Archive:User interface

For now just one sub heading, to discuss the pop-up menu gotten with the middle or right mouse button. Feel free to add to this where you knowledge permits.

The pop-up action menu

This is the menu that pops-up to give you a choice of actions for interacting with objects, npc, pc's and monsters.

The looks and usage of this menu could differ, here are several possibilities, giving rise to different looks and useage.

Note all these options could exist side by side, where you would choose your prefered type from the options or setup menu. (these are all layer 1 tweaks (layer 1 as used in GUI development)

In general, several ways of calling the pop-up menu exist.

For the first 4 flavours (textual list, iconic list/raster and iconic surrounds) a key , or key combination, is needed to activate the pop-up menu, and keep it shown.

You could have the pop-up menu stay until an option close is selected, but this is a player preference, as keeping a key pressed to keep it up is faster in closing, and easier to get rid off if you start to panic.

Some options are optional and apply to all the types of action menus proposed. These are . . .

For the mouse: Hold click for keeping the menu open .vs. static menu with cancel option. Assumed is hold click, slight changes would be needed for static menus, as an extra button to close it would be needed.

Textual List Action Menu

Textual list of options, as it is/was in under the middle mouse button of version 0.0.13 .

Mouse controls:

• choosable in options, or key bindings:
  • Hold down middle mouse button, or hold down right mouse button. (this allows single click right mouse button to perform a default action, regardless of the choice)
• While the menu is open:
  • Highlight an option with the mouse and left-click (while holding menu open).
• To close menu:

Iconic List Action Menu

Iconic list of options, floating near your character.

Mouse controls:

• choosable in options, or key bindings:
  • Hold down middle mouse button, or hold down right mouse button. (this allows single click right mouse button to perform a default action, regardless of the choice)
• While the menu is open:
  • Move the mouse over one of the icons and left-click (while holding menu open).

Iconic Raster Action Menu

A box like area with button like icons, similar to Iconic List.

Mouse controls:

• choosable in options, or key bindings:
  • Hold down middle mouse button, or hold down right mouse button. (this allows single click right mouse button to perform a default action, regardless of the choice)
• While the menu is open:
  • Move the mouse over one of the icons and left-click (while holding menu open).

Iconic Surround Action Menu

Iconic options that surround (or are around) the player character, where: left and right keys cycle through the options, or: clicking on a icon uses it.

Mouse controls:

• choosable in options, or key bindings:
  • Hold down middle mouse button, or hold down right mouse button. (this allows single click right mouse button to perform a default action, regardless of the choice)

• While the menu is open, either:
  • Highlight an option with the mouse and left-click (while holding menu open).
• Or:
  • Move mouse left/up or right/down to make the icons surrounding you turn, the top icon (optionally bottom) is always the selected icon.
  • Click left mouse button anywhere on screen to active the 'active' icon in iconic surround.

Single Action Action Menu

A click system where you cycle through the options, and where right+left mouse button executes the option currently active. (ie you only see one option at the time, which changes when you click, or press a certain key)

In this case there is no menu, it is the mouse pointer that changes, reflecting its functionning.

Mouse controls:

• choosable in options, or key bindings:
  • right click to cycle through and set interaction type.
  • right+left -click or double right click to use set interaction type.