New in game window design - FlameON Version 1.0 release.

[Venalan]

So my first skin is done. I've spent today with a few testers and have removed a number of minor bugs. If you decide to use this skin and you spot any mistakes let me know and ill try and tidy them up. Or, if you use this skin and have any personal suggestions, or would like some minor changes to the skin as its something you might like post here and as long at it is not too complex I will look at doing it.

So first things first. Release licenses.

Code

The *.xml files and all associated changes are released under the standard PS code license so anyone is free to take anything I've done to take and use on their own skin. Just give me a shout out if you use some of my changes, and ideally post the skin here for others to use.

Art

The art is covered by the Atomic Blue license.


Now for the important stuff.

Changes made to the UI
These fall in to four categories, art, xml file changes which are specific to my skin, changes which I have had committed to the SVN to be included in the next client update but i have in my skin already, and files where i have had some of the changes committed to SVN but not all. I'm separating them here for ease for those who want to take pieces I have changed.

Changed specific to my skin(s).

components01.png - remade all art, some is similar to default style, some is very different.
icons.png - made new tool bar icons.

craft.xml (study window) - made rezisable by request
craftcanclewindow.xml (crafting progress bar) - reformatted to make function clearer.
deatilwindow.xml (when you examine a character) - edited tab sizes to read better and edited tool tips to make descriptions clearer.
imagelist.xml (not need by players, just modders) - Edited to re-assign art assets and create some new ones.
loadwindow.xml (window you see when you are in a loading zone) - reorganised text boxes and made them larger so even the largest tool tip will appear without the need to scroll
shortcutwindow.xml (the shortcut window) - removed the HP/mana bars, change minimum window height to use window space better, changed default button high for better space use for text only SCs. These changes will be defunct at the next client when you can set these options yourself in real time as we are adding new in game options for this window.
spellcanclewindow.xml (spell progress and spell casting cancel window) - made function clearer and window use obvious.
spellwindow.xml (the window with the list of your spells in) - reformatted spell window layout to be more condense.
styles.xml (only needed by modders) - font colour changes were defined here.
configautoexec.xml, configchat.xml, configchatlogs.xml, configchattabcompletion.xml, configentityinter.xml (these are all sub windows of the 'options window') - text boxes backgrounds were changed to match colour style, this also involved additions to imagelist.xml
configsound.xml, configentityinter.xml (these are all sub windows of the 'options window') - added black background to drop down menus instead of a transparent default background which can make it harder to read options and also made drop down windows larger so scrolling to see all options is not necessary.
guildwindow.xml (the guild window) - change font sizes in guild permissions screen to make them easier to read.


Files with changes specific to my skin(s) and some commitied to svn
chat.xml (the chat window) - changed the typed font colour to white as it is over written by font changes in styles.xml and same changes made in r9016
skillwindow.xml (the stats and skill window) - I reorgainsed the HP/mana/stamina bars so they align better (in svn) and i removed the 'buy skill' button so there is only the 'buy skill rank' (my skin specific).


Changed commited to SVN
buddy.xml (your buddy list) - adjusted buttons so they no longer over lap
configchattabs.xml, configentitylabels.xml, configkeys.xml, configmouse.xml (these are all sub windows of the 'options window')- all cleaned up so options should now be fully visible which were partial hidden before.
merchant.xml, and storage.xml  (merchant and storage windows) - were altered to make it much easier to tell the difference
widgetconfigwindow.xml (the window which appears when you right click a window) - tided up the layout slightly.

I think these are all the windows I have edited but I might be missing some minor points.




INSTALLATION

This is actually very easy.

You can now wait for the 0.6.1 client and it will be included as default.

I've had a lot of fun making this and I really hope that you players who use this like what I've done as much as I have. I will have the other skin I've made ready soon once I've had some feed back from this skin.

Enjoy.

Venalan

[zarre]

FlameON looks fantastic Venalan!

Your new Toolbar icons and the new art inside and around the windows look great!

The improved spell-power bar in the Information window is something I really like.

RE: Normal and small Inventory / Container windows
For several jobs in PS I use all the slots. Could these windows be re-sizable so we can see them at a glance without using a scroll bar?

Is there an option to reduce the font size in the Shortcuts window?

Some of the text to the far right is not visible when when asking NPC's for a quest, even when using the scroll bar at the bottom. I noticed this with Harnquist just now.

Thanks for all you and the other volunteers do for PlaneShift.

Looking forward to seeing more new skins!

[Venalan]

I didn't plane to optimise the windows to make more slots visible when I planned this as I personally don't care too much.

BUT, I will as you asked. Do you want more icons visible the same default size, or more visible and smaller?

Is there an option to reduce the font size in the Shortcuts window? - you can do it manually in the shortcutwindow.xml file. But in the next client there will be an option to adjust every setting for the short cut window yourself.

Some of the text to the far right is not visible when when asking NPC's for a quest, even when using the scroll bar at the bottom. I noticed this with Harnquist just now. - I assume you mean the old list menu options, not the new pop up option. If that is the case you can just resize the window.

[zarre]

Do you want more icons visible the same default size, or more visible and smaller?

Smaller slots windows would be idea.

...I assume you mean the old list menu options, not the new pop up option. If that is the case you can just resize the window.
 

A re-size of the window enabled me to see all the text. Thanks!

I'll look for the font option in the shortcuts xml file.

[bilbous]

Truncated npc quest text is a longstanding bug, not particular to the skin.

[Tuathanach]

Excellent skin Venalan, It works well with the custom GUI XML's I have used for a while. Only change I would make is have chat tabs in a row rather than a column, but that is personal preference. It makes me want to post a new skin.

[Rigwyn]

I like being able to take that shortcuts bar and stretch it vertically instead of being forced to deal with a horizontal bar.   

[Venalan]

The download for V1.0 I have updated to include a skin preview as I forgot to add it, and a minor art fix.

In discussion with Zarre I have made the following changes which are being included in a separate skin V1.1



All download links are permanent, as I will make new versions for any major changes like these so players can pick what they want.

Most recent version on first or last page - DOWNLOAD V1.0.1 - this contains only the minor improvements I made to the game windows
Most recent version on first or last page - DOWNLOAD V1.1.1 - this contains major changes to the container and inventory windows and resizing as shown below, as show above.

Enjoy, please give me feed back and comments.

[gnomebuddy]

Nice skin, and its seems to make the game a lot smoother, would you consider  setting the tabs horizontal?

[Venalan]

Which tabs?

[Venalan]

I posted the wrong link for V1.1, its fixed now.

[Venalan]

I was asked to make the chat tabs horizontal across the top of the chat window, which I've done. I've added this to both of the previous two skins as it's a personal preference as to having it or not.

Most recent version on first or last page -  DOWNLOAD V1.0.1H this is the initial V1.0 with the altered chat window

Most recent version on first or last page - DOWNLOAD V1.1.1H this is the initial V1.1 with the altered chat window

The H prefix makes the following change to the chat window

[Bonifarzia]

Concerning horizontal vs vertical buttons (tabs) in the chat window: I don't know how Neeno managed to get this done, but in psExtended you can use the in-game options to toggle between the horizontal and vertical layout. Maybe this could be an interesting point for the official client.

[Venalan]

I was thinking exactly the same thing, Bonifarzia. I'm going to mention it to eredin as soon as I see him next.

I had an idea for improving (I think so anyway) the container window. What I didn't like before was the 'dead space' you ended up with when looking at containers with fewer than the number of slots which filled the window. So, I've made the window resizable, if your working with a mixing bowl or furnace you can adjust the size of the container window to show ALL the slots, or just as many as you want,

Download files have been updated with the change.

Most recent version on first or last page. - DOWNLOAD V1.1 - this contains major changes to the container and inventory windows including resizing. - updated 27/1/2014
Most recent version on first or last page. - DOWNLOAD V1.1H - this is the initial V1.1 (including resizing) with the altered horizontal chat window. - updated 27/1/2014

[zarre]

Skin is working out fine for me. Thanks Venalan!