Forums » Suggestions
Station Welcome panel
I've been screwing around with "Station Welcome" and "Ship Status" mockups for awhile now, and ended up integrating them to make the current development goal:
http://design.vendetta-online.com/wiki/index.php?title=Station_Interface#Welcome
Feedback is welcome. This is, of course, a mockup made in photoshop. The final version won't look exactly like this (for instance, the real station interface has the "Set Home" button down by Options and Launch.. I just haven't gotten around to updating my mockup defaults).
Anyway, the general idea is that this will be the default screen on docking.. with information about the station, and hopefully the most-quickly-needed features. In some cases, like docking when a mission is in process and needs a response, the PDA/Mission interface will take focus. But generally, this is intended to be the default.
EDIT: One question I had, while making this, is whether the raw aggregate profit would be the most useful display, or perhaps a profit percentage? A smaller, more brain-parsable number where the trader could go "ok, I'm making 60% on this item".
http://design.vendetta-online.com/wiki/index.php?title=Station_Interface#Welcome
Feedback is welcome. This is, of course, a mockup made in photoshop. The final version won't look exactly like this (for instance, the real station interface has the "Set Home" button down by Options and Launch.. I just haven't gotten around to updating my mockup defaults).
Anyway, the general idea is that this will be the default screen on docking.. with information about the station, and hopefully the most-quickly-needed features. In some cases, like docking when a mission is in process and needs a response, the PDA/Mission interface will take focus. But generally, this is intended to be the default.
EDIT: One question I had, while making this, is whether the raw aggregate profit would be the most useful display, or perhaps a profit percentage? A smaller, more brain-parsable number where the trader could go "ok, I'm making 60% on this item".
I my research I have encountered traders discussing profit per cargo unit. I wonder if that number would be more desirable than a % profit.
Paying for repairs is great and having the ammo reload on the top layer saves clicking time. I wonder if there could be an option to auto-repair and auto-reload automatically upon docking as long as you had credits. However, I would consider leaving it an option so you could turn those features off and manually repair and reload. One reason that I have heard about not wanting repairs to full health is that a player might want to be slightly injured to lure in prey who think they are getting an easy kill.
Another thing to consider is that I would like that wand of ass kicking.
Paying for repairs is great and having the ammo reload on the top layer saves clicking time. I wonder if there could be an option to auto-repair and auto-reload automatically upon docking as long as you had credits. However, I would consider leaving it an option so you could turn those features off and manually repair and reload. One reason that I have heard about not wanting repairs to full health is that a player might want to be slightly injured to lure in prey who think they are getting an easy kill.
Another thing to consider is that I would like that wand of ass kicking.
My only complaint is that it looks more crowded than it actually is. Probably because you reuse button for all those headings.
Will that interface be the only way to unload/load cargo? If so there seems to be no way to specify the amount.
Will that interface be the only way to unload/load cargo? If so there seems to be no way to specify the amount.
Looks interesting Inc.
Profit/cu is the initial figure which we traders would calculate when evaluating the quality of a trade run . The final figure would be net profit/hour, which would factor in the return trip profit , the time taken to fly the round trip and any expenses , such as estimated repair costs or pirate bribes.
Realistically the client could display profit/cu , net profit / hour is a quick calculation on a bit of paper....
Profit/cu is the initial figure which we traders would calculate when evaluating the quality of a trade run . The final figure would be net profit/hour, which would factor in the return trip profit , the time taken to fly the round trip and any expenses , such as estimated repair costs or pirate bribes.
Realistically the client could display profit/cu , net profit / hour is a quick calculation on a bit of paper....
i love that wand of asskicking thing. lol
Maybe a button that toggles the display to show profit per unit, total profit or percentage?
Also, I scoff at your wand of asskicking +4.
Also, I scoff at your wand of asskicking +4.
This wouldn't be the only way to unload cargo, this interface is just intended to have some simplified ways of doing common tasks immediately upon docking.
So will repairing cost $ (again?)
And Inc, I'll trade you three wands of asskicking + 3 for your +4!
And Inc, I'll trade you three wands of asskicking + 3 for your +4!
oh god i hope repairs DO start to cost again. how about a nice simple % of the value of the ship and its equipment. if you are at 33% life you pay 67% of the value of your ship and its equipment to repair it.
[yes this offers the bypass of unequipping all stuff, repairing the ship for less and then re-equipping, but the time involved in that is probably not worth adding info to track the damage % of weapons and powercells just yet]
(this has NO detriment to newbies, a % of a 0(free ship) is still 0, and if they have a non-free bat/blaster on it it's still going to be less than buying a new non-free bat/blaster)
[yes this offers the bypass of unequipping all stuff, repairing the ship for less and then re-equipping, but the time involved in that is probably not worth adding info to track the damage % of weapons and powercells just yet]
(this has NO detriment to newbies, a % of a 0(free ship) is still 0, and if they have a non-free bat/blaster on it it's still going to be less than buying a new non-free bat/blaster)
Yes Spellcast,
Let's waste time adding something that doesn't effect anyone in anyway whatsoever.
Let's waste time adding something that doesn't effect anyone in anyway whatsoever.
First, we want raw aggregate profit, per CU if possible. Since we can currently only do trading, the % profit margin is only important when first acquiring a load to transport; as long as you can afford the initial outlay, all you care about is whether you can survive to your destination and how much you are making for the trip, which boils down to profit/CU.
E.G. I can buy Water for 5c and sell for 20c - that's 300% profit, WOOT OMG!!! But wait, that is only 15c/CU and I could instead buy chocolate for 10,000c and sell for 11,000c - only 10% profit; however, at 1000c/CU, by FAR the better transport choice.
-- Percent profit margin will only be useful for crafting or investing.
No Spellcast - repair costs, when they return, should not be that high; also, even if it were, how would you determine "cost" in a dynamic economy? Repairing armor should be a simple XiRite Alloy (and maybe some other stuff) / HP calculation and you get charged by the repairing station for materials and labor (and if no materials are available, then no repair is possible!).
Incarnate - I would prefer that the cargo buttons be "Unload & Sell" "Unload" and "Unload All". I believe that most people will not be carrying more than ~5 types of cargo that they wish to unload and sell; however, they may often have many different types of cargo they simply wish to unload immediately (especially say, after a Liberation mission?!). This, of course, goes on the assumption that addons will eventually become stackable...
E.G. I can buy Water for 5c and sell for 20c - that's 300% profit, WOOT OMG!!! But wait, that is only 15c/CU and I could instead buy chocolate for 10,000c and sell for 11,000c - only 10% profit; however, at 1000c/CU, by FAR the better transport choice.
-- Percent profit margin will only be useful for crafting or investing.
No Spellcast - repair costs, when they return, should not be that high; also, even if it were, how would you determine "cost" in a dynamic economy? Repairing armor should be a simple XiRite Alloy (and maybe some other stuff) / HP calculation and you get charged by the repairing station for materials and labor (and if no materials are available, then no repair is possible!).
Incarnate - I would prefer that the cargo buttons be "Unload & Sell" "Unload" and "Unload All". I believe that most people will not be carrying more than ~5 types of cargo that they wish to unload and sell; however, they may often have many different types of cargo they simply wish to unload immediately (especially say, after a Liberation mission?!). This, of course, goes on the assumption that addons will eventually become stackable...
I'm literally dancing right now about that repair button.
Elsewise, I like the mockup. I haven't fiddled with the current cargo screen for a while, but it might be more efficient to have "Unload and Sell" and "Unload" buttons only along with the ability to shift- and ctrl- select(Or other OS-specific hotkeys) multiple units of cargo for the buttons to work on.
Profit per CU would be much more convenient along with aggregate profit showing up somewhere once an item is sold(as per the behavior I saw last)
Having the "Set This As Home Station" button right when you dock would own more than that wand.
It looks a bit cluttered- but it's manageable. Perhaps merging the station description with the high-demand listing would help.
If it could be done without looking horrid- breaking up the cargo screen into different columns visually would be nice(for example, a line dropping down to indicate the difference from the Quantity and the Active Ship's Cargo bits)
On that note- the Ship Cargo column headers are supposed to be buttons to sort, I know, but is there a way to make them a bit more compact and visually attractive? Those being button-looking buttons make things look cluttered too.
I think that's all. Time to dance some more about that repair button.
Elsewise, I like the mockup. I haven't fiddled with the current cargo screen for a while, but it might be more efficient to have "Unload and Sell" and "Unload" buttons only along with the ability to shift- and ctrl- select(Or other OS-specific hotkeys) multiple units of cargo for the buttons to work on.
Profit per CU would be much more convenient along with aggregate profit showing up somewhere once an item is sold(as per the behavior I saw last)
Having the "Set This As Home Station" button right when you dock would own more than that wand.
It looks a bit cluttered- but it's manageable. Perhaps merging the station description with the high-demand listing would help.
If it could be done without looking horrid- breaking up the cargo screen into different columns visually would be nice(for example, a line dropping down to indicate the difference from the Quantity and the Active Ship's Cargo bits)
On that note- the Ship Cargo column headers are supposed to be buttons to sort, I know, but is there a way to make them a bit more compact and visually attractive? Those being button-looking buttons make things look cluttered too.
I think that's all. Time to dance some more about that repair button.
Huzzah for current mass indicators in the station interface!
I would like to say that I do not find the interface to be cluttered. Also, I would like the high-demand and description areas separate.
I would like to suggest that the station and faction description should limit itself to station and local information. The faction descriptions are available from the character faction standings screen and before character creation; I do not think every station welcome screen should have the faction info there as well.
I would like to suggest that the station and faction description should limit itself to station and local information. The faction descriptions are available from the character faction standings screen and before character creation; I do not think every station welcome screen should have the faction info there as well.