> I wouldn't recommend having bars of differing scales unless there's some
> visual clue of the scale. Otherwise, it's impossible to read *any* of the
> bars without secondary information. I'm assuming that the bar is meant to
> be a quick visual aid, so the player can glance at it to determine his
> status. By having bars of various scales scattered about the interface,
> the user must know beforehand that, on his health bar, 3 stars mean 30%;
> if he has to stop and think about it, you've defeated your own purpose.
-- Me Neither
> If you really do want to have bars of different length, then consider:
>
> char *bar(char *buffer, int M, int per, int scale)
> {
> const char barChar = '*';
> const char bgChar = ':';
> int barLen = MIN(M - 1, per / scale);
> int bgLen = MIN(M - 1, 100 / scale);
>
> memset(buffer, bgChar, bgLen);
> memset(buffer, barChar, barLen);
>
> *(buffer + bgLen) = '\0';
> return buffer;
> }
>
> /* ... macros the same ... */
>
> which, used like
>
> char hb[21], vb[21], mb[21];
> send_to_char(ch, "HEALTH: %s\n"
> "MOVE: %s\n"
> "MANA: %s\n",
> SBAR(hb, GET_HIT(ch), GET_MAX_HIT(ch), 5),
> SBAR(vb, GET_MOVE(ch), GET_MAX_MOVE(ch), 5),
> SBAR(mb, GET_MANA(ch), GET_MAX_MANA(ch), 5));
>
> produces results like:
>
> HEALTH: ******::::::::::::::
> MOVE: **********::::::::::
> MANA: **::::::::::::::::::
>
>
-- I have an idea, why not just use colors to differentiate? For non-color
enabled players, you can just boldface white using a bold white :) For the
rest, just use different colors (bold vs reg).
??? What you think ???
> > [snip other extensions]
>
> Note that my point was simplicity, not exhaustiveness. It's trivial to
> add all of these whizbang features to it, but I don't think its necessary
> for creating an attractive visual aid. Moreover, I think it can detract
> from the purpose -- the more the user is distracted by its appearance, the
> less useful it is to them.
>
Yup....my pov also.
Mythran
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