Planned UI Updates

Hello everyone ^_^

Due to some ongoing major bug fixes, development has continued on the slow side, so this week I've instead decided to outline some of my ongoing plans for the game here to gauge the feelings of the community and explain some of where my current attention is going. So, to start with, I'd like to explain a bit of an overview of what I'm planning and why.

After spending a lot of time dealing with major bug issues I've mentioned before (issues with the travel system update and older code no longer working after an impromptu engine update), I spent more time than usual going through the game build (not just the test engine side I normally side). And, doing so, I've realised that many of the interfaces are just rather bland to look at, and that outside of that there are a lot of places that could do with better visuals.

To compensate for this, I want to go through a lot of the UI's to make them cleaner and more visually appealing. I've already updated the finances page (end of day and through the home management board), and I think it just looks way better, and better breaks up those evening scenes. In line with that, there are lots of things I want to do, some more short term and others more in general. Things like updating how the job/training selection from the room tablet looks, as that's something the player interacts with a lot, or making the quest log just way more intuitive so players use it more. There's also the matter of location images (such as for the sandbox floor hubs), which I think would be great for visually setting the scene, and is something I'll be talking to my artist's about.

Additionally, with the 0.6.x builds, that will be coming soon, I'll be implementing two new additions to the game, those being the more interactive avatar image system, and the hunger/thirst system. As all of this information needs to be displayed somewhere, I'm planning to create a right sidebar, which like the left one will also be able to be hidden by the player. This sidebar is planned to have the avatar image, the hunger and thirst bars, a list of any daily tasks the player has (mini-quests with limited time), and a single tracked quest.

In the following section I'll talk about the specifics in a bit more detail.

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Avatar System Update - Talked in more detail elsewhere, the new avatar image system has been worked on by me and my main artist, Silverjile, for about the last 2 years. It'll come in a character bust and full character version, with more options being continuously added to it. In the new right-hand sidebar, the character bust version will be shown, with buttons to swap between; clothed, unclothed but with underwear/accessories, completely naked, versions. The avatar image system will also be used for NPC's in various instances.

Hunger/Thirst UI - More of a minor thing, but addressing it lets me explain the hunger/thirst plans in general a bit more. In terms of UI, there will be bars representing how hunger/thirsty the player is on the right sidebar. More generally, players will get hungrier and thirstier over time, and will need to eat/drink. This will make restaurants, eateries, and vending machines more important, increase the chances of transformation based food/drink shenanigans, and put more emphasis on exercise as a good way to spend energy points. Players will be able to automate eating/drinking, and have housemates cook for them.

Quests & Tasks UI - The quest page is a bit awkward to say the least. My plans are to update the quest page to more clearly and cleanly display quest information, separating it out into separate sections selected through buttons at the top of the UI. The quests themselves will be better delineated too, with potential for quest sorting.

Job/Training Selection UI - The jobs/training selection screen is something that's accessed a lot, and it's just not great. I want to overhaul it so it's a bit more visually appealing, with a more defined UI, separates things into more discrete categories, offers more information to players who want it (such as full run-downs on what increases/decreases payout), and potentially with sorting/favorite-ing options for quick access to jobs/training the player most frequents. Additionally, I'd like to have some simple icons made to represent the jobs, and help with the visuals.

Skills/Traits UI - Like with the quest page, the skills/traits page is kind of basic and hard to use. I want to make it so that it's easier to quickly look at your skill levels and traits, separating them out into categories, and just generally making the whole page look more visually appealing.

Hub Location Selection - When in the hub locations (like the shopping floor of the facility) it can be a bit of a jumble with the ever-increasing list of locations to visit. I want to make the selection list a bit more usable and visually focused with icons to represent the various businesses, and a quick/condensed version of the location menu using those icons.

Location Images - Something I've noticed when exploring the game is that I never added in images to showcase what the major locations look like. I think that adding locations to at least the hub locations (and in the future maybe stores and jobs too), would help add some more nice visuals, and further express what the facility looks like. I'd also like to do this for the backgrounds in the intro, and I already have images to add for the different places in the school.

Misc UI Changes - Lots of smaller plans and thoughts for UI tweaks are in my notes. For example, I'd love to change all of the 'Do You' selection sections to be in UI boxes, and potentially change the decisions from text links to buttons (would make it easier for APK players). The examine player page could probably use an overhaul, but I don't have a vision for it yet, in the same way I'm not sure if I should overhaul or remove the inventory page. I've also wondered if an icon list for quickly travelling around the player's home might be preferable (especially as I intend to expand on the purchasable rooms).

On top of that, I've recently found a repository of Twine/Sugarcube code Macros that are really useful. These Macros allow for me to; create in-game pop-ups, little notifications, and change the CSS (code which dictates things like font, background images, etc.) within the game. Already, I've made the options menu accessible from the side menu through the pop-up window code, and made it so when the player becomes a bimbo their background changes to the pink bimbo scene one. With this, I've started to have some ideas about other ways those backgrounds could change, or even options for the player to customize the UI a little in-game (such as potentially font sizes changes for players on small devices).

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While not an exhaustive list, and liable to face some degree of changes, these are some of the UI updates I have planned. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback, especially if there are other areas of the game you'd like to see get a nice UI overhaul.

Thank you for reading my plans, and happy gaming ^_^