The menu interface is how the user finds information on his character, as well as accesses the items he is carrying and equips himself. Our current model features a dual-part menu system consisting of two modules:
- The interface menu
- The context ring menu
The point of the interface menu is to give the user a direct, clear cut access to his information. The interface menu has links to player data and non-combat actions such as:
- Equipment
- Skills
- Stats
- Inventory
- Options
- Journal & Friend List
- Guild/Clan
The Context Ring Menu
The idea of the Context Ring Menu is to provide a flexible context-sensitive method for interacting with the world around the player. It contains executable commands such as "Invite to party", "cast spell", and "use object". (For those of you unfamiliar with the term, "context-sensitive" means that it adapts to the situation around the player. For example, if a player is near an interactive world item (object usage), the commands he can execute on that item appear in the menu. When he leaves the range of that item, those commands disappear.)
It's not possible to list the commands for the ring menu, since they are dynamic and change based on the player's situation. For a general idea of how it works, take a look at magic system GUI notes (the ring was originally the interface for spellcasting, but has been expanded to contain all world interaction commands)
