Re: Sudoku UI change

[Ernestas Kulik <ernestas kulik gmail com>]

> We usually use the GNOME Bugzilla’s instance for discussing changes
Awesome, thanks.

> I’m usually interested in patterns, so “having a way to do things that
fit everywhere”
I am having mixed feelings here. Sure, this makes creating games easier
and gives a familiar feeling, but with the number of GNOME games
increasing, this might result in applications that are a little, well,
bland. Of course, I feel that this is mostly a matter of opinion; it is
the interface that catches my eye at first, not the actual game.
This also provides invaluable insight to the rationale behind it all.

Your perspective on things is really intriguing and I really like your
ideas for Sudoku.

IANAD and I am not trying to step on anyone’s toes here, just maybe
spark a little fire.


On 2015.10.09 20:20, Arnaud Bonatti wrote:
> Hi! We usually use the GNOME Bugzilla’s instance for discussing
> changes –including UI ones– but this list should also be OK for now —
> we’ll open a bug is something comes out.
>
> The right-column-big-buttons behaviour is something I never really
> discussed, and so I helped moving in this direction; I’m usually
> interested in patterns, so “having a way to do things that fit
> everywhere”, and this one is “good enough” for me, it works.
>
> The thing is that games could have multiple complexity: puzzle games
> could be really simple (see Taquin, only a “New game”
> right-column-big-button, even if I could add a time-counter in it), or
> really complex (Chess…). With the ActionBar way you used here, some
> games will have an ActionBar, and some won’t; and this is (stupidly
> ^^) bugging me. And I don’t see a good way to present a “who’s turn is
> it” widget (see Iagno; and we might have a per-player time counter
> there for Chess…) in an horizontal bar, even if this probably exists.
>
> Concerning Sudoku’s design only (trying to forget about having all
> games using exactly the same): the time-counter should be in my mind a
> ToggleButton, that activates the pause-mode when pressed (changing the
> icon to the pause one and greying the text), so no Pause button; and
> clearing the game is more-or-less like creating a new one, so this
> might be an option in the list of new-games options. In your design,
> the previous/next widget is in a quite unusual place, I’ll keep it in
> the left of the HeaderBar; and so, as the “New game” button only shows
> a list of choices (reset current game, difficulties, custom grid),
> I’ll put all the choices in a popover that appear when you click on
> the HeaderBar’s title, and yay \o/ no more ActionBar nor
> right-column-big-buttons (it could also be a new-game screen like now,
> but then you’re loosing the link between the “restart this grid” and
> the current grid).
>
> One *feeling* also, that I’d want to preserve, is that having the “New
> game” button like now, out of the headerbar, helps seing the window as
> “the game” (with some options here and there) instead of seing the
> window as “a window that manages the game”. Note that using a Popover
> instead of a new-game screen, like detailed below, may help preserving
> this feeling. Same for not displaying a HeaderBar (yeah, I had weird
> mockups here and there ^^).
>
> By the way, in a game with actions at the bottom as you did, I won’t
> draw the ActionBar (no separation with the grid) but would limit the
> buttons to be just under the grid (corner left, corner right, center).
>
> So… now, let’s think. ^^
>
> 2015-10-09 17:09 UTC+02:00, Ernestas Kulik <ernestas kulik gmail com>:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I’m not entirely sure how to go about proposing UI changes, but here goes.
> >
> > I’ve made some in my fork[1] and would like for you to consider them.
> >
> > The motivation for this is my belief that having oversized buttons
> > alongside the game view just feels clunky (applies to other games as
> > well, but I just started hacking Sudoku to see how it could turn out).
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Ernestas Kulik
> >
> > ---
> > [1] https://github.com/cankerpie/gnome-sudoku
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