Magma´s GUI (ideas for improve it)

Hi.. Im an old player of Microprose´s Magic game.
I want to congratulate Magma´s author for this great one.. cause the new card adition and the current AI is really great.

After testing Magma.. I feel that GUI is a bit confusing for play.. so let me post some pics and comment the Magma´s GUI and Microprose´s magic one.

(all snapshots at 1024x768)





The most anoying thing of Magma is the box that display Turns.

Think about your eye movement...
If you are on the opponent´s turn your eyes are focused on the upper part of the screen.. so its really anoying moving them to the top bottom each time you want to check the turn phases.

Look at the Micropose´s way.. using a column with the phases step. Really is more pleasant for the eye.. cause you dont have to read letters (a lighted image is enough) also you can check phase on the game with a fast left movement to the left.

If you are watching opponent turn.. your eyes are centered on top of screen.. so moving eyes a little to the left is really easy. (notice that this phases column its not placed on and edge of the screen.. its placed near the middle of screen.. near the board where cards are playing and where you usually have you r eyes focused.


About Life numbers.. remaining cards.. cards in hand.. The current pics (art) are cool.. yes.. but when you are playing you are centered on the cards Pics of the board .. and really you only want to see clearly the numbers of LIFE POINT, CARDS IN HAND.. and really few more.. so In my oppinion the lot of art on the GUI distract the gameplay a lot cause you have to seach into the GUI images where is the important dataplaced.. Bigger NUMBERS would be cool.
I also dont see important display the wizard pic on that GUI.. so I would remove it.

About the cards on the board.. really I think cards Images are very small. Why so small? OK.. doing them small you can show more cards over the board... but really making them bigger would be nice.. cause when you play your eyes are focused exactly on the pics on the cards!!!

Maybe you can get room for bigger card image removing or adding option for disable show the casting cost of cards.. You have a big box for diplay the selected card data.. so not necesary display all info over the cards that are in play.

I have made a copy/paste image work.. for show you an idea about how current GUI would be more clear and pleasant for play.
OK Its a clone of Microprose´s system.. but why not reuse it if really works?



I have removed the bottom GUI displaying the phase turn, the Stack Book, the info box, and the attack and skip buttons. I added these buttons on the phase´s columns.. so nothing is missing.
BTW removing the botton bar you have more room for display bigger image cards.

Ok.. Im sure that all of you will hate me, cause its more work for coder and the ghaphixer that created the current GUI.
I just only post my ideas cause I think Magma is a great game but GUI need to be fixed for better playability yet.

Best regards

[Modificato da Kakhen 20/05/2006 23.57]

Well, Kakhen,
in those cases the judgement is always a personal judgement, and we never can make ALL people satisfied... when we change something, we must try to be balanced [SM=x77419]
I can say you for example that creating a column for phases, as you say, will remove even more space to the game field and a lot of people don't want that. About the numbers, they WERE "greater" when the graphics were BAD... now the graphics are good, people is happy but as you see there's always someone not so happy... de gustibus [SM=x77404]
Secondary thing: we avoid copying EXACTLY the official game, because WE CANNOT. We are not supported by Wizards Of The Coast, or Microprose... so we have to be a little "original", you understand [SM=x77405]
Last consideration: the problem is not only "more work" for me and graphicmen, it's that those "really secondary" issues would remove time for EVEN MORE important things, like adding new features for implementing new cards (about 2000 new cards are in testing phase!) and ameliorating AI (also consider that we renewed the graphics but keeping the old graphic structure and interfaces so we had not to waste our time creating the game base from zero! [SM=x77400] ). I decided to give priority to these important improvements, all other "ideas" are superfluous, at this time. Anyway, this doesn't mean we'll not consider your opinion in the future... when the game will be at an higher evolution phase [SM=x77401]

Thanx,
Alex Bernardi
MagMa 2 Programmer
alexbern.altervista.org

[Modificato da alexbern 22/05/2006 21.01]

Ok .. if you testing 2000 new cards.. really give it priority to it.. I think all people really prefer have new cards played OK by magma´s AI rather than a new GUI.

---

creating a column for phases, as you say, will remove even more space to the game field and a lot of people don't want that

---

Just only notice that I added the columns for phases.. but I removed the botton bar of so there are more space now ;)
(maybe you can consider it for future..)
-------------------------------------------------
Anyway Priority for new cards addition ... for SURE!!! ;)

Keep the good work guys!!

Strange, I have this game (aka Shandalar);... and these ArtWorks for lands... inspiration and tabernacle isn't in the game... =/
Can you PM please?

I have to say I agree with Kahken. You really have to think about the GUI.
Magma may be a good game but as it is, it is very unpleasant to play. and personnally I can't play more than two match in a row. and that's because the interface is not practical and the cards are much too small (I mean, I think you could solve that problem pretty easily, couldn't you ?

Also I've noticed that there is an option to have an alternate card design, I would be very happy to use it because as it is it doen't change a thing.
No seriously, I know a lot of you computer buffs are not great at design but you really have to make an effort, why don't you change the card face into an image ? this way someone could make a nice card face and the game would be more pleasing to the eye, you should make the necessary informations for playing much more visible, you should make better ability and counter graphics(i.e. the counetrs on Blastoderm).

I know you may have alot of work on your plate but that aspect is crucial because an ugly and unpractical game where you have to squnit your eyes to find your information is a game people won't play.

I agree you don't want to make a copycat of the Microprose game, but still ! you can get inspired and then change the look.
If your looking for a graphic card face that wouldn't look too much like something with a copyright I can think about it and help you.

Harry pitfall : I can't for the life of me understand how your copy of the Microprose game doesn't have tabernacle....Mine has [SM=x77433]

Well, I'm afraid but I don't agree with you.
Ya know, the game is already optimized for use and the card size is optimized for complex situations (you must consider that Shandalar was only 5TH edition, so MagMa [9TH] can have MORE MORE complex situations than Shandalar and need space in the gamefield).
To see a card enlarged just click on it and you'll see the text at the right side of the interface.
If you need more space, just use the "full screen" option.
That's all. I have a lot of more important things (1st of all 2000 new cards under construction) than change an already good (and a lot of times already changed!!! [SM=x77429] ) GUI.

p.s.: the "alternative" card style work and I don't know why you say not (it just changes some colours in the cards).

Ciao!
Alex
_____________________
Alex Bernardi
Programmatore di MagMa 2
alexbern.altervista.org

[Modificato da alexbern 19/09/2006 22.09]

Well Alex i use Magma in full screen and on a 19 inch screen and the cards are too small. I wouldn't care for a complexe situation if I have such a hard time knowing what card is where and doing what.
And you can better handle a complexe situation in Shandalar than in Magma because you see the cards better.It's as simple as that.the fact that Magma is 9th edition when Sndalar is 5th (actually it's 4th) has nothing to do with it since at the momment, most of the cards I noticed in Magma are pretty simple.


I mean, when 2 users tell you : I find the cards too small, you just can't tell them, no they are not, that's not being customer friendly, and that's not a very rationnal answer.

now on the issue of the GUI, you can't just say : "we're adding 2000 cards so we can't get bothered with it" : WoTC releases about 1000 carxds a year, so since it looks as though you're trying to keep up with the new cards, if you don't want to get overwhlmed by it, you are going to have to focus on such issues. If the GUI as been xhange several time without success, obviously the persons who worked on it weren't up to the job and you have to rethink it and ask other people to design it. most of it is a question of layout of the game space, font size and assigning images instead of colors to the cardsface , it's not that hard.

Sorry to be blunt, but Magma could be such a nice alternative to the Microprose game....except it's a torture to play with it. And when we point it out, your reply of plain "no, no everything is fine this way", is quite hard to take.

Well man, that's just your opinion.
MagMa is played by thousands of people and only a little few of them say the GUI is not satisfying users. By this way, I should i.e. make the game background red unchangeable, because a pair of users want it? [SM=x77417]
Or, remaining on your lineguide, some users sayd the cards are too big because they have a 1024x768 resolution on a 14'' screen and can't contain usefully all the cards... man, you have problems of view just because you play the game on a 19'' very wide monitor... and this is not a classic situation (please use some glasses). I can't go crazy giving importance to those details, variable on each one's opinion [SM=x77400]

Your solution, replacing the card with an image, is bad and stupid, because an image can't be dynamic refreshed like now the card image structure is. The right solution could be enlarge the cards but changing the size of the cards will require a complete change of the graphics rendering engine (markers, icons, names positions and so on) and this make that change a very very low priority issue (a very little benefit with a really big effort). In addition, that could be bad for other users having little screen space [SM=x77416]

Think you what you want about that, I'm not interested on it, I have something much more important to do on the game.
The original graphics engine (with the actual card size) was created by the first author of the project, Vaporator; I hardly powered it but I have no time to rebuild the game from zero because of your strange ideas about programming. If I had to make the game from zero, simply MagMa would'nt exist [SM=x77406]
The GUI has been changed 3 times and the last one is appreciated all over the world. Ya're a single voice out of the crowd (and I make you notice that there're no CUSTOMERS, we're just working for free and we'll satisfied when users appreciate the many good things done instead of boring us like you're doing).
It's obvious that you played only the last release and pretend the universe right here right now, without knowing anything about the game evolution story [SM=x77405]
Just return to Shandalar game if you want.

Last but not least, I can't allow you to insult my collaborators that have done a so good work on the game (graphics included). So little kid, please stop it if you don't want to be banned. [SM=x77431]

See ya
Alex
_____________________
Alex Bernardi
Programmatore di MagMa 2
alexbern.altervista.org

[Modificato da alexbern 22/09/2006 16.03]