate by pressing, say, "d" from the main screen.

I'm going to try to code a lot of this today.  I should probably put containers back in as well.

[Toady One]

I've finished the underlying inventory screen (you can drop things and change their combat status, but not much else).  It all fit on one screen so far, but I haven't put in the containers yet to see how that will work.  If I have time tomorrow I'll do the underlying combat options screen.  Then it's movement options and finally a screen graphics and other options.

As with creature descriptions, I can work on these for quite a long time or I can move on to the next phase.  There are certain core things I need to do (this will be the "Run By and Aim for the Eyeball" release, after all), but after that we'll see how far I decide to go this time around.  For instance, I've added the option in the inventory screen to change grasp strength.  It ranges from balancing the object with no grip at all to attempting to crush it, but this has no game effects right now.  I may add those for this release (although it will be hard to crush things since they are all made of steel -- playing a titan might be good for a test).  I also added in an option to use items in stances (for crutches, canes, peg legs, etc.).  This is another one of those things I could implement this time around or not.

In the end I may let some things sit for a while, because the version after this reintroduces picking things up, and I miss that.  Then we'll be able to pick up severed limbs without crashes for once.

[Toady One]

I've completed a simple options screen -- you can now turn the fog off, and switch between progressive meshes and having full landscape details.  You can also get rid of the FPS counter.

I also made an option to switch to fullscreen.  Of course, I had to use various Windows commands to do this, and having no formal training with Windows programming I might have done it the wrong way.  But it works.  At least on this machine :roll:

Inventory is mostly done.  The basics are.  I just need combat and movement interfaces, then I'll release the next version.  If I'm lucky that will be this weekend, although it might take one more week if things go poorly.  It shouldn't take longer than that.

The version after that should be similar, since it just involves more interface updates.  The one after that (corpse processing, first aid, and reasonable hit locations) is half interface, and shouldn't be so bad...  then what...  uck...  3D stuff...  it has to be done though.  The same goes for editors (the subsequent release after 3D stuff).  Then we're finally through with overhead and get to a lot of releases which are full of substance.  Trees...  magic...  clothes...  civilizations...  caves...  more combat refinements...  missile weapons...  swimming...  flying...  character creation (again!)...  and plot generation.  That's the gist of each release.  I'm not sure how long all of it will take, but the game should really be taking shape when I'm done with the last of those versions.  Then the current Plan will be cleared, and we'll have to construct a new one.

[Toady One]

The movement interface is done.  It's not completely polished, since some modes of transit (flying, swimming, slithering, etc.) aren't in the game yet (so I left some free areas on the interface screen).  It is mainly used for changing stances (I also added movement speed).  I've noticed some anomalies, like you can't stand on your toes, but you can stand on just your head.  We'll have to sort these out over time, since the mechanisms that govern whether a stance is feasible are complicated.

Combat options is the last thing I need to do.  I've planned it all out, except aiming, which could be nasty.  A number of people expressed interest in having general aiming preferences, so they don't have to keep saying "target the eyes" for every creature they meet.  That's a bit tricky, because of the random creature bodies.  I think what I'm going to do for this release is allow only general aiming specifications (things like body centers, sense centers, vision centers, stance points, etc.), and leave aiming at the parts of specific creatures for the targeting release (which is next).  I'll need the targeting interface to do that anyway.

Because of the movement programming I've done today, the next version will definitely be out by this Sunday (unless I have a nasty bug doing combat options).

[Toady One]

The combat options interface is almost done.  I've programmed everything but general aiming preferences, which I'm going to do over the next few/several hours.  I should have the next version posted sometime tonight.