guihints - preview01, 02

[Christoph.Krn]

They are recognizable, but with the 4 arrows there could be confusion with the dpad.

That's what I feared someone would think. I've tried a few types of arrows already, but so far this version had the least problems. I'm going to experiment a bit.


Just to make sure that I understand you correctly: would you say that the no-arrow alternative is recognizalbe on its own, or would you say that it is worse than the regular version with four arrows?

Yes, maybe you can show the directions by moving the disk instead of showing arrows.

That's what I was planning to do in the _pushed versions. The problem is that a displaced disk alone isn't necessarily very apparent.

 

[foxblock]

I recognized the icons as the nubs immediately, was confused by the straight side for a moment, but realized it distinguished between the left and right nub.


I also think the 4-arrow variant can be mistaken for the d-pad since so little of the actual nub is visible. The no-arrow variant is good imo.

 

[_wb_]

The no-arrow version is fine.


Could you make an image showing the entire Pandora keyboard (including game buttons, nubs and shoulder buttons) in the guihints style? That would be really helpful if you want to make a help screen that annotates the keyboard with functions instead of annotating the functions with keyboard symbols. I could use something like that in a help screen for Microbes.

 

[Christoph.Krn]

Could you make an image showing the entire Pandora keyboard (including game buttons, nubs and shoulder buttons) in the guihints style? That would be really helpful if you want to make a help screen that annotates the keyboard with functions instead of annotating the functions with keyboard symbols.

That's a bit tricky of an endeavour. It's difficult to make such a screen in a way that would blend into what the rest of the software that it's being used in looks like.


On the other hand, making sure it looks the same across different software isn't as easy as it may seem to be at first either, so my question is: how do you plan on labeling the keys and buttons on such a screen for Microbes? With overlays, as in Pandora Flashlight? With lines that connect a key or button to a description of its function(s), as in the following screenshot detailing the controls layout of the game Metroid Prime (search for "layout of the controls" there)? Or in an entirely different way?

 

[_wb_]

Probably with lines as in that Metroid Prime example; overlays worked for the Flashlight help screen because so many buttons are related to color and nearly all of them are used, but in general the overlay approach doesn't work well because there's not much room per key. So lines + description boxes are the way to go imo.


Given that the Pandora screen is 800x480 and quite some room is needed for the function descriptions, it should be something like 500x300 for the keyboard image or so. A PNG with alpha would be best, with a background that is mostly transparent and the keys that are mostly opaque. But if that is too hard to do, I would also be happy with something that looks good on a solid black background, since that's probably what I would use anyway (I might show the moving menu background instead, but that will probably make things too hard to read).

 

[Christoph.Krn]

Given that the Pandora screen is 800x480 and quite some room is needed for the function descriptions, it should be something like 500x300 for the keyboard image or so. A PNG with alpha would be best, with a background that is mostly transparent and the keys that are mostly opaque. But if that is too hard to do, I would also be happy with something that looks good on a solid black background, since that's probably what I would use anyway (I might show the moving menu background instead, but that will probably make things too hard to read).

It's not that it would be difficult to implement such graphics, but if they're not deon proprely then you can end up with either inconsistency if the goal was strict consistency, or something that looks alien if the goal was to have something that extends (as in class inheritance, but obviously more abstract since it's with graphics) the way the software looks, feels, and works.


The way I'm approaching things with guihints is to provide something that results in an elegant solution and is readily usable. It follows that providing a generic keyboard overview screen is not something I would do unless I could make sure that this screen would fulfill the superordinate purpose of guihints (which, as you may remember, is to hopefully improve overall ease of use by introducing a particular kind of familiarity across software).


What I had already planned on doing though is to offer, for a limited time at least, help with integrating guihints into individual projects, so that I can learn about things I could improve further. So, what I would do is provide you with a keyboard screen just for Microbes, and then depending on how that evolves, maybe include a generic-ized revision of it in a guihints package later on. Note though that I can not do this _RIGHT_NOW_.


Just PM me if you are interested (the same goes for any other developer looking for any kind of advice on guihints usage).

 

[sswam]

Please note that never asking a particular question does not automatically add it to the list of Never Asked Questions.

heheh I like it


will use these gui hints if I write a game for ED's new compo, thanks

 

[mcobit]

Maybe I am blind, but where can I download the icons without the grey background again?

 

[Christoph.Krn]

You might have seen this already in the list of updates at the top of the first post of this thread:

2013-02-13: This thread is superseded by the thread guihints - device-agnostic discussion. The guihints for Pandora are becoming guihints01.

"guihints01" basically means "guihints for Pandora" ("01" being the device indicator -- in this case, Pandora).

A release of guihints01 is available now. If you are using any of the preview versions in any of your projects, please make sure to upgrade.

More information at guihints - device-agnostic discussion.

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Maybe I am blind, but where can I download the icons without the grey background again?

I decided to take the preview versions down because the thread "Pandora name and logo usage rules?" did not get a reply.
(For the same reason, guihints01 currently do not include the guihint of the button with the Pandora logo.)

 

[Neelix]

It just occurred to me that it would be a good idea to add these to the board as 'smileys' so they could be used in support posts. (preferably including the one with the Pandora icon)

- Neelix

 

[Christoph.Krn]

First, let me note for those who have not seen it that this thread here should no longer be used -- see the list of updates at the top of the first post.

It just occurred to me that it would be a good idea to add these to the board as 'smileys' so they could be used in support posts. (preferably including the one with the Pandora icon)

Well, that idea revolves about this forum here, and not so much about guihints in general. I do think that this topic would rather be suited for a separate thread.
As for my personal view: I did think about this in the very beginning, but did not suggest it because I don't like when there are slightly-too-big symbols in a text that make the spacing between lines go all funky (i.e., I do not think that it would make sense to use very small guihints for this purpose).

That being said, it's not my decision. I'm only providing the graphics, and everything else regarding forum smileys is up to all of the team and users of this forum. If the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license is a problem because using the guihints as smileys on the official forum of a commercial piece of hardware might be interpreted as commercial-ish use, I can give the team a custom guihints package with a different license.

 

[Christoph.Krn]

I just added the following update to the list of updates at the top of the first post of this thread:

2015-03-28: Because ownership of the gp32x.de domain is in limbo at the time, a backup domain has been deployed. guihints for Pandora - release announcements (via gp32x.de domain) provides access to releases of guihints01 (guihints for Pandora) and, being essentially a hard link to its (currently unavailable) gp32x.de equivalent, will be maintained in the future. Until the ownership of the gp32x.de domain has been secured by a person whom you trust, be wary of downloads via gp32x.de. Just in case, here are the SHA256SUMS of all guihints archives released to date (barring preview versions):

e9ff2d7dd667083a513fb0871b748cc129df84c9e38445bb622850f04f34fd51  guihints01-0.8.2.0-alpha.zip
52bc2f4a7c81e87e5d2918da775c734347dc061421e88983ec64d58be061c44e  guihints01-0.8.2.0-alpha.src.zip