Organism Editor Concept

Okay, so I reviewed over the thread and it seems like all the original questions are all resolved or addressed in the GDD. The following is a basic specification for a prototype of the Organism Editor, including just the Structure tab, and just skeletal systems at that (endoskeletons).

First of all, this is just my mocked up idea of what the editor UI should look like for the OE.



There is a lot more this image doesn't convey:

• The organism of the creature would, of course, be the focus of the OE and right in the center, shown by this dimetrodon.
  
• The MP the player has remaining to spend is in the lower right hand corner (the boring rectangular shape is obviously up for revision). To the immediate left of the MP cost, I would think we should put the Test Mode and Finish buttons.
  
• The save and exit options, as well as Undo, Redo, etc. would be in a bar running along the top at the right hand side.
  
• The Thrive logo would need to be resized to fit better into the circle (much larger, I didn't want to take the time to fix that).
  
• The big circle, when clicked, would switch from the organism editor to the behaviour editor.
  
• The smaller circles would have icons in them. The bottom left would be structure, the middle systems, and the top right surfacing. These smaller circles would disappear when switched into the Behaviour Editor.
  
• Whenever a smaller circle is clicked, the box opens below it, in the space along the left hand side below the big circle, with all the parts and tools in it. The player would select and use these tools or parts to edit their organism.
  
• The stats of the organism, such as health, hunger, and energy will be displayed in coloured bars oriented horizontally, above the MP points box
  
• The remaining stats of the organism, such as strength and movement speed, will be displayed in a drop down menu to the left of the toolbar (the one with save, exit, undo, etc.)
  

So that is it for now. Tell me what you guys think and what suggestions you would make. If you feel inclined, you could even try to make a concept image of the editor using everything suggested.

In terms of the specification, unfortunately there are still some issues which I need to iron out with ~scio. Once we handle those it should be ready for posting tomorrow.

I like the general design, although I think we should probably try to keep it more consistent with the microbe editor GUI - rather than using circles and other shapes with round edges, we could stick to the shattered theme of convex polygons. Other than that, it's pretty much perfect. By the way, you mentioned the behaviour editor - does that still use the hex system ~scio thought up a few pages ago?

I might try and make a concept image of the organism editor.

Minimalist approach, sounds good considering the overall complexity the OE is going for.

Oliver ninja'd the words right out of my mouth

Organism editor concept image: check.

Spoiler:

I tried to merge the microbe editor GUI with Nick's concept, and this was the result. To me, having the Thrive logo as the link to the behaviour editor doesn't really work, although I'm not sure how everyone else feels so I left that in. I replaced the three smaller circles in Nick's design with more shards, although I didn't add icons. The straight edge under the shards in the right hand corner means a panel can extend underneath it corresponding to the option you select. I kept the MP in the bottom right hand corner while test and finish are in the bottom left hand corner to stay consistent with the microbe editor.

EDIT: That image has given me a thought. In the OE CC it says that the test area is a volcanic crater. Would it be better to have the test area and the background editor image as the biome you last inhabited? This would have several advantages - testing camouflage, seeing how well your creature scales the terrain, etc.

I don't know about the rest of the people here, but I like it. And you're right, the editors should have some sort of continuity between them, so it doesn't feel choppy.

And I think the test area could be modified to be like the biome you are inhabiting currently, I'll read up on it again. If not then I think that's a good idea Oliver.

EDIT: Yeah, things like plants, rocks, and cliffs can be placed in the Test environment to see how the organism moves in its natural environment; same with water too.

Immortal_Dragon wrote:

I don't know about the rest of the people here, but I like it. And you're right, the editors should have some sort of continuity between them, so it doesn't feel choppy.

And I think the test area could be modified to be like the biome you are inhabiting currently, I'll read up on it again. If not then I think that's a good idea Oliver.

EDIT: Yeah, things like plants, rocks, and cliffs can be placed in the Test environment to see how the organism moves in its natural environment; same with water too.

Pretty much qft.

Oliveriver wrote:

I tried to merge the microbe editor GUI with Nick's concept, and this was the result. To me, having the Thrive logo as the link to the behaviour editor doesn't really work, although I'm not sure how everyone else feels so I left that in. I replaced the three smaller circles in Nick's design with more shards, although I didn't add icons. The straight edge under the shards in the right hand corner means a panel can extend underneath it corresponding to the option you select. I kept the MP in the bottom right hand corner while test and finish are in the bottom left hand corner to stay consistent with the microbe editor.

Actually, I would merge the Microbe Editor GUI to look more like this. I understand that part of the Thrive design touch is the shatter theme, but I don't think it is necessary for it to apply absolutely, and I think there are situations where there's nothing better than the basic, and conventional, GUI elements. I personally prefer having the large circle with the tangent smaller circles, specifically with only icons in the smaller circles. No offense to the work you did, which was great, but changing that to a shatter style defeats its purpose. I think the toolbar at the top would work fine with shatter, as would the GUI in the bottom right corner (MP Cost, Hunger/Energy/Health bars, Test, Finish). I don't think the bottom middle buttons are necessary, because the mouse controls camera rotation and orbit.

My suggestions for placement would just be to move the X, save, load, and help to the top right, to form the toolbar I mentioned (Have them as icons in one, contiguous rectangular "shatter" shape). This would leave the Thrive circle, with the three smaller circles, alone in their corner. I would also move MP to the far right corner on the bottom, and move test and finish to accomodate that. I would also use icons for test and finish if possible.

Now that I think about it, statistics would also fit easily into the toolbar. It could also be an icon. I'll see if I can make an image to showcase what I mean.



The bars are an icon for the organism stats.

Naturally, I also have ideas for the editor. They will come soon.

I'd wait to see what ~scio comes up with before doing anything else. I agree that the GUI shouldn't completely match the microbe editor, but we definitely need some sort of consistency.

NickTheNick wrote:

I don't think the bottom middle buttons are necessary, because the mouse controls camera rotation and orbit.

Actually, they're undo, redo and symmetry toggle. The line of symmetry from the microbe editor is still visible in the creature's shadow.

My only suggestion for the toolbar would be that the icons, mainly save and load, seem too generic, maybe some kind of icon to represent fossilizing, since that is the name for the save process?

EDIT: At least for the OE.

nice UI, yeah i agree that the editors should all keep the same design in terms of their interface layout. i hope to see what scio is brewing in its mind soon.

Immortal_Dragon wrote:

My only suggestion for the toolbar would be that the icons, mainly save and load, seem too generic, maybe some kind of icon to represent fossilizing, since that is the name for the save process?

EDIT: At least for the OE.

No, fossilization means seeing another species and saving it into your bank. Just saving a creature or tech object in the editor is something different. Also, I would argue that it's best to stick to using the conventional UI icons for save and load, because they have become conventional for a reason (they accurately convey the message) and because it is well established in users to expect these icons.

@Oliveriver: It's a good point to keep them consistent, but I think it's more important we model this editor and base the Microbe Editor off it, since this editor will be one of the two main ones in the game.

After some prolonged collaboration between ~scio and myself, here is the Organism Editor specification. This specification only covers the skeleton creation of the OE, and is meant to help make a guide for anyone who is able to make a prototype for this.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/mo4xmp35dkany14/OE_Prototype_Specification.docx

If you are a programmer and there are parts of this that are not clear enough for coding, please say so and I will get another update out.

Meanwhile, if there are any more GUI concepts to be posted or interface issues to discuss regarding the OE please discuss them now before we begin the next part.

Oliveriver wrote:

Organism editor concept image: check.

Spoiler:

I tried to merge the microbe editor GUI with Nick's concept, and this was the result. To me, having the Thrive logo as the link to the behaviour editor doesn't really work, although I'm not sure how everyone else feels so I left that in. I replaced the three smaller circles in Nick's design with more shards, although I didn't add icons. The straight edge under the shards in the right hand corner means a panel can extend underneath it corresponding to the option you select. I kept the MP in the bottom right hand corner while test and finish are in the bottom left hand corner to stay consistent with the microbe editor.

EDIT: That image has given me a thought. In the OE CC it says that the test area is a volcanic crater. Would it be better to have the test area and the background editor image as the biome you last inhabited? This would have several advantages - testing camouflage, seeing how well your creature scales the terrain, etc.

I like that concept. Although i think you probaly could move statistics to toolbar with icon.

Something like this?

Spoiler:

Close, except, as I suggested earlier, move all the buttons from the top left side to the top right side, and merge them into a toolbar like this.



Except I would stretch out the toolbar a bit, so that the redo and undo buttons can be moved so they aren't on top of each other (unless you guys prefer it that way). This way the Thrive logo plus the three sub-buttons can be on their own in the top left corner.

So right now we are taking that OE concept image and polishing the GUI to its perfection? That sounds like a good idea.
Also, what about that massive Thrive logo on left side being replaced with buttons for switching betwen skeletal/organ/muscle/skin/skin colors/sizing buttons? It kind of annoys me.

The logo is supposed to be a aesthetic addition, as a larger circle with tangent smaller circles. However, if circles are not desired, it will take a shape as Oliver illustrated. Nonetheless, it maintains functionality. Clicking it switches between the Behaviour Editor and the Organism Editor.

The Structure, Systems, and Surfacing tabs cover all the topics you described.

Is this better?

Spoiler:

P.D: i know it needs a clean up, but its just for getting the shape of it

That actually looks really good to me.

NickTheNick wrote:

After some prolonged collaboration between ~scio and myself, here is the Organism Editor specification. This specification only covers the skeleton creation of the OE, and is meant to help make a guide for anyone who is able to make a prototype for this.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/mo4xmp35dkany14/OE_Prototype_Specification.docx

If you are a programmer and there are parts of this that are not clear enough for coding, please say so and I will get another update out.

Meanwhile, if there are any more GUI concepts to be posted or interface issues to discuss regarding the OE please discuss them now before we begin the next part.

Do we have already models for the parts described? If not, i could try to give it a shot, dont expect something to great, but its just so the programmer has something to attach the code. In the case u want me to do it, what program should i use? (I have autocad, maya and zbrush).

ccarriel wrote:

Is this better?

Spoiler:

P.D: i know it needs a clean up, but its just for getting the shape of it

It looks nice, although i still think that ''Structure'' ''systems'' and ''surfacing'' buttons would look nicer with a little icon next to them. Just my thoughts.

Like what kind of icons? I think that maybe a skull (or bones) for structure, a heart for systems, but what for surface? (i dont understand at all the word).

ccarriel wrote:

Is this better?

Spoiler:

P.D: i know it needs a clean up, but its just for getting the shape of it

Very good! There are just some smaller suggestions left to cover (if you want to I can tell you what they are), but this looks really good. Though, I do think the toolbar at the top right looks a bit stretched out. I know that there needed to be space for the undo and redo, but now the icons beside them look to wide. One change I would make would be to fix that.

ccarriel wrote:

Like what kind of icons? I think that maybe a skull (or bones) for structure, a heart for systems, but what for surface? (i dont understand at all the word).

Maybe some reptile scales or fur?