DevLog: Choice Menu


I've been working on a new choice menu style recently. When I first envisioned the game I didn't want typical text boxes in a row. They're so boring! The game choice menu is pretty amazing. In the original release when the player highlighted a choice it would change Eir's face. It was a visual cue on how the choice would be displayed. Also the game remembers what choices you've already made and changes the color of the text if you've already chosen it before.  If that wasn’t enough you could choose something by simply keying 1-9 in accordance to what was displayed.

The new changes keep the old features, but add a more visually diverse set up for the choice buttons as well as adding the last line spoken so you don't have to rollback to remember the last line. This also helps you as a player keep track of what choice branches. I like this a lot better than the old version. I think it's more dynamic looking, though I'm not 100% sold on the new GUI. I find the text harder to read and I've always wanted to hide the numbers when the player used the mouse to select them. However, they're there to help players know which key to press for a quicker selection.

If I'm ever able to convert this to mobile, which is a long term goal, I will be removing the numbers. There's no point if you're on a touch screen.

So I did the video to show the difference between the two different choice menus. The default, let's call it, isn't vision impaired friendly because you can't use the keyboard easily to cycle through the different menu items. When you press down often it thinks you're accessing the Quick Menu.

What’s really nice is that when the players hit "V", entering self-voicing, the menu changes to a vertical alignment so the user can simple use keyboard up and down. It also voices "How should I respond?" to note when the choice screen is activated.

Thoughts?

For reference I've added the side by side comparison of the two different styles. The first is close to the demo and the second is the new one from the first choice in the game. (The buttons on the top are not in game and are for development use only.)

(Images removed because original hosting no longer supports.)

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Comments

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I'm so sorry...I know you've worked hard on this, yet I personally prefer the old version.

The new one seems too distracting for me as if it rips the choice away from the story line. You mentioned that you dislike the typical box...well, for me, the new one seems as if the box just transformed into a different shape.

The old version maybe more plain, but its simplicity makes the choices naturally blend into the story.  And this feature stands out and makes me impressed from the very first time. It suits my taste because when playing a VN  I don't like to pursue a certain ending. I'd rather flow along the plot and see where my choices lead me to. 

In my personal opinion, the old version is already impressive and unique as it is, and I love it.

However, this is just my small thought...in the end, I will go along with any of your decision ^^

^_^ It's all right. I'm happy to have some input. The idea that the shape just changed was an afterthought in my head too.

It's an alpha, so it's not final, and to be honest I'm not 100% in love with this as I said before. I do want to add the last thing said to the screen, and work not having boxes.

The default screen that I've always seen looks like this:

source: "The Question" renpy.org sample game

It presents the choices in a organized way that is easy for the player to choose, but to me it's kind of plain. A check this box or check that box.

Anyways, I'll keep at it and find something that fits for the game. It's not going to be overnight, but it at least is something to think of while artist are on holiday. ^_^ Thanks for the feedback.

Hi again ^^ 

I hope I didn't cause any misunderstanding to you. "The old version" that I mention in my previous post was referred to yours...so it's about your format in the demo version, not the typical VN format (I know right...it's kinda like a test format or something  ^^)

I like your choice format in the demo version. 

I just thought that maybe a change in font size / style / color will just do without further additional ornaments.  So when I said "impressive and unique" I was talking about your choice format in the demo version.

So sorry if this somehow got complicated ^^;

Keep growing!

^_^ No problem. I'm happy to hear from you. We'll see how the rest of the summer goes and I'll keep everyone posted.