Production/Research Summary Rework

Programmers discuss here anything related to FreeOrion programming. Primarily for the developers to discuss.

Moderator: Committer

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Geoff the Medio
Programming, Design, Admin
Posts: 13587
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:33 am
Location: Munich

Production/Research Summary Rework

#1 Post by Geoff the Medio »

While accidentally doing some weird push that seems to have messed up some branches, I was trying to just push a branch that has reworking of the production and research summary windows at the top left of those screens.

Screenshot attached. Pull request added.

It shows the available and wasted PP in the empire overall, as before, and for just the selected production location.

I removed the number of items on the queue and the number funded, as I didn't think these were very useful or worth the space.

It's a normal window, which can be moved / resized / pinned.

Next step would be to make the queue repositionable as well, but this hasn't been done yet.
Attachments
reworked production info window
reworked production info window
prod_info_rework.png (317.47 KiB) Viewed 2257 times

User avatar
Vezzra
Release Manager, Design
Posts: 6095
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:56 pm
Location: Sol III

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#2 Post by Vezzra »

Looks good! Anything preventing that from going in prior to 0.4.5?

User avatar
The Silent One
Graphics
Posts: 1129
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2003 8:27 pm

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#3 Post by The Silent One »

Wouldn't two lines suffice? Like

Code: Select all

Empire Production     12  /  16.4   PP used
System Production      4  /   6.3   PP used
If I provided any images, code, scripts or other content here, it's released under GPL 2.0 and CC-BY-SA 3.0.

User avatar
Geoff the Medio
Programming, Design, Admin
Posts: 13587
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:33 am
Location: Munich

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#4 Post by Geoff the Medio »

The Silent One wrote:Wouldn't two lines suffice? Like

Code: Select all

Empire Production     12  /  16.4   PP used
System Production      4  /   6.3   PP used
Not "system", as it's the whole local group of connected objects sharing PP.

But rewording is quite possible... I just kept as much of the existing layout code as possible for the first pass.

User avatar
MatGB
Creative Contributor
Posts: 3310
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 11:45 pm

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#5 Post by MatGB »

Ah, so it's not "this system" it's, "this resource group", that's helpful, and will normally be the same, using Resource Group (or coming up with a better term we can use everywhere that's used) would be good.
Mat Bowles

Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

User avatar
Dilvish
AI Lead and Programmer Emeritus
Posts: 4768
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:25 pm

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#6 Post by Dilvish »

MatGB wrote:using Resource Group (or coming up with a better term we can use everywhere that's used) would be good.
We could make it less technical/programmer-geek-talk and more story-like by using "Supply Consortium" instead of "Resource Group" in all the user language (at least with respect to Production Points, which are our only current resource affected by Resource Groups).
If I provided any code, scripts or other content here, it's released under GPL 2.0 and CC-BY-SA 3.0

User avatar
Geoff the Medio
Programming, Design, Admin
Posts: 13587
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:33 am
Location: Munich

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#7 Post by Geoff the Medio »

Or "Available Here" to avoid having to use a story-dependent term like "consortium" or jargon like "resource sharing group"...

Aside: strategic resources available at a location could also be listed in this window.

User avatar
MatGB
Creative Contributor
Posts: 3310
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 11:45 pm

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#8 Post by MatGB »

Geoff the Medio wrote:Or "Available Here" to avoid having to use a story-dependent term like "consortium" or jargon like "resource sharing group"...
We need a term that can be used in the Pedia to explain what's going on in various pages, we already use Resource Group, I've never liked it but can't think of something better, and it does work. Initial feedback from the recent page rewrites indicate it's a lot clearer than it was with the new emphasis.

Jargon is another way of defining terms, if you've got a Thing which is difficult to explain but needs to be referred to in multiple places then a term is good, even if it's MadeUpWord #3.
Mat Bowles

Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

User avatar
Dilvish
AI Lead and Programmer Emeritus
Posts: 4768
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:25 pm

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#9 Post by Dilvish »

Geoff the Medio wrote:Or "Available Here" to avoid having to use a story-dependent term like "consortium" or jargon like "resource sharing group"...
"Available Here" certainly sounds fine for the queue display panel.

For actual explanations to the user, we apparently do still need a more natural term than "Resource Group", and I am really liking "Supply Consortium":

Code: Select all

An empire's Supply Consortium is a coalition of government and business groups exchanging resources in various types of behind-the-scenes transactions as indicated by [[encyclopedia SUPPLY_TITLE]] lines, which enable the smooth flow of resources (such as are represented by [[encyclopedia PRODUCTION_POINTS_TITLE]] to those destinations where they are needed.   If an empire's systems (or sub-groups of systems) are prevented by [[encyclopedia BLOCKADES_TITLE]] from constantly exchanging messengers and resources, the empire-wide Supply Consortium fragments into smaller Supply Consortiums until such time as the [[encyclopedia SUPPLY_TITLE]] connections may be restored.
Framing a concept as a type of preexisting social context that people already have some familiarity with makes it much easier to understand. It's amazing how much better people (in general) are at solving math and logic problems if you can frame them in a social situation.
If I provided any code, scripts or other content here, it's released under GPL 2.0 and CC-BY-SA 3.0

User avatar
Geoff the Medio
Programming, Design, Admin
Posts: 13587
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:33 am
Location: Munich

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#10 Post by Geoff the Medio »

MatGB wrote:We need a term that can be used in the Pedia...
Sure, but this is not the pedia. What works in a paragraph of text doesn't necessary work best in a much more restricted space for text. In the pedia, "supply-connected group of planets and systems that pool their production output" might work.

User avatar
MatGB
Creative Contributor
Posts: 3310
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 11:45 pm

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#11 Post by MatGB »

The more the same term is used, the easier it is for a player to pick up on the meaning, "available here" and "resource group" is virtually the same length, "supply consortium" only marginally longer, in order for players to pick up on the meaning of a feature you need to refer to it in the same consistent way throughout the game, when I saw "available here" I assumed this planet as did Sloth, ergo that's a bad choice of terminology.

Understanding how supply works for a new player is, it seems, one of the harder aspects of the game for a lot of players, as is the idea of linked buildings applying everywhere, this is the perfect opportunity to make it clear and explicit in game.
Mat Bowles

Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

User avatar
Geoff the Medio
Programming, Design, Admin
Posts: 13587
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:33 am
Location: Munich

Re: Production/Research Summary Rework

#12 Post by Geoff the Medio »

MatGB wrote:"available here" and "resource group" is virtually the same length...
Yes, but "resource group" doesn't actually say what it needs to, which would be "available in the resource group of this production location". Maybe "In this resource group" could work, given that "available" is used in the above text for the whole empire, but it's a bit longer, and might be problematic to translate in the same space.
...when I saw "available here" I assumed this planet as did Sloth, ergo that's a bad choice of terminology.
"this planet" is arguably an accurate interpretation. It indicates how much PP is available at the selected planet.

Tooltips might be useful to explain a short term, though.

Post Reply