Re: A new, modern fullscreen for Gnome Shell

[Josh Leverette <coder543 gmail com>]

Actually, yes, there are numerous times when I would interrupt my game for a few seconds of distraction, whether it's an email or my music shuffling to a song that isn't fitting to my mood. But, the bar really doesn't bother the eyes, I've tested with several games, and I've never been able to stand the outside world of my desktop intruding in my games.  Yes, games appear to capture the keystroke for whatever reason, but it would be possible to capture the keystroke before games could block it -- and have that pre-capture be configurable in case there was a legacy application which needed to capture the windows key, though instances of that do not pop into my mind. And most every game does offer a windowed-mode, there are very few which support one mode and not the other. As far as the user interface goes, default UI elements just look ugly when superimposed on 3D renders. Games like to create translucent interface controls and overlays which are themed in line with the content of the game, but an absolute black bar has no theme, and is a write-off. Maybe it's just on my monitor, but it's the way it seems.

On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 9:31 AM, Milan Bouchet-Valat <nalimilan club fr> wrote:

Le samedi 19 novembre 2011 à 09:21 -0600, Josh Leverette a écrit :

> Attached is a screenshot of me playing Starcraft II in a jury-rigged
> means of achieving the fullscreen mode I think is so much fun to use
> in practice. Currently, my wine configuration disables window
> decorations and has a virtual desktop that's a few pixels shorter than
> my desktop, so it automagically appears like this. I've been able to
> achieve a similar effect using Steel Storm II: Burning Retribution,
> and the game play works fantastically in both setups.
>
>
> Advantages:

>       * The absolute-black color of the bar does not bother the eyes,

>         your brain writes it off as not disturbing the full screen
>         effect.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. Watching a movie for example is much
nicer without any OS chrome shown on the screen. And that's lost space
for games.

>       * You have instant access to the current time and day, and it

>         just feels like a good general system overview, and it feels
>         like a dashboard for you while you're in game, giving you an
>         overview of your system.

Overview of your system? Are you that interested in the battery state,
the volume or your IM status while playing?

>       * It's a consistent appearance in line with when you're on the
>         desktop normally.
Sure, but that's not what you want when playing games.

>       * If you tap the SuperKey/WindowsKey, you can instantly switch

>         away from the game without delay on the Wine game, and switch
>         tasks. (the native Steel Storm game does not allow this.)

Because you often play a game a few seconds, check your mail, go back
the game, and read a few web pages?

>       * From a gamer's perspective, these things make it more fun to

>         play Starcraft II on Linux than on Windows.

Figures? :-p This one will be hard to argument.

>       * I would love to see this extended as the default fullscreen
>         mode (but a preference option would probably be needed in
>         system settings), and it would be amazing if the superkey
>         escape could be enforced in all fullscreen apps, finally
>         allowing a way out of games. As it is, the mouse is fully
>         captured so there is no risk of hitting the Activities hot
>         corner or any of that.

The logo key works when e.g. Firefox is in fullscreen. But maybe the
games are blocking it?

Generally, I think fullscreen mode is designed exactly to prevent all
what you describe from happening: when you use it, you don't want to be
disturbed by anything, and especially not details like the time of day.
If it wasn't true, games would offer an option to play in a normal
window, and you would have an interface consistent with your normal
desktop. That's not the case, and there's a reason...


Cheers

-- 
Sincerely,
    Josh