9 replies to this topic

[Emily]

Maintaining two separate resolutions of ZQ makes some things pretty annoying and difficult. Recent Nightly Builds have changed Large Mode from 800x600 to 912x684, and include a revamped main GUI and separate 'Compact Mode'. The main GUI can now have either 2 or 4 columns of combos, more favorite combos, and more favorite commands. The compact mode main GUI has a much larger "Screen" area, with no next-screen preview edges, similar to an upscaled small mode, and can have either 1 or 2 combo columns, as well as a few favorite commands and favorite combos, which would normally be lacking from an upscaled small mode.

 

Additionally, the main UI has been reconfigured to allow changing the font used to display text, and adjust to different text heights. You can now configure different fonts in `Etc->Options` on the `Fonts` tab. This should help with text readability. Note that any dialogs that do not use the "New GUI System" will not respect the font customization, though we plan to upgrade all dialogs to the new system as we go (though it is more difficult to do so while needing to make the dialog work at two different resolutions).

 

The hope is that compact mode acts as a good enough replacement for small mode to the point where we can actually remove small mode entirely, making upgrading things a lot easier on us.

 

 

I make this post hoping for feedback from any and everyone on this- both the new GUI itself, and the idea of removing small mode. If anyone has any reasons why the new compact mode is not good enough a replacement for small mode, it would be great to hear them, as I'm fine with making whatever changes I can to make this work.

 

Some screenshots:

Spoiler

[Taco Chopper]

I think I've already expressed my views on Discord, but:

 

I personally prefer compact over large mode already just from these screenshots. Yet to test it properly myself, so I can't be absolute with that statement. In saying that, a lot of the reasons I've stuck with small mode are because of how much less crowded the UI is in contrast to large mode. This is as much to do with the fact I've been using small mode since 2006 as it is with the information overload I tend to get from large mode - especially before resizable windows became a thing over the last six months or however long ago they came out lol. That's not to say I would never use large mode - if I'd only had the one choice when I started using ZC again in 2021 I'd be reluctantly using it - but small mode was, and still is much more simpler for me to use by comparison. 

 

I've already shared my thoughts with you about the font as well; little, subtle changes like that can make such a drastic difference in the bigger picture of the UI. 

Overall, it's GOOD! Compact feels more like a natural progression of small mode, rather than an outright replacement - and I can see myself saving time with the favourite combos/commands.

[THEMDODO]

  As I stated over on discord, I find small mode to be rendered obsolete by compact mode. Especially with the custom font feature being added, Visibility issues (for myself at least) have ceased.

 

  Compact mode has proven to generally provide the same advantages as small mode, all without cluttering everything in a small resolution; It provides better visibility, albeit at the expense of reducing the available space for other useful combo columns/commands. As Taco Chopper stated, It feels like a natural evolution of small mode. It has everything small mode provides, and improves upon it.    

 

  From what I've gathered, it'll definitely be less of a load on development with small mode removed, since working the UI and text boxes around the smaller resolution wouldn't be an issue. 

 

  All-in-all, I view the removal of small mode as a good, and in my opinion, necessary decision. It's rendered obsolete by compact mode, font visibility in higher resolutions is no longer an issue (again, for me at least), and having to work around small mode's tiny resolution will no longer be cumbersome on development. I say, good riddance.    

[Alucard648]

Voted for Small Mode being nuked. 

1. I always preferring Large Mode since 2012.

2. Small Mode works wonkily on my PC.

3. It`s removal reduces workload on further ZC development.

[Jared]

I agree to removing Small Mode. I only use Large, and Small reminds me of 2.10 lol. Time for it to go.

[Deedee]

Compact mode is pretty based; it sucks that large mode is a bit worse off now though with the extra vertical space and things not being in the same place they were before. Hopefully Large Mode gets better.

[Emily]

Compact mode is pretty based; it sucks that large mode is a bit worse off now though with the extra vertical space and things not being in the same place they were before. Hopefully Large Mode gets better.

The big bonus is that you can switch between compact and large modes at a simple button click, so if you need what large mode has you can swap to it, but otherwise you can stay in compact mode.

If anyone has ideas for what to DO with the space large mode has, I'd love to hear them, but so far everyone I've asked including myself has drawn a blank. The screen size itself can't change in either mode, to make it any larger than it is in large would require making it all the way as big as it is in compact, there is no in-between.

[Emily]

Thank you for the feedback, Alpha 112 has just been released as the last build containing small mode. (A nightly build is about to come out which no longer contains it)

[BigJoe]

Emily, how would you feel about Alpha 112 being tooled into a new final version (maybe going with 2.56 and the next release can be 2.57? The reason for this is that, much like how people have hung behind on 2.53, people who like small mode are going to want to stick with Alpha 112 for a long time, and if its going to be a version that people hang back for, it may as well be a full numbered version.

 

I don't know , just a thought.

[Taco Chopper]

The whole point of compact mode was to meet the small mode user base somewhere in the middle though?

When Emily first raised the possibility of removing small mode, I know myself and a few others who have used small mode almost exclusively since first joining PureZC (let alone using ZC in the way we are now) were very much against the idea of having no alternative to large mode.

I've used compact mode for a few weeks now and I can say it's very much a superior version of what small mode has been. There's still a few elements I think that could be improved - the palette and combo editor windows matching ZQ's main window resolution would be something I'd suggest as a QoL thing - but overall, it's the best parts of small mode with the large mode features I'd never thought I'd want.

 

tl;dr people will stick to 112 if need be but I don't think it'd warrant being a full numbered version at this stage. there's still too many features to add, as well as bugs to squish.