It's happening! 45-row Layout in Action (Patreon)

So I've done a lot of writing about this new 45-row UI, and built a lot of the architecture to support it, but yes the actual work has to actually be done at some point, and that point started a couple weeks ago, with lots of good progress to show for it :D

Here's a screenshot of the 45-row UI layout in 1080p (all images/GIFs in this post were recorded at full size with 1080p, so open them to see that):

Eventually when you have enough slots, the inventory switches to its modal form, accessed via that button down there at the bottom:

Once modal, adding an item to your inventory, whether from the ground or removal, has a new indicator to show it went there:

Drag-dropping works normally, and you can even drag attached parts directly onto the inventory button to send them there without opening it:

[Secret dev info: The inventory window is not "gone" in a technical sense--it is simply moved off the screen while "closed" :P. As I demonstrated back in part 2 of my POLYBOT-7 design post-mortem, I did a ton of this when building that game!]

We have related QoL, like situations where the inventory is automatically opened and closed for you, for example when using corresponding relevant functions of the modal 'p' part management menu:

In the above example, hitting 'p' to activate the part management menu, then 'a' for attach, automatically opens the inventory, from which '2' is selected for the Transmission Jammer, attaching it then automatically closing the inventory again.

Of course the regular old swap menu also works just fine, even when the inventory is modal, meaning opening the inventory is often not even necessary:

Once you've evolved enough slots, in order to keep the inventory visible for as long as possible the parts headers will also be removed to condense the list into a new format. The sidebars are clickable just like the regular CYCLE buttons, so that mouse users can retain access to that functionality if they need it:

(I've decided condensing the headers once necessary will be the default behavior, to delay inventory modality as long as possible, though you can turn it off if you want via advanced.cfg. It's one of those things that I think might be kinda weird at first, and take some getting used to, but in the end the benefits probably outweigh the costs for most players.)

Secondary UI windows that were in most cases designed for at least 50 rows (and to fit in the map view area, like when hacking machines), now occupy the entire height of the program, and were adjusted to fit into 45 rows as necessary. Like for items the best solution was to move their art off to the side:

Likewise, item searching has to cover the entire HUD, as well as reduce its help text area, but there's still enough room down there to show the essentials:

The added height pressure meant that in a handful of rare cases it might be possible for robot info to not fit in 45 rows, though in all such cases the info fits if we apply the "More" button to resistances (functionality originally added to support longer descriptions for items in Beta 13):

The latest development has been dynamically resizing all the content of the game menu pages, which in most cases has turned out as described in the earlier mockups I shared. Here's a demo of the new basic commands/button layout, and two-page access to advanced commands:

There are still several windows to go, including all the lore/gallery/achievements interfaces and revamped (fast!) world map, but I've definitely made it to the tail end of this thing. As I approach that goal, I've also started seriously considering taking it all the way to "Phase 4" right away, hiding the top-side consoles as well to restore much more of the map view. That would presumably be a third optional setting.

You can change the layout in the options menu (though taking effect requires a restart):

7DRL 2024

7DRL 2024 is coming up in another five weeks, so the roguelikedev minded among you might want to consider joining? I'll be sitting this one out yet again, but always look forward to seeing what others come up with, and possibly sharing the results through streams. Although I've still not gotten back to streaming, I hope to be able to do that by then when this Cogmind UI stuff should be complete. Kinda hyper-focused at the moment xD