🤖 User Interface Plans - #1 (Patreon)

Hello crew! 😀 As I've mentioned in some of my previous posts, I have a fair few plans for upgrading the user interface (UI). For all the non-techies and gamers out there, the UI is the way that players interact with the game - rather than its content or core mechanics - which means stuff like the main screen, Virtual Stable and Psychosexometrics, and the planned Integrated Walkthrough.

There's a huge amount that I want to do in terms of the UI - and you'll be seeing some of the exciting plans teased out over the next month or so. A lot of it is stuff that I haven't been able to find much time to do over the past year - I'm well aware that what players really want is story, art and erotica rather than a whole load of fancy bells and whistles; and that devs need to be careful not to go down self-indulgent rabbit holes and instead make sure that they prioritise content. That's one of the reasons that I haven't gone back and re-rendered the earlier images on my upgraded computer (though I burn to! 😂) We've all seen that sort of thing before, and it's almost always little more than an annoying delay.

That said, there are some UI features that will really improve gameplay experience for a lot of you. I've already discussed the Integrated Walkthrough (which is currently drawn and coded up to v0.2.5); and I'll be talking about my plans for a more interactive Virtual Stable and  Psychosexometrics that includes some features you guys have suggested in later posts. For now, we'll just concentrate on the new Main Menu screen - seen in the images above.

I haven't actually been happy with the current screen for a while... it's a bit jumbly, and the colour explosion isn't exactly the finest example of graphic design 😂 Basically, I had to come up with something in the day or so before initial release, and I did the best I could with the tools at my disposal. Well, I've got some better equipment now - thanks to you guys 😍 - and my skills have improved during the last year (I hope so anyway!) The plan for the new Main Menu is to have it cycle through the images you see attached. You'll also note that Walkthrough has been added to the menu, along with the mysterious 'Progress'... but that's a story for another time!

I'd quickly like to thank 👤RampantShadow for suggesting the new font for the Walkthrough (much clearer!) and for making the black menu bar with the hexes... (great work!) If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please comment below... and if you like it click the like button.

🖖🏻RanliLabz, Over and Out

PS: I wanted to show you the new 'semi-animated' banner - but Patreon wouldn't let me upload the gif in this post 👮🏻‍♂️ You can see it on my thread on f95zone.