Game's UI Suggestions

[geckon]

Originally Posted by thepete

There's certainly too much clicking going on. I feel things like scores etc should be readily available from just about any screen. If I'm in the home screen, I have to click team/league menu -> scores -> another click or two to get boxscore for even my most recent game. It's shown at the top of the screen - make it clickable.

Yes! I mentioned this several times and this one change would improve my feeling from the game a million I want to be able to click on a score in the top panel to be brought to the game report. My dream )

Another thing that would let me feel better is this:
Now when I click on "Team menu", the menu pops up. Then I realize that I actually wanted the "League menu" so I click on it. But the first click just hides the "Team menu". Why doesn't it open the "League menu" as well?

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Originally Posted by shawa666

Seb, Even OOTP has a graphical depth chart now.

Please understand that FHM has not the same code base as OOTP, my best guess is that about 5% of the FHM code come from OOTP (mainly the news-text engine). And the bold part is important: it was added in version 11 (maybe 10 or 12, I don't know). We can't work on everything at the same time. I agree with you, such a screen would be great and we will not wait until version 11 to add it but we have to make decisions every day on what we add/fix/tweak first.

But I started a new "GUI related to-do" list today and put everything on it, put a time estimate on every item and sort the list accordingly.

[pens66]

Nice discussion... finally!
Btw, I had a whole thread dedicated to this a while ago, but of course it was ignored (yeah, I hate to write this as much all of you hate to read this over and over again...).


I think the first question we should ask ourselves is, on which screen is the user most often and where does he spend the most time?
The answer to that is probably different for most... But for me the answer is roster/lineup and statistics. And quite frankly, those two are absolutely awful to handle and to get to in the first place.

It takes so many clicks to navigate these two, it is really frustrating. I'm at the point where I hit my fist on the table, whenever one of my players gets injured. Because I know it'll take me 15+ clicks to set my team up in a way that the computer won't yell at me.

Simple question: Why is the default screen when you enter your roster showing the "info" stuff?
This is the most useless information you can get for the daily operations you have to make during a hockey season. Who cares what the contracts of my players look like or their training regimen, when I am supposed to decide which player could use a healthy dose of healthy scratching for bad performances or who may be the right guy to slot in as a LW in my shutdown line because the regular player is injured?
I, for example, usually want to know something about stats and recent form. I want to decide what is shown at default there. I can't decide and it makes seeing this screen absolutely frustrating, every single time.

Like I wrote in my first thread, I think there should be a lot more options to choose from when you hit the tabs at the top of the screen (yourself, your league, your team). That block that opens up upon clicking one of the tabs takes only a third of the screen, probably even less. Why not use that space to give us more options?? I. e. to dive directly into certain stats overviews (teams, scoring, goalies...) or injury lists or whatever, I don't know, there's so many things.

REMEMBER THE SORTING!!!!!! (nothing else needs to be added, honestly this is making me sick to my stomach)

Enough for now, more will be coming for sure...

[shawa666]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

Please understand that FHM has not the same code base as OOTP, my best guess is that about 5% of the FHM code come from OOTP (mainly the news-text engine). And the bold part is important: it was added in version 11 (maybe 10 or 12, I don't know). We can't work on everything at the same time. I agree with you, such a screen would be great and we will not wait until version 11 to add it but we have to make decisions every day on what we add/fix/tweak first.

But I started a new "GUI related to-do" list today and put everything on it, put a time estimate on every item and sort the list accordingly.

Don't think i'm in the whining camp, because i'm not.

I understand that we won't get a game as solid as OOTP is right of the bat. And i'll shell out the money for FHM 2 just like i've paid for FHM because I believe that it has potential.

[tiebo]

Originally Posted by Puckhead

1) A side-by-side compare screen where you can compare two players (this player doesn't have to be on your team), to be able to find a good player to trade for etc. I really loved that feature of EHM 2007, there you could compare the ratings AND the size, weight etc. Pretty cool I think.

I second this. This is a really big issue for me personally, as currently it's tedious to compare your players when trying to build the line-up (or make trade etc.). Okay, you can have all the ratings of all your players on one screen as a list, but I really like the EHM 2007 comparison mode, where I could see the difference in color for every rating between two selected players.

[thepete]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

Thats exactly what I'm talking about: on one hand we have a (hardcore) OOTP user, he wants everything like OOTP. On the other hand we have a EHM player, he wants everything like in EHM. Please don't get me wrong, I understand that completely, just want to show our "problem".

OOTP-users want a clickfest with terrible menus that take forever to navigate? Then they're dumb and should be ignored.

I know you're not saying this but you're being hilariously unclear.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Originally Posted by thepete

OOTP-users want a clickfest with terrible menus that take forever to navigate? Then they're dumb and should be ignored.

I know you're not saying this but you're being hilariously unclear.

No, but if you use one system a long time, then it becomes natural to you. I play OOTP since version 3, I'm a long-time FM player but never really got used to the EHM GUI (after loving the freeware version). I don't know how often I hit my head on the table in frustration about not having drag & drop on the lines screen, I'm used of it in every other game I play. Same with Right-Click menus, they seem natural for me, having all options for e.g. a player in one place.

Again, I know the FHM GUI is not perfect, especially navigation between leagues, teams and your "work screens" (e.g. lines, tactics) is much harder then it needs to be. OOTP itself is centered around one major league, FHM has 20+ playable leagues that are more or less equal, so we will change the GUI to account for it at some point.

[Orioles1966]

I started the 2013-14 AHL yesterday and set the schedule at 80 games and a pop-up appeared on the screen saying -I needed to re-generate the schedule. Is that possible with this version? if yes-how do you re-generate the schedule?

Why do I have to keep re-adjusting computer screen so I can read the bottom of FHM? I was having one hell of a problem navigating my computer afterwards. Looks like it has returned too normal today(haven't played FHM today,as of yet).

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Originally Posted by Orioles1966

Why do I have to keep re-adjusting computer screen so I can read the bottom of FHM? I was having one hell of a problem navigating my computer afterwards. Looks like it has returned too normal today(haven't played FHM today,as of yet).

What do you mean exactly?

[Orioles1966]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

What do you mean exactly?

The screen (laptop Pavalion g6)won't show the bottom of FHM. If I stack the Windows-the bottom appears. However,I can no longer play OOTP at the same time because the screen is all screwed up. I have to keep re-adjusting the screen-no thanks. I could play FHM without the bottom of the screen.


The other problem is on the league set-up screen where you can choose the game schedule(shouldn't that be disabled???).

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Originally Posted by Orioles1966

The screen (laptop Pavalion g6)won't show the bottom of FHM. If I stack the Windows-the bottom appears. However,I can no longer play OOTP at the same time because the screen is all screwed up. I have to keep re-adjusting the screen-no thanks. I could play FHM without the bottom of the screen.

What does you mean with "screwed up"? What screen size does your computer have? And is it the first time you play FHM on that computer?

[Orioles1966]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

What does you mean with "screwed up"? What screen size does your computer have? And is it the first time you play FHM on that computer?

Half of the OOTP screen was missing(while also playing FHM) until I went back and adjusted the screen(show windows side by side). Current screen size is 1360 x 768. Just changed it to 1366 x 768(that's the max screen size).

I've been playing FHM for over a year on this computer. Most of the time I didn't bother with the bottom of the FHM screen because It wasn't affecting game play.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Originally Posted by Orioles1966

Half of the OOTP screen was missing(while also playing FHM) until I went back and adjusted the screen(show windows side by side). Current screen size is 1360 x 768. Just changed it to 1366 x 768(that's the max screen size).

I've been playing FHM for over a year on this computer. Most of the time I didn't bother with the bottom of the FHM screen because It wasn't affecting game play.

Sorry, still don't get it. You have both games open in window mode I guess? Your screen is to small to show both windows at the same time, so one of both has to be under the other. Maybe you can post a screen-shot?

[Alessandro]

Another thing that the UI needs badly is some memory! You sort stuff, watch a screen and boom, all is gone.

[Lazion]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

I don't know how often I hit my head on the table in frustration about not having drag & drop on the lines screen, I'm used of it in every other game I play.

EHM's lock player selection is far more user friendly for us touchpad users when compared to drag & drop, so why not to implent both systems in FHM?

I quess that most users here (me inculded) don't want to have OOTPB or EHM replica, instead we want to see pros from both games aka. heavenly balance.

[Orioles1966]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

Sorry, still don't get it. You have both games open in window mode I guess? Your screen is to small to show both windows at the same time, so one of both has to be under the other. Maybe you can post a screen-shot?

I've played both OOTP and FHM(at the same time) in the past w/o a problem. It's just that I never used the bottom of the screen for FHM in the past(unless editing) and now it seems too be a problem. Can't edit anyways.


What about the schedule? Why did it ask me to re-generate the schedule? Never seen that before.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Originally Posted by Orioles1966

I've played both OOTP and FHM(at the same time) in the past w/o a problem. It's just that I never used the bottom of the screen for FHM in the past(unless editing) and now it seems too be a problem. Can't edit anyways.


What about the schedule? Why did it ask me to re-generate the schedule? Never seen that before.

I need a screenshot, otherwise I have no idea what the problem is. Both games should be just windows that you can move around as you want.

Malte will answer the other question.

[Malte Schwarz]

Originally Posted by Orioles1966

I started the 2013-14 AHL yesterday and set the schedule at 80 games and a pop-up appeared on the screen saying -I needed to re-generate the schedule. Is that possible with this version? if yes-how do you re-generate the schedule?

Just use the Generate a new Schedule button on the Edit League / League Info screen. The new generated schedules will work but they will not be very good.

[Puckhead]

Originally Posted by Puckhead

First thing first, I never played OOTP and come from EHM, therefore I'm comparing most of the following "missing features" to the SI franchise

Basically, these are the things that I really miss in FHM so far (maybe I simply missed that the one or the other thing is already ingame?!):

1) A side-by-side compare screen where you can compare two players (this player doesn't have to be on your team), to be able to find a good player to trade for etc. I really loved that feature of EHM 2007, there you could compare the ratings AND the size, weight etc. Pretty cool I think.

2) An easy-to-use search function (on top of the screen that it's accessible from anywhere ingame) to find players with free configurable filters like size, skill (shot, checking etc.), weight, position etc. anywhere in the world or in specific leagues or teams. I liked how they did this in EHM, too.

3) It'd be great if the line-up screen could take some more space of the screen in the next version. It's good that it's possible to drag & drop now but it's sometimes a bit difficult because the position spots are very small.

Thank you guys that you're listening to your customers (unlike EA for example). That's why I'll most likely buy the next version of this series

Sorry to bump this Sebastian, but I already wrote about Point 3 a long time back and haven't heard back from you. Any plans on the three points? Thanks!

[AlpineSK]

Seb, I don't want "everything like OOTP" you asked me to list 10 things that I liked from the OOTP UI that are not part of this UI, so I did. I could easily do the same for other games like Football Manager or even some of the older sports management games that are out there.

Also, I don't think you need to be a "hardcore" player or baseball fan or even American to realize how nicely OOTP plays because of its UI. I have even seen people post on this forum that they were picking up that game while waiting for this game for the first time and had a real appreciation for it even though they were not hardcore baseball fans. THAT is what you should strive for here.

I've played EHM, and I've seen the good points there.. I've played OOTP and I see the great points there.. I've played EA sports games and see their benefits. My point is, you need something better than what you have.. A LOT better.

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

Thats exactly what I'm talking about: on one hand we have a (hardcore) OOTP user, he wants everything like OOTP. On the other hand we have a EHM player, he wants everything like in EHM. Please don't get me wrong, I understand that completely, just want to show our "problem".