User interface problems

[Ranger]

The user interface has multiple problems.

I am playing on a 17" widescreen 1920x1080 monitor. Here are my experiences.

[*] icons are too tiny - almost impossible to tell which unit is which in transport loading screen or manufacture menu
[*] information about experience "stored" from recycling units is not displayed anywhere, even though there is more than plenty of screen space
[*] screen space is in general almost not utilized - for example the unit selection lists are built vertically of 2x5 columns when they would easily be able to be built horizontally in something like 2x20 stripe; in general I think it would be possible to have all elements of UI present on screen - i.e. order menu, production menu, research, commanders and still have plenty of space
[*] the unit designer UI is cryptic and mysterious, and tooltips are missing and unhelpful; I still don't know what does item weight have to do with anything, or what some of the icons even mean, and why does there have to be three screens of component selection when everything would easily fit on one
[*] there is no interface as far as I can tell to view what researches you already have researched, and their descriptions; something like tech tree in civilization games is missing
[*] no way to view enemy unit HP bars constantly (F9 only displays own unit hp)
[*] many more probably

added:
[*] unit and structure building costs are mysterious (unit costs can be found in design menu, building ones not sure, but my suggestion would be to have them all in build menu tooltips)
[*] the 'energy' bar I am not sure that it needs to take up this much screen space to just display a number? my suggestion would be something like http://i.imgur.com/NARkHGU.png (essentially the same scheme as used for timer)
[*] the mission timer covers the top right of the console and prevents to see how many units are selected http://i.imgur.com/yW18L6N.png - my suggestion would be to move it somewhere ...
[*] the 'unit is selected' indicator is hard to see, I suggest making it something more prominent ( suggestion: these guys got it right http://i.imgur.com/YKeMnAd.jpg )

Overall the game is great (probably the best FOSS strategy right now) but needs a lot of work.

[stiv]

[*] many more probably

Don't stop now. You are on a roll!

P.S. Have you tried playing with the screen resolution in the game? Maybe run in windowed mode.

[Ranger]

Don't stop now. You are on a roll!

Added some.

P.S. Have you tried playing with the screen resolution in the game? Maybe run in windowed mode.

Yes, I have actually switched to 1600x1050 windowed, reason for that being that it is not possible to alt-tab out of a fullscreen game.

[nulldev]

[*] icons are too tiny - almost impossible to tell which unit is which in transport loading screen or manufacture menu

Change the screen resolution.

[*] information about experience "stored" from recycling units is not displayed anywhere, even though there is more than plenty of screen space

I agree, this should be added

[*] screen space is in general almost not utilized - for example the unit selection lists are built vertically of 2x5 columns when they would easily be able to be built horizontally in something like 2x20 stripe; in general I think it would be possible to have all elements of UI present on screen - i.e. order menu, production menu, research, commanders and still have plenty of space

My computer is not connected to a TV , but I guess something like a better HUD would be nice.

[*] the unit designer UI is cryptic and mysterious, and tooltips are missing and unhelpful; I still don't know what does item weight have to do with anything, or what some of the icons even mean, and why does there have to be three screens of component selection when everything would easily fit on one

??? Really, I self taught myself WZ2100, I think I know what item weight is (if you don't go read the wiki), I pretty sure they split it into three sections to add that swag rotating 3d view in the middle It actually looks pretty good in my opinion.

[*] there is no interface as far as I can tell to view what researches you already have researched, and their descriptions; something like tech tree in civilization games is missing

Then you are just plain blind. Read the wiki, it's in the intelligence menu! (THE RED ONE)

[*] no way to view enemy unit HP bars constantly (F9 only displays own unit hp)

Should be added, but this will turn into a mess when there is 100 units vs 100 units on the battlefield!

[*] many more probably

[*] unit and structure building costs are mysterious (unit costs can be found in design menu, building ones not sure, but my suggestion would be to have them all in build menu tooltips)

Try hovering over the item and looking at your power bar (READ THE WIKI)

[*] the 'energy' bar I am not sure that it needs to take up this much screen space to just display a number? my suggestion would be something like http://i.imgur.com/NARkHGU.png (essentially the same scheme as used for timer)

Hmm, apparently you have all the screen space but no room for a 1/2cm progress bar???

[*] the mission timer covers the top right of the console and prevents to see how many units are selected http://i.imgur.com/yW18L6N.png - my suggestion would be to move it somewhere ...

Press "~" on your keyboard.

[*] the 'unit is selected' indicator is hard to see, I suggest making it something more prominent ( suggestion: these guys got it right http://i.imgur.com/YKeMnAd.jpg )

Easy fix, get glasses , I can see them, I haven't seen this complaint before? When units are highlighted, there is a box around them and their health bard right underneath??? Can you not see health bar?

Whatever, now I'm ranting now

1600x1050

WAIT WHAT? 1600x1050???
MY SCREEN RESOLUTION IS 1024x728! MAKE IT SMALLER.

[Ranger]

[NoQ]

Btw, openttd guys have just unrolled their first beta-release featuring a scalable GUI (: