I spent some time with window layout, changing where windows open so things aren’t stacked on top of each other. Now they open in locations that make more sense when you run the app. You can still move windows elsewhere or close them if you want.
I also worked on the group window. Now it should display info about the group you’re in, if any. Here’s what it looks like now:
All of these extra windows — status, group, room, and equipment — don’t refresh unless the server sends data to refresh them. The status window works pretty well because it updates every time the prompt is sent and the room window works pretty well because it updates every time you enter or look at the room. For equipment and group windows, it’s only when you type the “eq” or “group” commands, which may not be often at all.
At some point I’m going to make these update more regularly, probably on a timed interval for the group window, and probably when you “wear” or “remove” equipment for the equipment window.
You may notice from the screen layout that the client works best on systems with a resolution of 1280×800 or higher. You can probably use it on systems with less, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
I’ve also posted a Linux binary. It was built on an Ubuntu 9 system and requires wxGTK. I haven’t learned how to create a .deb or .rpm installer package yet, so it’s just a gzipped tar. Please report any problems/glitches.
I would get rid of the equipment window. It takes up a lot of space and no one needs to know the status of their equipment on a moment by moment basis. I’d replace it with a window to capture tells/gsays/gccs etc. Also, in the status window, you should put the current/max numbers in the bars.
Point taken — I think I’ll keep the eq window in the app but leave it hidden by default, and the current and max numbers in status does make sense to add (might take some fancy control writing, could give me something interesting to learn about multi-layer controls).
You’d want tells, gsays, and says — essentially all communication — outside the main window? Why’s that?
Eventually I’d like the client to be robust enough that people can customize it a bit so it remembers what windows they want, where they want them, and probably a few behavior options (i.e. communication in main window vs some other window).
Do you (or anyone else reading this post) use any of the fancy views or layouts for some of the more advanced clients like ZMud, or just a straight single-window setup? If’n you do it might be interesting to see a screenshot…
Most people use a capture window in zmud for all communications because if you’re in combat, especially large group combat, or if you’re spamming across the map, those communications get lost in the spam and not only are they impossible to read at that time, but tis a pain to scroll up and see them. Much communication gets lost or delayed.
I used a capture window for all communications. SUPER helpful as Tiu explained when running on the map and in large battles. If someone needs a rescue they could say it once and it would bold and set a variable for me to trigger the rescue. It would be cool for it to display in the main window as well as be captured to the communication window. If I am just sitting around it would be fine to leave that in the main window rather than force me to look to another window to see the chatter.
I have not played since just before Bast 2 shut down so I have no screen captures of what you are asking about. I also had a capture window for when I hit “Group” and “Scan”