User interface (gameplay?)

[Ñuño Martínez]

I'm working on the final version of an old project. I'm not very happy with the current user interface and people feedback is they find it a bit confusing too. May be you can help me to find a better UI.

There's a screenshot:

The UI is:

• If you click on a tile then it will rotate clockwise.
• If you press [Alt]+mouse button then the tile will rotate counter-clockwise.
• If you press [Ctrl]+mouse button then the tile will slide to the free tile (the one without tracks or cows) if possible.

I did it this way because I thought a "single button mouse" is better. Of course it will be configurable but I'm not sure how many different configurations I'll add.

What mouse and/or keyboard commands you use in a similar gameplay?

[chronozphere]

I would add three buttons to the UI:

One that shows an arrow that points to an empty rectangle (move to free tile).
One that shows an circulair arrow pointing clockwise
One that shows an circulair arrow pointing counter-clockwise

The user should click one of these buttons to select the corresponding action, and then click a tile. This would make the UI easier to use because the user can see what he is doing. It requires more click's though. :?

Another very easy-to-use approach:

Left-click is Move to free.
Right-click is Rotate (CCW or CW).

I think you don't need both clockwise and counterclockwise rotations. Rotating 90 degrees counterclockwise is the same as rotating 270 degrees clockwise right?

[JernejL]

ok.. seriously, you don't tell kids to use CTRL and ALT keys.. they need a intiutitive interface, even if that means it is slower for them to click a button on toolbar / gui and then the game, but it makes more sense for them, trust me and don't make shortcuts in kids game, make it with easy interface instead.

[Robert Kosek]

I'd aim for the really simple. Left click (on mouse up) rotates 90 degrees right, unless you are in a different tile (IE, dragging/moving the tile); right click rotates 90 degrees left. Simple and with two buttons only.

[Ñuño Martínez]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I'll implement chronozphere second solution and Robert Kosek's one and allow user to select one or another. I'll also implement a keyboard input method (cursor keys to move the tile selector and 3 action buttons [2 rotate + 1 slide]).

Thanks again.