Re: [vos-d] notes from IRC, pt 2

2007-10-24 Thread reed
Posted at: http://interreality.org/phorum/read.php?2,110,115#msg-115
reed wrote:

Peter Amstutz Wrote:
- The d key goes into drag and drop mode,
 which overrides the 
 movement keys and is not obvious how to escape
 from (you hit escape).

Minor mode should be indicated in the status bar (so should major mode 
actually).

  - Did not think splitting was a common enough
 operation to support 
 having those buttons on the button bar.

The panel header bars and what controls on it will have to be refined over 
time. There are several little tricks we could use to make them more elegant, 
but should probably wait to see what the most important operations will be.

Splitting could be frequently used, but only in some use situations. I.e. it 
depends on what kind of thing you're doing in VOS.

How about putting those buttons in a toggle control, but sync all the toggle 
controls. I.e. a little button in each pane title bar causes a set of splitter 
buttons to appear or disappear in all title bars.

Or hide that set of buttons except when you mouse over that area.

Or make it a menu option.

A key binding could also be used to show/hide those buttons (like hold down 
shift).

I think we could also make the panel headers have two states, big and small. In 
big state it could have all the stuff it currently has, but on two lines and be 
less crowded.  In small state.

Some additional panel controls I think might be useful:
 * Buttons to do a combination of split and set major mode
 * Minimize/Restore the pane to a very small unobtrusive button
 * Minimize/Restore all other panes except this one.
 * Collapse/Restore the pane to just its header (like MS Word's panels IIRC)
 
 
  - Mentioned running out of space in the window
 when using the mouse to 
 move.

I have this same problem. Should keep walking or turning when the mouse is at 
the edge of the screen.   Or act like S4 and use click to walk, mouse to turn 
only.


  - Did not like Emacs-style multi-key chords.  I
 pointed out that the 
 majority of Ctrl- and Alt- prefix key shortcuts
 are already monopolized 
 by the OS, other GUI controls or by convention, so
 there are very few 
 shortcut keys available without getting into
 multi-key chords.

I think we should reserve multi-key chords for more advanced actions.  I don't 
see why we can't use any CTRL key we want, including CTRL-SHIFT keys, and also 
the F-keys.  Let the OS have ALT.  



 
  - Agreed the the UI will probably become clearer
 once its purpose is 
 clearer.  Lacking the ability to do any
 interesting browsing or editing 

Any ideas on how we can set up something in the prototype that shows this? 
Maybe set up a special view of interesting objects that you can play with, 
like change colors of the trees or something?


Reed

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[vos-d] notes from IRC, pt 2

2007-10-22 Thread Peter Amstutz
Additional notes on interreality3d gui from IRC.
Participants: mm765, tetron

 - Had trouble moving the avatar.  Determined that this probably 
stemmed from a combination of issues:
   - Initially tried to use WASD keys (typical first person shooter 
configuration).  Interreality3D 0.1 doesn't bind these keys to movement.
   - The d key goes into drag and drop mode, which overrides the 
movement keys and is not obvious how to escape from (you hit escape).
   - Once figured out arrow keys for movement, reported stuttering 
movement.  This seemed to be tied to resizing the window (?).  Mentioned 
he was using Windows Vista -- interreality3d hasn't been tested first 
hand on Vista, so it may be an issue with that OS.

 - Reported crash when clicking on ? button, then closing the help 
panel.

 - Did not like having to push escape to cancel out of minor modes.  
Should at least be able to cancel mode using the same key that got into 
the mode.

 - Did not think splitting was a common enough operation to support 
having those buttons on the button bar.

 - Mentioned running out of space in the window when using the mouse to 
move.

 - Liked the ability to go back to previous views.

 - Suggested having view templates for set GUI configurations.  I 
mentioned and we agreed this is the same idea as UI skins discussed 
previously on vos-d.

 - Suggested that chat view should be integrated as an overlay on the 3D 
view; a suggestion also put forward by winterk (I believe.)

 - Did not like Emacs-style multi-key chords.  I pointed out that the 
majority of Ctrl- and Alt- prefix key shortcuts are already monopolized 
by the OS, other GUI controls or by convention, so there are very few 
shortcut keys available without getting into multi-key chords.

 - Agreed the the UI will probably become clearer once its purpose is 
clearer.  Lacking the ability to do any interesting browsing or editing 
(which depends on the backend to supply that data) it requires a bit of 
imagination to see what the workflow will be like, and how a 
configurable UI plays into that.

-- 
[   Peter Amstutz  ][ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ][ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ]
[Lead Programmer][Interreality Project][Virtual Reality for the Internet]
[ VOS: Next Generation Internet Communication][ http://interreality.org ]
[ http://interreality.org/~tetron ][ pgpkey:  pgpkeys.mit.edu  18C21DF7 ]


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