Interface changes

Okay thanks Cireon

[quote=Cireon]You could try putting the image in an url-tag so that when you click on the image it opens it. External links should open in a new tab automatically.[/quote] For as far as I know they don't (yet).

No they don't. I just made url's for the Italia demos and they open in the same tab. Also, the image uploaded to photobucket, is only viewable in photobucket so you get the annoying adverts etc. Now viewers have to know that they have to open a new tab and load D12 again so as to compare two images... and load it a 3rd time so as to still have the forum on screen. All this is very long winded, so perhaps soon we could get one of these (in order of preference); [u]Images to open full size in spoilers[/u] or [u]IMG tags to open in a new tab[/u] or [u]URL's to open in a new tab[/u]?

Wish I had found this place years ago! Great job dudes! Would it be possible to add some more features like these? 1) Make it easier to see what other players are doing by making the territory flash when they add troops or attack/defend 2) Let other players see the dice rolls, even when it is not their turn, so its more involving 3) Make the circles around troop numbers much thicker, so its easier to see their colour 4) Make an option to put the "Game Chat" box on the side of the map, so it can be seen easily all the time (which would make chat more lively too) 5) Make an option to put the "Game Log" box on the other side of the map, so the game can be followed more easily What do yall think?

[quote=Aitch]1) Make it easier to see what other players are doing by making the territory flash when they add troops or attack/defend [/quote] I think there is already a feature like this that shows troop number changes. Maybe it is not enabled by default. You can toggle them in your game settings under Dashboard > Account > Settings: [img]http://i.imgur.com/VJPVBc7.png[/img] [quote=Aitch]2) Let other players see the dice rolls, even when it is not their turn, so its more involving[/quote] There are technical limitations why we can't do this. [quote=Aitch]3) Make the circles around troop numbers much thicker, so its easier to see their colour[/quote] Definitely something we can look at. The problem is we can't make the circles bigger than currently because they might start overlapping in some maps (especially if you consider the capital circles as well), and making the inside smaller will make it harder for the number to be readable. We could think about making the background of the circle have a low-transparency colour in the same colour as the border though, would that help? [quote=Aitch]4) Make an option to put the "Game Chat" box on the side of the map, so it can be seen easily all the time (which would make chat more lively too)[/quote] I definitely think we can make some great improvements with screen layouts on different monitor sizes. Due to limited effort we can put into it, we have limited ourself to one screen layout that works best for most screen sizes, but I definitely have some ideas I would like to play with, so keep an eye on this place. [quote=Aitch]5) Make an option to put the "Game Log" box on the other side of the map, so the game can be followed more easily [/quote] Same as above.

[quote][quote=Cireon][quote=Aitch]1) Make it easier to see what other players are doing by making the territory flash when they add troops or attack/defend [/quote] I think there is already a feature like this that shows troop number changes. Maybe it is not enabled by default. You can toggle them in your game settings under Dashboard > Account > Settings: [img]http://i.imgur.com/VJPVBc7.png[/img][/quote][/quote] Yes it shows the numbers fly off, but you can often miss them. I was thinking if the entire territory flashed on and off, it immediately brings your attention to where things are happening. Also, maybe an arrow could be made to move across two territories when one is taken over by another - Im just thinking of ways the map could be more informative and express the action taking place more clearly so that even newbies can follow exactly whats going on. Incidentally, I tried the "colour blind" setting but didn't notice any difference - what does this actually change? [quote][quote=Aitch]2) Let other players see the dice rolls, even when it is not their turn, so its more involving[/quote] There are technical limitations why we can't do this.[/quote] Is there no way around this at all? [quote][quote=Aitch]3) Make the circles around troop numbers much thicker, so its easier to see their colour[/quote] Definitely something we can look at. The problem is we can't make the circles bigger than currently because they might start overlapping in some maps (especially if you consider the capital circles as well), and making the inside smaller will make it harder for the number to be readable. We could think about making the background of the circle have a low-transparency colour in the same colour as the border though, would that help?[/quote] Yes that would help, Im guessing you could always try a few new things and if they dont work, can easily change things back? Would it be possible to maybe have different shapes too - have squares and triangles in addition to the circle? Players could choose both the colour and shape they want - also perhaps have an option that remembers what colour/shape you chose previously and save it as default to make joining new games quicker? [quote][quote=Aitch]4) Make an option to put the "Game Chat" box on the side of the map, so it can be seen easily all the time (which would make chat more lively too)[/quote] I definitely think we can make some great improvements with screen layouts on different monitor sizes. Due to limited effort we can put into it, we have limited ourself to one screen layout that works best for most screen sizes, but I definitely have some ideas I would like to play with, so keep an eye on this place. [quote=Aitch]5) Make an option to put the "Game Log" box on the other side of the map, so the game can be followed more easily [/quote] Same as above.[/quote] Could you have layout "presets" for say 3 different screen sizes - small, medium and large for example? I play on my PC with a large screen, like probably many people do, so there is plenty of room that could be utilised In fact, would it be possible to have something like customisable boxes which we could resize and place where we want on the screen - so a box for the map, another for chat, another for the log, another for the players, even being able to customise the header at the top etc? A few more questions, hope you don't mind bro! 6) Would it be possible to watch other people play as a spectator - cool way to learn tips and tricks from the pros 7) Is there a way to make Inviting people easier - instead of typing in their name, could there be a drop-down list of all the available people online at that time? Maybe even a filter system so you can pick people who are of a certain skill, or location, or not playing another game already? Also,, could invites be sent directly from the "Whos Online" section by using a right-click or something? 8) There is already a filter in the Lobby section - could a few more filter criterias be added like the map being played, number of players in the game, rating level etc Also could the filter settings be remembered so you don't need to keep repeating your choices every time you log on?

[quote]Yes it shows the numbers fly off, but you can often miss them. I was thinking if the entire territory flashed on and off, it immediately brings your attention to where things are happening. Also, maybe an arrow could be made to move across two territories when one is taken over by another - Im just thinking of ways the map could be more informative and express the action taking place more clearly so that even newbies can follow exactly whats going on.[/quote] It would be nice to do things like that, but with a large variety of maps, it would take a lot of time to get right. [quote]Incidentally, I tried the "colour blind" setting but didn't notice any difference - what does this actually change? [/quote] It adds tooltips when hovering over territories. [quote]Is there no way around this at all?[/quote] We would have to change the way it is currently implemented, since we would have to store the rolls on the server (at least temporarily). I don't think it is worth it at the current time, but we do have longer term plans to change how the interactions with the server work and then this would be a lot easier. So it is probably something we would wait with until such a time. [quote]Yes that would help, Im guessing you could always try a few new things and if they dont work, can easily change things back? Would it be possible to maybe have different shapes too - have squares and triangles in addition to the circle? Players could choose both the colour and shape they want - also perhaps have an option that remembers what colour/shape you chose previously and save it as default to make joining new games quicker?[/quote] Definitely something we can experiment with. I'd rather not start with different shapes as well, because that would become too busy. People would get confused what the different shapes mean, and it is also a lot harder to get everything looking right if there are different options. All in all I don't think it adds much to the site. Regarding saving the colour you chose previously: we probably will implement some sort of "colour preference list" so that when joining it will automatically picks the highest colour on that list. [quote]Could you have layout "presets" for say 3 different screen sizes - small, medium and large for example? I play on my PC with a large screen, like probably many people do, so there is plenty of room that could be utilised[/quote] As I explained, we would have to actually make those layouts, and there are many areas of the site that need the attention more, but I definitely want to look at this at some point, since we have lots of plans to make the game page better. [quote]In fact, would it be possible to have something like customisable boxes which we could resize and place where we want on the screen - so a box for the map, another for chat, another for the log, another for the players, even being able to customise the header at the top etc?[/quote] We probably can't spare the time to implement something quite as complicated as this. [quote]6) Would it be possible to watch other people play as a spectator - cool way to learn tips and tricks from the pros[/quote] You can open up any active game and just watch them. Is there a specific feature you are missing? [quote]7) Is there a way to make Inviting people easier - instead of typing in their name, could there be a drop-down list of all the available people online at that time? Maybe even a filter system so you can pick people who are of a certain skill, or location, or not playing another game already? Also,, could invites be sent directly from the "Whos Online" section by using a right-click or something?[/quote] On the box that you can see when you are in a pending game there is a link to the "invite" page. See the yellow link below: [img]http://i.imgur.com/lviruUa.png[/img] If you click that, you get to a page where you can send invites to all players currently online. Is that what you are looking for? [quote]8) There is already a filter in the Lobby section - could a few more filter criterias be added like the map being played, number of players in the game, rating level etc Also could the filter settings be remembered so you don't need to keep repeating your choices every time you log on? [/quote] I am not sure about the remembering, but we are definitely working on adding more of these criteria!

[quote][quote=Cireon][quote]Yes it shows the numbers fly off, but you can often miss them. I was thinking if the entire territory flashed on and off, it immediately brings your attention to where things are happening. Also, maybe an arrow could be made to move across two territories when one is taken over by another - Im just thinking of ways the map could be more informative and express the action taking place more clearly so that even newbies can follow exactly whats going on.[/quote] It would be nice to do things like that, but with a large variety of maps, it would take a lot of time to get right.[/quote][/quote] Maybe focus on just the World Classic map and see how people like it? [quote][quote]Incidentally, I tried the "colour blind" setting but didn't notice any difference - what does this actually change? [/quote] It adds tooltips when hovering over territories.[/quote] Gotcha. Putting pop-up boxes explaining the settings would be cool. [quote][quote]Is there no way around this at all?[/quote] We would have to change the way it is currently implemented, since we would have to store the rolls on the server (at least temporarily). I don't think it is worth it at the current time, but we do have longer term plans to change how the interactions with the server work and then this would be a lot easier. So it is probably something we would wait with until such a time.[/quote] What is your time-scale on long term plans - is it weeks, months, years? [quote][quote]Yes that would help, Im guessing you could always try a few new things and if they dont work, can easily change things back? Would it be possible to maybe have different shapes too - have squares and triangles in addition to the circle? Players could choose both the colour and shape they want - also perhaps have an option that remembers what colour/shape you chose previously and save it as default to make joining new games quicker?[/quote] Definitely something we can experiment with. I'd rather not start with different shapes as well, because that would become too busy. People would get confused what the different shapes mean, and it is also a lot harder to get everything looking right if there are different options. All in all I don't think it adds much to the site. Regarding saving the colour you chose previously: we probably will implement some sort of "colour preference list" so that when joining it will automatically picks the highest colour on that list.[/quote] Dangit, I was really hoping you'd look at a couple more shapes lol - it would completely eliminate confusion in a 3 player game where people have chose similar colours! [quote][quote]Could you have layout "presets" for say 3 different screen sizes - small, medium and large for example? I play on my PC with a large screen, like probably many people do, so there is plenty of room that could be utilised[/quote] As I explained, we would have to actually make those layouts, and there are many areas of the site that need the attention more, but I definitely want to look at this at some point, since we have lots of plans to make the game page better.[/quote] Cool, what are the areas you are giving your attention to right now? [quote][quote]In fact, would it be possible to have something like customisable boxes which we could resize and place where we want on the screen - so a box for the map, another for chat, another for the log, another for the players, even being able to customise the header at the top etc?[/quote] We probably can't spare the time to implement something quite as complicated as this.[/quote] I'm asking way too much aren't I lol - sorry dude! [quote][quote]6) Would it be possible to watch other people play as a spectator - cool way to learn tips and tricks from the pros[/quote] You can open up any active game and just watch them. Is there a specific feature you are missing?[/quote] Can you even do that with games locked by password? I'm guessing this is where the pros play? [quote][quote]7) Is there a way to make Inviting people easier - instead of typing in their name, could there be a drop-down list of all the available people online at that time? Maybe even a filter system so you can pick people who are of a certain skill, or location, or not playing another game already? Also,, could invites be sent directly from the "Whos Online" section by using a right-click or something?[/quote] On the box that you can see when you are in a pending game there is a link to the "invite" page. See the yellow link below: [img]http://i.imgur.com/lviruUa.png[/img] If you click that, you get to a page where you can send invites to all players currently online. Is that what you are looking for?[/quote] Sweet! I completely missed seeing it [quote][quote]8) There is already a filter in the Lobby section - could a few more filter criterias be added like the map being played, number of players in the game, rating level etc Also could the filter settings be remembered so you don't need to keep repeating your choices every time you log on? [/quote] I am not sure about the remembering, but we are definitely working on adding more of these criteria![/quote] Is remembering the setting a difficult thing to implement? Bro, if an extra pair of hands would be of some use to you, I'd be happy to help in any way if you need :-)

[quote]Maybe focus on just the World Classic map and see how people like it?[/quote] It's either something that would be added on all maps or none, so we would have to come up with an implementation that looks right on all of them. [quote]Gotcha. Putting pop-up boxes explaining the settings would be cool.[/quote] I think we have a todo item for that. [quote]What is your time-scale on long term plans - is it weeks, months, years?[/quote] Months in the least, but we're probably looking at 2018 and beyond here. [quote]Cool, what are the areas you are giving your attention to right now?[/quote] In terms of the game page, we are looking at improving the interface for doing turns (which is the reason this thread was started in the first place). We'd also probably prioritise making the game page work on smaller screens over making the game page nice on larger screens. [quote]Can you even do that with games locked by password? I'm guessing this is where the pros play?[/quote] Passwords only limit joining. You can still watch games that are password protected. The only exception is fog of war games, which we can't make visible publicly since it would be too easy to give away information. [quote]Is remembering the setting a difficult thing to implement?[/quote] Not the implementation itself, but we also have to think how it would work. Let's say you want to search for a game specifically and use the filters for that.Next time you come back, the filters are still active, but you don't want them, or maybe you even forgot and get confused over why there are only few games you can see. Either way, you have to go in and undo all the filters. All in all this leads to a confusing and not very nice user experience, so we'd have to be a bit smarter about it. I am not sure how many people would be interested in this feature, so depending on that we may not work on it until a programmer feels like it or there is a clear need for it. [quote]Bro, if an extra pair of hands would be of some use to you, I'd be happy to help in any way if you need :-)[/quote] I'll pass it on.

[quote=Cireon]In terms of the game page, we are looking at improving the interface for doing turns (which is the reason this thread was started in the first place). We'd also probably prioritise making the game page work on smaller screens over making the game page nice on larger screens.[/quote] Cool - so smaller screen as in Tablet size, or down to even Phone size? [quote]Not the implementation itself, but we also have to think how it would work. Let's say you want to search for a game specifically and use the filters for that.Next time you come back, the filters are still active, but you don't want them, or maybe you even forgot and get confused over why there are only few games you can see. Either way, you have to go in and undo all the filters. All in all this leads to a confusing and not very nice user experience, so we'd have to be a bit smarter about it. I am not sure how many people would be interested in this feature, so depending on that we may not work on it until a programmer feels like it or there is a clear need for it.[/quote] Wouldn't it be possible to make the remembering function an option itself? People who want it can tick the Remember Filter Setting box? Is there a way to remove the top Headers when a game starts? - The first line which has "You are logged in as" - The second line which has "Home Maps etc" - As well as the message underneath the map which says "For all information about the new website..." These all seem unnecessary when playing and take up screen space Could the Game Chat Tab be reversed? So it functions like the Game Log Tab where new messages are shown at the top instead of scrolling down? - Together with moving the Send box above the Chat instead of below Also, is there a reason why some aspects are not the same as the Board Game: - The Cards having Infantry/Cavalry/Cannon and getting 6/8/10 troops for matching sets etc? - Not being able to choose how many troops we want on each territory when the game starts? And would you consider removing Tokens for playing Live Games? Because its so difficult to get a Live Game started which has more than 2 players - making it unlimited would mean more people would be around to join a game. Even a 3 player game requires clicking the Stay button for about half an hour

I was going to start a new thread but figured here would be better: [list type=decimal] [li]Can we lose the maroon bar that talks about the website update and how to make suggestions? If it was recent I think it would be fine, but it is over a year old now and just takes up space. [/li][li]If there is no Game Chat can we default show the Game Log? Can we default show the Game Log if I have already read the chat? Basically when I come back for my turn on a long game I want to know what has happened. If there was a chat, ok show that, but if not just the history is good. [/li][li]Can I default to the Smaller view? I have to click it every time. [/li][li]I was going to ask if we could show the Fortification setting somewhere but I just noticed it in the footer. I think that the header should have the important information (e.g. Fortification, Cards and maybe Dice). I personally do not need to see the number of players nor the Game number. Those should be relegated to the footer bar. [/li][li]The two pink colors are very similar (especially on some maps). Could we make it where if you click on a bubble it tells you who the owner is? Possibly it would even highlight all of their land?[/li] [/list]

#5 - There is a colour blind option that you can use as a default https://dominating12.com/account/settings

I know about that...was using it to also request that we could see who the owner was from looking at the map without having to note the color and scroll down. Even if it was a "hover" to say it was xyz that would be good too I would think.

#1: It normally displays a default message with a link to the site's rules, which is fine. We haven't put it back for a while but no big deal imo. #2: We have plans to do this, but it'll be a while before we get to it - there are more important things to do first. #3: Probably not. That's actually annoying to program because that button is all clientside. #4: I actually think that all the important settings (that are not obvious) should be at the bottom, because that's the bar you always see, even if you scroll down. #5: Yup, use colour blind settings. These are also nice to have in team games :)

3. Set a cookie and read it with jQuery? Have it "click" the desired map size? 5. My suggestion was two fold, similar colors but also ease of use. If I want to see information about who owns a territory I have to scroll down to see it and then back up. If I could click on any territory and get who owns it, number of cards, armies, territories and reinforcements it would save a lot of scrolling. This of course would only be for territories you don't own and only when you are not attacking, etc. But I forgot I have the Styler extension installed. I just wrote some CSS and JS to manipulate things (hiding things, making header smaller, moving information around, etc). I am not able to get it to "click" the smaller button yet. I think it has to do with mapDisplay being declared for the first time inside a function. If you could "globally" declare mapDisplay outside of any functions (even setting to blank) I could then likely just make Styler call "mapDisplay.setMapSizeSmall()". This goes for other things too. If you could add a class to each territory (e.g. playerID or something) I could just write my own JS to do the click/hover thing. Right now looking at the structure of the page there is no HTML element to tie a territory to a player. I will see if I can also use this to filter the list of games. The nice thing about styler is that I can share what I write with others if they like it too. It doesn't cost you anything and you don't have to worry about burning cycles making feature requests for one person...