[MUD-Dev] User interface design [was: Where are we now?]

[Phillip Lenhardt]

On Wed, May 09, 2001 at 09:53:04PM +0100, Greg Munt wrote:

> So. Graphical interface. But what kind? This, iirc, has never really
> been discussed here. It's always focused on the server, not the
> client. This may be somewhat due to telnet interfaces being
> implemented in the server. But - we are not primarily telnet games
> here, anymore. So, I hereby encourage such discussion!

It's been discussed here before, check the archives.

> Alternatives for a graphical interface: 1. Java telnet This is
> nothing more than a telnet window embedded in a browser. YUCK.

This is one of my pet peeves. Calling telnet-with-mouse-driven-menus a
"graphical mud client" made sense back when most people ran
DOS. Nowadays it just seems disingenuous to me.

>   2. First-person 3D
>   3. Third-person 3D
>   4. Tiled 2D
>   5. Non-tiled 2D
> Any others?

Lot of others, I think. Rich text (eg text with embedded images) with
menued input, rich text with hyperlinked input, 2d/3d with gestural
input, etc. The way the user inputs is in my opinion more important
than how output is displayed to the user.

> I've been thinking about my interface recently. It's very
> frustrating. I have to choose between an interface I don't want, or
> an interface I don't have the skills to produce. Someone should set
> up freegfxartists.org. Or something.

If you want "realistic" graphics, I think you are right. It can't be
done except commerically or in WorldForge-sized community efforts. But
there is a hell of a lot of space between telnet and quake. I
mentioned rich text as one transitional option, but imagine also a
sort of cartoonish or iconic graphical display supplemented by text. I
think that both of these types of client are well within the reach of
a small (1-2 person) development team with severely limited or
non-existant graphical assets.

Also, even if freegfxartists.org existed, you'd have you work cut out
for you. As I understand it, integrating and managing graphical assets
is at least as hard as creating it. And no amount of free art can fix
that.
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