[SUG][PLAYER] More options for layout customisation

[Proxima]

So... this is just a "would be nice to have" thing, I really don't want to sound like I'm making demands when not only has namida put a ton of work into NeoLemmix, but the result is that 12.10 looks really, really nice and is a huge step up from previous versions

However, there are still problems, as evidenced by this recent topic and my own struggles to find a window size that's exactly what I want.

NL's menu and preview screen have a native size of, I believe, 864 x 486. However, if I set my window to exactly that, then at 3x zoom, a 160-tall level doesn't quite fit and becomes vertically scrolling; but at 2x zoom there's a lot of unused space.

So, I've set my window to 864 x 560, which works best for me: 3 x 160 = 480 for the level and 2 x 40 = 80 for the skill panel. But then the menu isn't using the full space and there are black bars at top and bottom of both the main menu and the level preview. Not a huge problem, but not ideal.

Now suppose I want to try out high-res mode. The level area then has to be either 320 or 640 pixels tall, and I don't like how small the window is if I go with 320, so let's go with 640. I then have to have the skill panel at 80, since 640 + 160 = 800 is already too tall for my monitor. So I set my window to 1280 x 720 and put high-res mode on. The result: everything works fine if I am using the full skill panel, but if I have the compact skill panel, the skill panel decides it wants the extra space and takes it away from the level area.

And even if I make suggestions that would be dead right for my monitor and preferences, that may well end up messing things around for someone who has a different monitor size or different preferences.

So, here are my suggestions, ordered from (what I guess would be) least to most radical:

* If the window isn't exactly in 16:9 proportions, the main menu should tile the background rather than having black bars.

* Settings should allow the user to control the zoom levels of level area and skill panel separately, to avert the "skill panel hogs the space" problem.

* Have a setting for how the preview window is split between level area and text space. If the text space is made taller than 9/16 of the width, centre the text and again, tile the background instead of black space.

* Instead of having to choose either the full or compact skill panel, allow the user to decide which buttons they want to have. (Of course, release rate and skill buttons would be mandatory, since even you have hotkeys, you need the buttons to see how many of each skill are available. Everything else, even pause and nuke, could be optional, since we assume that a user knowledgeable enough to go into settings and remove the pause button would also be able to set up a hotkey for pausing.) There could also be a setting for width of the minimap.

[namida]

The first suggestion is viable, but could run into difficulties in the case where a pack has a custom background that's meant to fit the menu size exactly. This isn't an outright dealbreaker; just something that has to be taken into account.

The second suggestion is even more viable, and I'd quite like to look into doing this. There would be the question of how to handle it, from a UI point of view, if the user wants to resize the panel while in-game - though of course we could just not allow that.

The last two suggestions are not very likely to happen. The 3rd would need to account for how the text should shrink or move to account for less space being given. The 4th would need significant revision of how the panel actually works, as well as a UI for editing the layout.

[WillLem]

This being the case, and taking into account Proxima's suggestion of a panel with custom buttons, I'd suggest a general resizing of the entire panel itself, one that takes into account the most-frequently-used monitor sizes.

There has been a suggestion of allowing more skills on the panel, or we could theorietically give CPM and Load Replay their own square each (whilst perhaps introducing a Save Replay button to the latter).

Here's what I suggest:

Increase the size of each button on the panel to 34 x 50px (maintaining current aspect). Meanwhile, decrease the minimap to 220px.

Increase the total dashboard size to 900px. That allows 20 panel buttons at 34px width each, plus the 220px minimap.

The 20 panels could be assigned thus:

- / + RR (2)
Skills (10)
Pause / Nuke / FF / Restart (4)
Direction Select / Frameskip / Toggle CPM (3)
Load Replay & Save Replay (1)

This way, those with a 1920 x 1080 monitor would still be able to 2x zoom, and the entire dashboard would appear ever so slightly bigger for those with a 1366 x 768 monitor.

[Proxima]

Firstly, this discussion will be a lot clearer if we stick to low-res sizes, and just keep in mind that the high-res size will be double. So, your proposal involves increasing the full skill panel to 450 x 40, from the current size of 416 x 40; I assume the compact skill panel (320 x 40) would be unchanged.

This would be a problem for windowed-mode users, because whatever size we choose for the window will be used for both menus and game. The menus look best when the window is the default size of 864 wide, but a 450-wide skill panel will no longer fit into that at 2x zoom.

Also, skill panel slots are currently 16 x 23. Increasing them to 17 x 25 would require all custom panel slots to be redesigned at the new size -- it really doesn't seem worth it for such a tiny increase.

However, it is true that with the new 864-wide window, there's room for the full panel to take one more slot without losing anything (since 416 + 16 = 432, exactly half of 864). This could be used, as you suggest, for a "Save Replay" button. And it is a bit weird that there's a "Load Replay" button but no "Save Replay" one, especially as we can load replays from the preview screen now.

[IchoTolot]

This being the case, and taking into account Proxima's suggestion of a panel with custom buttons, I'd suggest a general resizing of the entire panel itself, one that takes into account the most-frequently-used monitor sizes.

There has been a suggestion of allowing more skills on the panel, or we could theorietically give CPM and Load Replay their own square each (whilst perhaps introducing a Save Replay button to the latter).

Please not yet another resizing of the panel!

I really don't want to redraw the custom ones yet again and I think I speak for quite a few people here.    

We already redesigned it and at some point it seriously needs to stop. We can tinker with it endlessly and there would always be something that can be changed up, so this is an endless battle if we don't stop somewhere.

[namida]

I am open to the addition of an extra panel button. This can be done in a way that requires no work whatsoever by people with custom panel graphics. With that being said, that's a bit of a seperate discussion from the overall matters of this topic.

I am in full agreement with Icho regarding anything beyond that (as far as the panel goes).

[WillLem]

It was really just a suggestion that I thought might make sense due to the overall increase in size of NL. Also, I think it's a shame that people aren't using high-res mode just because it affects the size of the skill panel. It seems like something that could be easily rectified by simply making it bigger.

What clearly needs to happen is a version of the skill panel which works in NL's default windowed size, and full-screen with the most commonly used monitor resolutions. The screen res I use (1600 x 900) is actually perfect for NL in high res anyway, so the issues that others are mentioning don't really affect me tbh, I'm mainly just offering to help out where I can.

I'm happy to redesign any graphics if needs be. To be honest, making graphics for the dashboard takes minutes and I quite enjoy doing it, so it wouldn't be an issue for me.

I also agree with Icho that we shouldn't tinker endlessly with it, but NL has literally just had a graphical overhaul, and namida has eventual plans to work towards a final version. So, if any tinkering was to be done, now's the time!

That said, if the decision is to keep everything as-is (other than perhaps the inclusion of an extra button), then that's fine with me

[namida]

I've closed this topic, and created new topics for the two feasible suggestions from the original post:

[SUG][PLAYER] Tile background instead of black bars in menu
[SUG][PLAYER] Skill panel zoom setting independent from level zoom