Tweak Idea - "Character" on right click radial

[Sigurd]

Looking at the game last night it occurred to me that as a player I only open characters at the beginning of the game and at the end. My games have been blissfully stable for the most part.

Would it make sense to free up the desktop real estate and put the Character button on the right click radial dialogue beside arrange dice?

It seems thematic to me because then that dialogue would be about everything the player brings to the game table.


Is the radial button actually more desirable space than the tabletop - should it be used for something else?

Would not being able to see the "character" tab make it harder to use the program?


inquiring minds.....

[Blacky]

During the 3.0.0 alpha there was some talk about desktop organization, UI, and pixel real estate.

Mostly, the current system of big and small sidebar buttons aren't in synch with the real usage. As you said, the Characters window isn't used much (although removing it altogether maybe a little extreme), on the other hand the calendar, lighting or CT buttons are small and clicked on a lot.

But the discussion was postponed by JPG. Not enough time for 3.0.0, lot of works in more needed other areas, and backward compatibility and habits deemed too important.

Another issue is that everyone is different. Some people use the calendar a lot (more than the CT), other don't. Some people set up the lighting religiously, others don't. And so on.

To do this right, SmiteWorks would need to register metrics in that area (what's popular, what's clicked, how, when, how often), revamp the whole system, and probably offer several options (like display small, medium, or big button for a specific tool). A lot of work, and even more so for ruleset creators (because they'll need to integrate these options, and redo their multi sizes buttons).

As for the Radial in itself, a lot of people don't like it at all. And looking at other UI, radial never was a great choice. As a UI go-getter, it has the major disadvantage of being near unusable in touch screen (a thing to keep in mind for the future, tablet gaming and so on). I may be wrong but I think the current trend is to slowly avoid or reduce it's use: look at the image toolbar for example.

One last thing. Yes pixel real estate is important, but readability & ergonomics are more important. A basic but somewhat decent Full HD screen is what nowadays, $120? It's not the end of the world adding more pixels to a setup. I know it's not a reason not to work on the UI (and I do know, having already 2 screens and thinking about getting a third), especially since non-desktop computers have trouble going bigger than 2 screens (well, 1½ with most laptops).