The new layout looks amazing! The 3D perspective is a refreshing take on Alteil and with visual effects it can only get better. (animations when: cards move from/on board, info screens, card actions and the like)
From a players perspective the first thing i liked was the SP count of both players TOGETHER centre/bottom of the screen. Players will catch on quicker to the importance and how certain actions are influencing this SP flow.
I'm also looking for making the Sp use to make more sense. I haven't worked it all out yet but I aim to have users "grab" Sp from the SP bar and put into the sphere (which is now a sphere instead of a box =_+)
I know how hard it can be to utilize the given space and fit all elements in. Throwing things around and adjusting inches to make things more visually appealing... So i'm not saying that everything will be possible, but i do like to suggest the following points of attention for its functionality;
- The game is easier to learn if it flows step by step into 1 direction. Taking the most logical order quickens ones understanding of the gameplay.
From left to right a card follows the route: Cardpile->PlayedCard(left) -> Board(center) -> Cemetery->OutOfGame(right). Try to put most(virtually impossible to do, i know) of the relevant elements to
that corresponding part of the board. So if you follow the card into the cemetery you'll also see the LP decrease with the SoulCard triggering there, instead of having things activate all over the screen.
Actually the reason I put (and most games do this) the file on the right instead of the left is simply most people are right handed. While this is a virtual environment I want the movement to feel as natural as possible.
- Some Elements are closely related and better not seperated:
* LifePoint counter+SoulCards+Avatar. They make up your LP, and in Alteil the Avatar is the icon for the very last LP triggering. I wish there was another indication of that extra 1LP so there's more freedom to its placement. But as it stands now it'll feel quite weird leaving 1LP hanging after all soulcards.
working on that. it is supposed to be "you" hopefully I can get the life meter to show this better. maybe putting a pulsing glow on your avatar as you're last LP is exposed.
* Avatar & Assistant. (&Chatbox/"balloon"? Visualizing it's your avatar speaking)
* SP and Spherelevels.
This is all easily said but an immense effort to accomplish. Space will not always allow it and placement may turn into a visual horror that way. I tried to move some elements around on my own (hope you don't mind GGG!) With alot of puzzling i found some sort of order for most elements, but not without raising questionmarks. For one i don't even see a chatbox in current design? Won't it be incorporated in the game's design as permanent feature that never leaves the screen? Or is it a tab you can slide from the side. I also lack elements like the assistant for instance. Some things popup without needing negative space like current card selection, but what about reserving some negative space for popups like skillinfo or cards in cemetery? (like when you click cemetery pile, a box could slide up covering the cemetery pile and its negative space) I was spending way too much time questioning things and nobody to ask them to, so i quit lol.
I wish you all the luck GGG. It's so easy to stare yourself blind on these things and get frustrated. (speaking out of personal experience though) But it's also where the fun lies, like solving a giant puzzle. At some point the pieces will fall together. ;p[/quote]
it's still a work in progress. I always step away from work for a few days so I can look at it with fresh eyes (you do end up going in circles). I'm checking out 3D backgrounds for the changing of time (no I did not forget that idea
) right now I'm wrestling with the auction house. I'll post more when I have something soild.
