MiniCards Diplomacy UI Mod (beta v0.1)
I have created a new diplomacy UI mod called "MiniCards". (Yes I know, the name isn't much more inspirational than "InfoMap" is it?) There is an initial beta version available for people to try out if they are interested. I would appreciate some feedback on this mod, particularly from high level diplomats, since I've only started diplomacy fairly recently myself.
I had two main objectives when making this mod:
1) To shrink the strategy window whilst still maintaining the look and feel of playing cards (as opposed to the minimal, more abstract list format available in CoreUI3 for example). Therefore the parley cards have been reduced to two-thirds their original size, whilst the font size of the numbers is the same. The appearance of the cards is close to that in the default UI, but some changes were necessary to fit everything on. The smaller cards mean less mouse movement is required during parleys to select the next card to play.
2) To focus the UI interaction for diplomacy cards around the strategy window instead of going through the abilities window. A free-floating button gives direct access to open (and close) the strategy window. This makes it very quick to check your deck before starting a parley. Then if you wish to change any cards, there is a button to open a card library above the strategy window. The library shows 30 cards on each page, in the same minature card format. It behaves just like the diplomacy tab in the abilities window, you simply drag the cards to the slots in the strategy window.
Other features are:
3) During parleys the Listen, Farewell and Complete buttons are duplicated on the strategy window. Placing all the controls required for parleys on one window again reduces the amount of mouse movement required and increases ease of use.
4) The strategy window can also be closed by right-clicking on the window handle (the stack of cards symbol on the left-hand side).
Something to note is that since the cards are smaller, the areas available to respond to drag and drop actions is also smaller. I recommend using the rectangular area with the picture and card name as the grabbing point when picking up cards, and likewise aim for this area when dropping cards into the strategy window.
Strategy window during a parley:
Strategy window with library window open:
Installation
You can download the beta version from here:
www.soresha.net/minicards/MiniCards_v0.1.zip
This is
not a full UI mod, it is a collection of replacement files that can be added into the UI. As such some simple editing of the index files is required. The directory you choose to put the files into will vary depending on what existing UI mod you are using.
1) In index.xml, add 4 new files: DMCParleyCardStrat.xml, DMCParleyCardLib.xml, DMCLibraryPage.xml and DMCParleyStrategy.xml.
2) Also in index.xml, comment out the old strategy window, e.g. VGUIParleyStrategy.xml (Default UI) or CoreParleyStrategy.xml (CoreUI3).
3) In skininfo.xml, add the file DMCParts.xml.
4) Place the texture file DMCParts.tga in the same directory as the DMCParts.xml file.
Ultimately I made this mod for my own use, and there may well be elements of personal preference within it's design. However it may be of use to other players too, so let me know what you think. Techywarrior has also expressed an interest, so if enough people are interested it may be possible to add this as an option within CoreUI3 (which would avoid the need for manually editing the index files).
Soresha
MiniCards Diplomacy UI Mod
Linear Mode
