I think the charm of the game could be preserved while making the UI a bit more consistant. I worked as a technical editor for several years, and many of my projects involved optimizing the layout and efficiency of software applications.
The main problem DF has is apparent inconsistency. While some aspects of the UI might make sense programatically, they make little apparent sense to the end user. For example, there are four -- FOUR -- different buttons for examing something in the world. V (for viewing a creature), K (for examining any object), Q (for examining a building) and T (for examining objects inside buildings).
To top that off, sometimes you use T to examine buildings instead of Q (like when you want to suspend or resume a road building job).
That could use a bit of cleaning up. What if there was just one key for examinging things, and you got a little readout on the right hand side about everything in the square. Objects contained within buildings could be indented two spaces underneith their building. So using the K key might look like this:
code:
Uluk Mordinkaan, Craftsdwarf
Craftsdwarf's Workshop (CLT)
Obsidian Shortsword (x5)
Stone Crafts (x25)
Obsidian (x1)
Oaken logs (x1)
Rakensan Utredin, Dog
Engraved Talc Floor
Then you could select the thing you're interested in and get the same screen you would have gotten with C/T/Q. Also notice the quantity information - why spam the screen with every single duplicate item? If you're curious about the relative qualities of the items, just select them and take a closer look.The other annoying thing, and this is mentioned in the wiki, is the confusing options for scrolling up and down in lists. Sometimes it's the arrow/pgdwn/pgup keys, sometimes it's the +-*/ keys. And why, for heaven's sake, do you have to use BOTH sets of keys on the stockpile setup screen?
For virtually the entire game, SPACE will pull you one stage back from a series of menus. However, there are a couple of places (the item selection at the beginning and the manager job-search screen) where you have to hit the period instead, for absolutely no reason I can see.
Some features which seem useful turn out not to be quite as useful, like the food list. Sure, you can choose whether to cook or brew (or neither) your "ingredient" foods, but it can be confusing to new people who think that the Kitchen tab will show them all the food in the fortress. Prepared meals are absent, you only get cook and brew for options (not eat and process, so you could keep the dwarfs from eating certain raw foods before you cook them, or choose to process certain foods instead of brewing them). I was confused about how much food actually existed in my fortress until I discovered the "Other" category. Why is my most important indicator of food tucked away in a little, insignificant-looking "Other" category?
Anything that has to be justified with "you'll get the hang of it eventually" or "it makes sure only people who are really interested bother learning the game" shouldn't be there in the first place. It's a barrier that's preventing some people from understanding and enjoying the game, and that shouldn't happen.
You can see how my minor suggestions (or better thought-out alternatives, since these are just off the top of my head) could really simplify the process of playing the game, but wouldn't elminate the charm or style of the interface at all.
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Topic: New version UI (Read 871 times)