Tell Us More About The Gui

[darkbiship]

You know how most people say they want something in their pants if they want it really bad? Well me, I want the pandora to BE my pants.

 

[Rayek]

Emulators and homebrew games are a great bonus, and tend to appear on machines irregardless of who wants them or not, or their suitability to the inputs available.

Given Pandora's hardware, inputs, and GP32X roots, it would be a downright shame for them to be regarded as a bonus, rather than as one of the strongest pillars. Perhaps this is just the UMPC fans being more vocal than the rest, so only time will tell how this scene will evolve.


I think another reason could be that GP2X users and devs aren't done with their GP2Xs yet... I know I'm certainly not, but it's nice to look ahead... We might see a general migration once this forum gets expanded and preorders start... But then again, they (and a lot of people like me) could get the wrong idea and discern (correctly?) that the community is UMPC-ish, and look elsewhere for their gaming shiz. Though that's pretty extreme, considering it's an open platform with gaming controls, and was made by Craig, ED and DaveC &c....

 

[Nilsiboy]

I think another reason could be that GP2X users and devs aren't done with their GP2Xs yet... I know I'm certainly not, but it's nice to look ahead...
<snip>

That very likely is one of the reasons the GP2X users are a less noticable fraction... but there's also the group of people who started on the GP32 and then basically skipped the 2X in favor of something else (Zodiac, PPC, Nokia ITablet etc.) - like myself
(I believe Prophet falls into that category as well)
I obviously can't speak for everyonein this group, but I think knowing how much the devs are capable of really doesn't give us any reason to worry or yell


Aaaanyway, I was getting carried away a bit there - back on topic: Some teaser shot of the GUI would be nice, but the BIOS isn't even finished all the way (people are working on the boot logo still) and although MWeston gave some hints about a possible interface, I have no clue if they have a graphics guy on board at this time.

DISCLAIMER: This is not criticism. I'm not saying it is bad that the GUI is infinished. In fact, I share the opinion that the Pandora shouldn't be released with half-assed software. That said, a pic would still be cool (;
Also, regarding the first half of my post, I do NOT want to start a flamewar about which group (UMPC-lings or GP32/GP2X-lings) is better or worse. Just sayin'

 

[Eolair]

Given Pandora's hardware, inputs, and GP32X roots, it would be a downright shame for them to be regarded as a bonus, rather than as one of the strongest pillars. Perhaps this is just the UMPC fans being more vocal than the rest, so only time will tell how this scene will evolve.

I think another reason could be that GP2X users and devs aren't done with their GP2Xs yet... I know I'm certainly not, but it's nice to look ahead... We might see a general migration once this forum gets expanded and preorders start... But then again, they (and a lot of people like me) could get the wrong idea and discern (correctly?) that the community is UMPC-ish, and look elsewhere for their gaming shiz. Though that's pretty extreme, considering it's an open platform with gaming controls, and was made by Craig, ED and DaveC &c....

Make a poll and I think you would see that the larger part of the community still see gaming as Pandora's main use.

Lately, the UMPC crowd has become a lot louder, but that's because they're new to this community, and still have lots to talk about. Most of them have joined us in the last few months, and having missed out on the early development process they still try to give hardware suggestions, even though it's too late at this point.

The gamers, on the other hand, have been taking part in the Pandora's development for almost a year now, and have been discussing a GP2x successor for even longer. For us there's just not much more to do or say... until we have a Pandora in our hands that is

 

[icurafu]

Yes, totally agree.

Making the device UMPC centric is the worst possible thing that can be done.

Just give me a device that loads into a minimal GUI (by default) that allows me to load apps that I download, with a few default apps to do the obvious things. internet, IM, notepad. And I'm happy as long as it looks attractive. (Atleast as much as the GP2X GUI)

 

[cb88]

personally i think you guys are crazy argueing over emulator vs umpc sheesh... it will do BOTH and most likely it will do them very well so go outside and take a deepbreath and possibly turn your computer off for a change (unless of course you are runing BOINC etc...)

I could see the pandora becoming my primary email device (mostly reading and sending short emails) and maybe a little chat if im near a hotspot... im not sure about surfing the web on such a small device i think it would be kind of rediculous to surf on such a small device when there is a 19' LCD a few feet away in a computer lab at school....

as far as emulation goes i have only played a few original titles... back on the super nintendo and GBC and GBA probably a total of 15 in all... never only played a PS2 once and never a PS3.... so I don't have much nostalgia but I still enjoy playing the old games fiddling around trying to figure out how a C64 works LOL

i doubt a chad-like interface will be default although it looks pretty slick it will probably be more simplistic perhaps a pinboard + a taskbar that would pretty much cover everybodys needs especially since they are probaby shooting for a low ram usage environment...another thing im curious about is will it support handwriting recognition as an option.. i have seen a few people with PALM devices and they seem to work usably...

also i hope nobdy feels insulted because i capitolised BOTH and have lousy spelling... and I also abuse the elipsis very heavily...X.x

Edit: almost fogot sonic the hedgehog on the sega genisis ....shame on me

 

[CandidStan]

I'd like to see this one.

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=42218

 

[Sphinxter]

I'd like to see this one.

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=42218



That was my favorite too.

 

[emil10001]

That's my favorite too, so far.

 

[plopperz]

I don't see why that one's the favorite.
Not that there's anything wrong with it, but it just feels like it lacks something.

Chad's Tango seems really nice and polished, and it also looks easy to use.

 

[Iorgy77]

I'd like to see this one.

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=42218



That was my favorite too.


That one is the most professional imo.

 

[CronoTriggerfan]

Yeah, that's an excellent design. Give us some different color options as a base UI and it'd be absolutely perfect.

 

[jhoff80]

That one that all the recent posters said they like and looks the most professional... I don't know if it was based on this or just happens to look that way, but its very similar to the basic layout that the Ubuntu Netbook Remix (for eee PCs and the like) seems to be using, and after trying it out on a VMware machine, it seems like a very solid interface.

 

[emil10001]

The more I look at it, I really do like Chad's Tango UI. I might want to see some different fonts (without so much black around each letter), maybe a non-picture background - something simple across all the tabs, and maybe some different icons too (the emu icons are cool though).

I think the layout of Tango is pretty neat. And, I think it'd give the Pandora its own feel, as opposed to the one on this thread:

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=42218

which I like too, but is very similar to the NIT interface.

 

[TaG]

The more I look at it, I really do like Chad's Tango UI. I might want to see some different fonts (without so much black around each letter), maybe a non-picture background - something simple across all the tabs, and maybe some different icons too (the emu icons are cool though).

I think the layout of Tango is pretty neat. And, I think it'd give the Pandora its own feel.

I have to be honest I like Tango and it's likely navigation the more I see it. In Chad's posts here and here he describes the location and the idea of skins (and I'm sure he mentioned those aspects before somewhere too), so the modifications you choose sound like they would be possible.

[And Chad might just be the happiest man on the planet if he sits playing on a Pandora with his GUI.]

 

[chad78]

[And Chad might just be the happiest man on the planet if he sits playing on a Pandora with his GUI.]
Thanks. And yes - I'd be pretty freakin' happy.