Interface improvement - movable chat windows, etc. Images Inside™!

The Glitch interface is wonderful. Things are laid out logically, keyboard access is awesome, and you staff peoples have really thought about it. And it's all super pretty and rounded and shiny ^_^ That said, there's two problems I'd like to see solved. I've got some images to go along with 'em, too.

First though, let's take a look at the regular Glitch interface. Assuming you've got a large (1920x1080) resolution monitor, your Glitch window will look something like this (•image•).

Problem #1: I like to chat with a lot of people at the same time, and they're not all in the same channel, and the click-click-clicking is quite a chore. So the problem to be solved here is chat windows! We're limited to one open at a time. Not enough in my book!

So that's something to solve. But there's something else. As a relatively new player, I've got a lot of exploring to do, and I spend 90% of my time in the Glitch world with the map open, chasing down completionist badges. The map gets in my way, no matter where I put it. Not only that, but there's a ton of wasted space on either side of the game window that I can't do anything with 'cause it insists on hogging the middle. Here, just check out this screenshot of the problem (•image•).

Problem #2: There's quite a lot of window real estate available, but Glitch is stuck in the middle, leaving very little room for maps or other windows while I wander around. If the game window were to float happily over to one of the corners, I'd be able to have other windows open and not block the main screen. (Remember, as a new player, I'm all about exploring, so the map is there a LOT of the time!). The basic problem here is management of available screen real estate.

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So, I popped into Photoshop and whipped up a mockup of some changes I'd like to see to address both problems: chat window woes and screen real-estate missed opportunities. Take a glance at this potentially-improved Glitch interface (•image•).

Very few actual changes have been made, but they sure do help solve the problems I was having.

Change #1: Additional chat windows. This solves my chat window problem! Yay! They're also resizable, to make life easier thanks to...

Change #2: The main game screen is left-aligned rather than center-aligned. This means that I can scoot the map over to one side and still be able to see the main game screen! Yay! I can even add the quest window if I want - hooray, windows!

So there you have it! I sure wish implementing these things were as easy as cranking them out in Photoshop :) (Although, to be honest, change #2, making the screen left-aligned rather than center-aligned, sure seems like it'd be a piece of cake.)

Thoughts? Comments? You know how to make it happen! Thanks for listening :) Rock on, Glitchers!

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Image relinks for convenience:
•1 - Standard Glitch interface
•2 - Standard Glitch interface with maps open and covering up important stuff
•3 - Updated Glitch interface mockup with additional resizable chat windows and main game screen out of the middle

Posted 12 years ago by Unfamiliar | Permalink