Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
90 lines (74 loc) · 3.75 KB

client.md

File metadata and controls

90 lines (74 loc) · 3.75 KB
Raw

tildemush client

TUI

Principles

The fundamental UX principles of tildemush's TUI are:

  • discoverability Users should know, without pressing a single button, how to get help or learn more about the interface. the micro editor does this very well: instead of listing out a bunch of commands like nano, it tells you how to toggle a command list as well as how to get more detailed help.
  • clear feedback Errors should suggest paths to remediation.
  • frequent activity A failing(?) of many TUIs is giving the appearance of still silence when activity is happening slightly out of sight. I posit that without stooping to the addiction/stimulation driven approach of contemporary graphical social media we can make decisions that hint at activity outside of a user's current room or just by displaying nice environmental information during quiet periods.

Screens

  • Initial splash screen with ascii art and information
  • Character login screen
  • Main game UI
  • witch editing modal
  • Character information modal (inventory listing, examine output, bio editing)
  • Preferences / account modal
  • Help area (reference + tutorials)

Main Game UI

The primary screen users will be staring at needs to be multi-paned, responsive to input, and nice to look at.

_______________________________
| top bar[1]                  | 
|-----------------|-----------|
| main area[2]    | status[5] |
|                 |           |
|                 |           |
|-----------------|-----------|
| command area[3]             |
|-----------------------------|
| help area[4]                |
-------------------------------
  • [1] top bar Shows a kind of "topic" set by admins, as well as connection information (ie total connected users, current character's name)
  • [2] main area Where chats, emotes, and any other "live" information scrolls through
  • [3] command area Where commands are input.
  • [4] help area Where hints about what to do / how to find more help are displayed
  • [5] status area Information about the current room, its occupants, and the user's inventory

Open UI questions

  • Should whispering get its own modal? I think whispers should take place in the main area with an obvious prefix / color change.
  • Should various actions get key chords? Or all be based on / commands?

In game commands

  • /dig create a new room, assigning its ownership to the user
  • /destroy destroy a created object
  • /create fabricate a new object
  • /clone create a copy of an object to transfer to another user
  • /bless open up an object for scripting
  • /anchor pins an object to a room. It can only be picked up again by the person who anchored it.
  • /ignore ignore a player or object's messages
  • /say audibly chat to your current room. default action for entered text.
  • /yell be loud; chats to your current room, but other rooms hear indistinct yelling from your room. shortcut is **
  • /emote use a predefined non-verbal action (potentially at another user) shortcut is !
  • /whisper send a private message to a nearby user. shortcut is .
  • /do free-form "character does x"
  • /get pick up an item in your current room
  • /examine get item info for something in your current room or inventory; get info on a user
  • /look get room info
  • /drop drop an item
  • /wear add something to your "is wearing" description
  • /unwear remove something from your "is wearing" description
  • /wield carry an item in your hands
  • /unwield put away an item
  • /quit end game socket session and quit client

As long as the command isn't reserved, items can provide new actions to users. For example, an amulet of hugs can bestow the /hug command specifically when worn.