Replacement Interface

[rokdcasbah]

personally i have high hopes for an improved mocca, mostly because i love all things "modal"

mmmm kind of blue

 

[DaveC]

Imageshack or photobucket it. No pay in either case... I'd really like to see what you're trying to show us.

This is really intriguing, because I'm not sure if the GUI can be improved on... I mean, it is a little odd for the built-in apps that I don't use to be on the front page, but it's not that hard, or inconvenient, to navigate some simple folder trees. I actually perfer the way it is now.

​

It is not bad now I agree. I honestly don't like all of those goofy previews and check boxes on the new menu idea. The pics you will get sick of, and the check boxes are not something that you use all of the time although they take up space all of the time. Those things can easily be in a settings menu.

Again I could get more icons at the top too if they were made smaller. Plus it would be skinnable and the catagories at the top can be added or removed as desired by the user. This is just a concept.

 

[IntenseWage]

I'm going to go with DaveC's idea. I like the mock-up. It reminds me a bit of the app selector from the GP32 European firmware, but much improved.

 

[DaveC]

I'm going to go with DaveC's idea. I like the mock-up. It reminds me a bit of the app selector from the GP32 European firmware, but much improved.

​

Yeah, that was the inspiration. The GP32 Euro launcher was fast, clean, and intuitive. Mine is even better as it allows sub directories and more icons on screen. It is not too radically different than the current GP2X launcher as to cause confusion, it is just much more expanded, useable, and practical.

 

[Sephnroth]

like both craigs and davec's. imho, despite what Dave is saying, I dont think at heart they are much different, just in his the pictures have moved to icons.

You will only fit so many in the bottom section with icons that big. Simulary, craigs has lost some space with the preview but his browser on the left is just text and will fit more into one half than Icons would. Personally in this situation i would take craigs as im going to get bored faster looking at generic icons which tons of things share rather than a unique preview picture app/game.

Also, one of the things i currently have to endure is when a friend comes over and starts fiddling with my gp2x and wants to play something.. "whats this one? is this one fun? what type of game is this? what does it look like?" ..etc. Would be nice to have the preview thing in that sense so i can just do whatever whilst friends browse and get a lil description and maybe a picture to answer their questions then and there.

If anything doesnt have a picture/description i can always make them when bored - and if the icon packs and skins etc on the archive are anything to go by there would soon be packs for that kind of thing to download using no effort.

But yah I like Daves too because.. I dunno, it just looks pretty neat

WHATEVER the gui ends up as just make sure its skinable. I wont be happy until i've filled my 2x os with scantily clad anime girls of some variety.

 

[Rayek]

Dave: I like yours, but I like the idea of the main menu being at the bottom... Maybe it's a little KDE of me, but it's quite traditional in many senses (having the menu at the bottom), plus the focus is then at the contents of what you have selected, rather than on the selection bar, if you catch my drift.

The reason I like the current set up is the skinnability. I don't see many abilites for creative skinners in a lot of these instances, for example, craig's suggestion. Considering I don't know thing one about coding, skinning is the only thing I can contribute to GP2X developments, making people like what they're looking at. DaveC's works, too, because the icons are there.

What can I say, I loves me some Tux 'N Tosh, and some CrystalSVG.

Edit: Clarity of the English language.

 

[DaveC]

like both craigs and davec's.  imho, despite what Dave is saying, I dont think at heart they are much different, just in his the pictures have moved to icons.

You will only fit so many in the bottom section with icons that big.  Simulary, craigs has lost some space with the preview but his browser on the left is just text and will fit more into one half than Icons would.  Personally in this situation i would take craigs as im going to get bored faster looking at generic icons which tons of things share rather than a unique preview picture app/game.

Also, one of the things i currently have to endure is when a friend comes over and starts fiddling with my gp2x and wants to play something.. "whats this one?  is this one fun?  what type of game is this?  what does it look like?" ..etc.  Would be nice to have the preview thing in that sense so i can just do whatever whilst friends browse and get a lil description and maybe a picture to answer their questions then and there.

If anything doesnt have a picture/description i can always make them when bored - and if the icon packs and skins etc on the archive are anything to go by there would soon be packs for that kind of thing to download using no effort.

But yah I like Daves too because.. I dunno, it just looks pretty neat

WHATEVER the gui ends up as just make sure its skinable.  I wont be happy until i've filled my 2x os with scantily clad anime girls of some variety.

​

Looking at Craigs it looks like the list can only do 12 lines, less than my 15. Like I said the icons can be made smaller too. Then instead of 15 icons on the bottom screen you will get 20. To me I would get bored looking at preview pictures and I am not going to sacrifice my launcher just so that a friend can use it, he can get his own

(A little history: I originally did this concept for a GP32 launcher replacement. This is why the icons are that big, they are default GP32 size. Can be changed now though)

As far as my generic icons, they are generic because I wasn't going to sit there drawing individual icons for each game. It would work as now where you would name your icon the same as the GPE but it would be a .PNG. So they wouldn't be generic they can be anything you or someone else makes for icons and skins.

Those preview pictures are a waste of space, and scrolling through a list is slow and tedious, plus it looks ugly.

 

[IntenseWage]

Agree, agree, agree.

 

[Hanz™]

I like the idea. I like the Idea alot. Personally I would prefer a vertical bar on the left, but I am strange. In fact, it would be nice to beable to choose this.
I am gonna think about it some more.

 

[timbobsteve]

I must disagree with rokdcasbah, I think Xynth could work well if setup correctly. Alot of shortcuts could be used, for example:

Star = Applications menu (while you hold it joystick moves up/dn items on the list)
Select = Back to Desktop
L = Precise Mouse Movement
R = Quick/Accelerated Mouse Movement
X = Left Mouse
B = Right Mouse

Thats just a quick throw-together, but it is most certainly possible. I for one have been forced to use Windows XP Mouse-Keys many a time... and they actually work well once you know the combos.

Anyways... Xynth would be most impressive... and highly cutomizable.

 

[DaveC]

I must disagree with rokdcasbah, I think Xynth could work well if setup correctly. Alot of shortcuts could be used, for example:

Star = Applications menu (while you hold it joystick moves up/dn items on the list)
Select = Back to Desktop
L = Precise Mouse Movement
R = Quick/Accelerated Mouse Movement
X = Left Mouse
B = Right Mouse

Thats just a quick throw-together, but it is most certainly possible. I for one have been forced to use Windows XP Mouse-Keys many a time... and they actually work well once you know the combos.

Anyways... Xynth would be most impressive... and highly cutomizable.

​

A mouse like interface using a joystick? I don't like that. Plus it sounds overly complicated, What would be the advantage? You can only pick a whole icon anyway don't need mouse precision. Seems like it would be more tedious and for no good reason. Keep it simple and clean in my opinion.

 

[rokdcasbah]

i get what you're saying timbobsteve, but i basically don't like pointers without mice, since i feel like they're designed to go with mice. the visual metaphor is connected with a physical interface where basically your mousepad is like your screen. so, sort of like a touch screen, but relative rather than absolute, and the actual touching gets done on a different surface.

anyway on my gp2x i have a folder called .Links with scripts pointing to all my most used stuff, with appropriate icons. didn't take that long and works very nicely. the default skin wouldn't be so bad if the games folder (the most used folder) wasn't white text on yellow-green back.

 

[DaveC]

Dave: I like yours, but I like the idea of the main menu being at the bottom... Maybe it's a little KDE of me, but it's quite traditional in many senses (having the menu at the bottom), plus the focus is then at the contents of what you have selected, rather than on the selection bar, if you catch my drift.

The reason I like the current set up is the skinnability. I don't see many abilites for creative skinners in a lot of these instances, for example, craig's suggestion. Considering I don't know thing one about coding, skinning is the only thing I can contribute to GP2X developments, making people like what they're looking at. DaveC's works, too, because the icons are there.

What can I say, I loves me some Tux 'N Tosh, and some CrystalSVG.

Edit: Clarity of the English language.

​

Menu on the bottom, the side, that could all be done. This is just a concept. Since the icons are tiles they can be top, bottom, side, whatever very easy. You could even have a config to set up the position of the catagory menu. You would just make sure the catagory icons are square, then the menu bar can be anywhere.

My menu idea is COMPLETELY skinnable from the icons to the background.

 

[DaveC]

i get what you're saying timbobsteve, but i basically don't like pointers without mice, since i feel like they're designed to go with mice. the visual metaphor is connected with a physical interface where basically your mousepad is like your screen. so, sort of like a touch screen, but relative rather than absolute, and the actual touching gets done on a different surface.

anyway on my gp2x i have a folder called .Links with scripts pointing to all my most used stuff, with appropriate icons. didn't take that long and works very nicely. the default skin wouldn't be so bad if the games folder (the most used folder) wasn't white text on yellow-green back.

​

The default launcher is ok. A couple of things I don't like though. The catagories aren't configurable. Then the list view I don't like. It can be tedious to scroll down if list is long.

With mine you can go up, down, left and right, plus wrap so if you are all of the way on the left you could press left one more time to appear on the right side.

Built for speed.

 

[Hanz™]

i get what you're saying timbobsteve, but i basically don't like pointers without mice, since i feel like they're designed to go with mice. the visual metaphor is connected with a physical interface where basically your mousepad is like your screen. so, sort of like a touch screen, but relative rather than absolute, and the actual touching gets done on a different surface.

anyway on my gp2x i have a folder called .Links with scripts pointing to all my most used stuff, with appropriate icons. didn't take that long and works very nicely. the default skin wouldn't be so bad if the games folder (the most used folder) wasn't white text on yellow-green back.

​

The default launcher is ok. A couple of things I don't like though. The catagories aren't configurable. Then the list view I don't like. It can be tedious to scroll down if list is long.

With mine you can go up, down, left and right, plus wrap so if you are all of the way on the left you could press left one more time to appear on the right side.

Built for speed.

​

What about having the scrolling panel you have on the top on the left hand side (vertical), and then having it so that the item on the bottom-left is the item that is always highlighted, and that when you move the stick the items shift not the selector.
Also have another (horizontal) scrolling panel just to the right of the bottom left item.
That also leaves plenty of room for an information panel: preview, battery, logo, terminal output (yes please), folder browser (copy, delete etc...) etc...

I quite like your idea if you use the left and right shoulder buttons for the top scrolling panel.

 

[rokdcasbah]

just for fun, my ideal menu:

its not unlike mocca or davec's. the options listed are obviously folders and once selected you drop down to another set of icons laid out the same way.

also i have to say the idea of having a separate horizontal list on the top or bottom, controlled by L&R seems very appealing.

the most important things to me in terms of ui are key-repeat (hold down the joystick as opposed to clicking it once per item), lack of clutter, and cool clicky sounds.

 

[Rayek]

rockd: Love the look, primarily because you used some sweeto icons But otherwise, functionally speaking, looks nice. One thing I am worried about these new 'easy menus' is the lack of a proper file browser. For instance, if you go into Games, will you be able to see all folders, how will this work in relation to fixed paths for certain games/emus, will the menu app scan the entire SD card and display all GPE's in that list? There's something missing from this POV.

 

[DaveC]

Ok I added that status bar thing. Instead of check boxes I have LEDs. The TV-out is not lit in the example. Still room for 3 rows, maybe 4 rows of icons if made smaller.

Rocdacaspah, Beautiful icons. I am not sure about functionality. Only 5 icons on screen? That won't be enough for most of us I am afraid. Maybe add those icons to my interface and you would have brains and beauty

 

[Hanz™]

rockd: Love the look, primarily because you used some sweeto icons But otherwise, functionally speaking, looks nice. One thing I am worried about these new 'easy menus' is the lack of a proper file browser. For instance, if you go into Games, will you be able to see all folders, how will this work in relation to fixed paths for certain games/emus, will the menu app scan the entire SD card and display all GPE's in that list? There's something missing from this POV.

​

What DaveC said earlier.
Just have some config file, that can be edited.
Example:
<item1 name="Game" icon="/mnt/sd/System/Game.png">
<folder>"/mnt/sd/Games/"</folder>
</item1>

Not saying that you would want to use XML, but you see the point (well if it was going to be as simple as above there would definitely be no point). Oviously, it could be alot more complex. The program could then search the folder and collate all gpe files and gpu files into one list.

 

[rokdcasbah]

haha i wasn't worrying about implementation just wanted to play in photoshop some more. anyway i was thinking something like mocca where it uses a database of sorts. you're right, doing actual browsing using this method would be tough. i think the best solution (for this hypothetical ui) would be to provide an editable config file listing the menu options in a tree like

.games
..doom:/mnt/sd/games/prboom/prboom.gpe
..tilematch:/mnt/sd/games/tilematch/tilematch.gpe

.apps
..cpu speed:/mnt/sd/apps/cpulcd/tweaker.gpu

.videos:/mnt/sd/videos/

and so on. then i guess for videos, songs, and pics you'd just browse the starting at the specified location, including sub-folders.

anyway i'm just bs-ing since i have no plans on coding a gui. even if i could do it, it'd be boring as all hell.