Development Blog

They’re alive! Last month I shared a sizeable collection of interface mockups summarizing my vision for a playable Cogmind interface that could fit within a 45-row terminal. Those mockups are now a reality, fully implemented more or less as described, and in the time since I’ve even gone further down that path and implemented the so-called “Phase 4” UI with its greater number of modal windows.

Although I already demonstrated much of the first new modal UI layout in an earlier forum announcement, I figure I could review those features here in order to provide closure to this series, plus cover some related dev topics as well as the second modal layout.

“Semi-modal” 45-Row UI Layout

Although players are free to continue using the full 60-row layout originally designed for Cogmind, anyone who does not mind sacrificing some convenience in exchange for greater cell size can use 33% larger tiles and text by switching to a 45-row layout. In other words, anyone using size 18 fonts (the majority of players), would instead be using size 24 under the new layout.

One of the biggest compromises in this mode is the smaller map view, but it’s still reasonably large (at least 50×35), large enough to at least see out the extent of normal sight and attack ranges, and for information beyond that all the QoL recently developed for map zooming comes in handy, even when not zoomed.

Here is a sample screenshot of the 1080p 45-row terminal layout in the early game, before the inventory even switches to its modal form:

Inventory/Parts

The other compromise is interacting with a modal inventory for much of a run, but I’ve also put a lot of work into designing QoL features to make it as seamless as possible.

Easy access to information and feedback is important, so of course the INVENTORY access button directly reports its current usage and capacity, pieces of info which would normally be found at the top of the inventory window itself.

One of the most important forms of inventory interaction for mouse users, drag-dropping, is also preserved by automatically opening the inventory while dragging a part, then automatically closing it again after release, in case you want to put the item in your inventory.

In fact, quite a few operations will automatically toggle the inventory like that wherever it makes sense--the part management keyboard interface (‘p’), the ‘d’rop shortcut, part swapping, item tagging…

Of course the regular old swap menu also works just fine, even when the inventory is modal, meaning opening the inventory is often not even necessary.

 

One of the most controversial aspects of the 45-row interface is likely how it treats part type headers. As I wrote about during the mockup descriptions, we can save space, and delay inventory modality, by temporarily removing the headers themselves from the parts list. That was going to be an optional feature disabled by default, but for now I’ve instead decided to have it do that automatically, and be opt-out instead.

The headers are only replaced by the sidebar method for as long as the inventory conversion to modal form is delayed (so about two evolutions in the mid-game), after which they’re restored to normal again since there’s plenty of room.

Secondary Windows

As per the mockups, many of Cogmind’s secondary windows that were originally designed for at least 50 rows had to be squished down to 45, including machine hacking, the status window, and item/robot info.

The most obviously different of the group is item info, which saved enough lines by moving its art off to the side.

The other biggest new feature which took a while to build and finalize but will likely be seen by almost no one (:P) is the [M]ore button as applied to robot resistances. Such a button was already added to Beta 13 to support the occasional longer item/effect descriptions, but was given new purpose for the very rare possibility that a robot might have too many total lines in its info window, in which case one way to cut it down to size is to put excess resistances in a popup window.

The world map view was yet another one of the secondary windows originally designed for a height of 50, but fortunately removing some of its interior padding was enough to shrink that to 45. At the same time, I also took this opportunity to do something else that I’ve wanted to do for years: speed it up! Although I first designed the map in 2016 with this fun vision of a map animating the route you took to get to your current location, while not too problematic in Cogmind’s early years, the continued addition of new areas and potential for lengthier routes could make it a bit of a slot to view the full map in the late game, so I’ve rebuilt it to appear in its entirety almost instantly :D

This world map change will benefit everyone, regardless of UI layout. In fact a number of tweaks and fixes made throughout the layout development project have carried over to the regular interface as well.

Game Menu

A good half of the work involved in creating a 45-row version of the interface involved adjustments to the game menu and its various subwindows. It was a lot. The content was, after all, mostly designed to fit within the map area, which had presumed minimum dimensions of 50×50. At least we didn’t have to worry about the width (whew--very glad Cogmind was designed for 4:3), but again with the height…

Pages with a 50-row layout now needed 35-row layouts as well.

Overall the biggest impacts were to the Advanced commands page, which had always been pushing up against the limit to begin with, and all the records interfaces.

The problem with the Achievements/Gallery/Lore records, and actually much of the “game menu” in all, was spaghetti code. Most of Cogmind is fairly well organized code, but not the game menu and its pages--it’s all in just two files to which I kept adding and adding and adding and sharing variables and it’s just messy all around. I used this opportunity to clean it up a bit, especially the records code which share a lot of the same functionality anyway but instead of using common functions there was just copy-pasted code everywhere.

Design-wise, at least the records weren’t trying to fit into the map view area, and they turned out fairly well, if slightly cramped compared to before.

Amidst the refactoring, in another of those “I should do this while I’m here” moments that benefits all layouts, I finally darkened the background when a modal popup is active in the game menu. Doing so always made sense, of course, but it wasn’t vital and it never felt worth dedicating the time before.

After building this new UI layout, last week I streamed the first run to make use of it, explaining all the major features as we went…

“Modal” 45-Row UI Layout

The first 45-row layout I developed is essentially “semi-modal,” because all windows are visible as usual until only later when just the inventory is hidden as necessary. The true modal interface hides multiple windows, and does it immediately from the start, but in doing so allows for a map view which is almost as large as what Cogmind was designed for (50×50).

All three options are available in a new setting at the top of the Options menu.

How do we reclaim our missing map height? By making the top-side consoles all but disappear, of course! The info displayed up there does not warrant constant attention anyway, consisting of transient logging info and some menus for accessing control of allies and intel. Anything that might be of potential importance can be displayed temporarily, and any menus can be called up as needed. The result is a much taller map view: 50×44.

The top row buttons serve more or less the same functions, such as toggling the message log to its full height, or switching the center console mode, though in this case the toggle must also open the Allies/Intel windows to make them visible and interactive when necessary.

The Extended Log and Combat Log modes simply determine what the space below is used for when messages are being displayed.

You might recognize the temporary message log style from POLYBOT-7, which is where I ripped it from :)

The automated full-detail combat log messages (the ones that even in the 60-row layout could appear over the map as combat plays out) are hidden by default in 45-row layouts, even if the detail level is set to Full, since given the narrower map view they can easily obscure nearby action.

There is a new config option to force it anyway, for those so inclined, but as usual, as long as it’s currently your turn, in combat log mode you can always scroll the combat log backward to review the details of recent combat. (However, in the Modal 45-row layout there is currently no way for the mouse to initiate this scroll--it’s keyboard-only…)

I’ll be streaming a run in this layout as well, once the build is ready…

Extra Credit

With playtesting having only just begun, I’m sure these layouts could use some more polish here and there, but they seem in a really good place already. Looking further ahead, there’s also the chance that other related features might be added as well, things I’ve held off on so far in the interest of actually releasing this to players and getting back to the content expansion I was working on before.

Tutorial

One such feature I was on the fence about throughout layout planning, and to a lesser extent throughout all of Cogmind development, is a more intrusive vector for tutorial info. I much prefer to maintain Cogmind’s theme of immersion as best possible, and that has always meant avoiding an in-your-face type tutorial with dedicated popups or some similar effect. A sound cue and flashy log messages, that’s it.

In particular this Modal 45-row interface has me more worried about teaching new players, especially if it’s to be a default layout, because log messages automatically disappear after a little while. Yes the log can be opened in full to view them as normal, but players would need to be proactive about it. A log-based tutorial was already easy enough to miss bits of before, and people did :P

To somewhat address that issue I doubled the duration of specifically tutorial messages in the Modal layout, so they remain visible longer even as other messages disappear.

Another problem which had me again thinking about alternatives is the handful of tutorial messages that appear when the log area is not visible at all in the modal layout, such as while hacking! (since in that case the machine hacking interface now extends all the way to the top of the screen) One might suggest putting these immersion-breaking messages right in the hacking interface itself, but if we’re going to go that far we may as well take the dedicated popup route :/

I’m letting this topic simmer for now, and ultimately the decision would be affected by whatever our default layout ends up being.

Screenshot Mode

Although not particular to modal layouts, and a feature I’ve been considering for years, the need for some form of “screenshot mode” clearly becomes more acute with the introduction of new UI layouts.

One of the original principles of Cogmind UI design was the desire to have all or almost all important information necessary for decision-making visible at all times on the main interface--stats, parts and their condition, inventory and item states, the map, the log, basically everything.

I like that by extension this means a single screenshot could be a comprehensive or at least very good indicator of a run’s overall state, either as a record or something to share with others. For that reason I’ve often considered facilitating a way to include one’s entire inventory contents in a single screenshot, since some builds might possess about 10~15 items that aren’t currently visible in the screenshot (some people have taken to sharing Cogmind’s stat dumps to provide that info, and more, in lieu of a screenshot, but screenshots tend to be easier to digest overall; other folks have literally stitched together their own screenshots to include a complete inventory…).

And now depending on one’s UI layout we might have not only zero inventory items visible in a screenshot, but also even a missing message log and list of allies etc. In that light, I guess the chance that I finally add such a feature will only grow going forward… I’ll be keeping an eye on the sharing scene among frequent players using these layouts.

I don’t have any mockups of “screenshot mode” for you now, but the idea is simply that some of the map area could be used to display the additional info.

A New Default

When the next Cogmind version releases, new and old players alike will be faced with a new UI layout. But which one?

The setting can be changed in the Options menu, but it needs a default, and even returning players who have a config file will be initialized to that layout. This will at least be a good way to get everyone to realize the new layout options exist (if they somehow miss the repeated news :P).

I really like the original layout (obviously), specifically designed to immerse with maximum information, at the cost of cell size perhaps requiring a large display. That might work for a relatively specific target audience, but Cogmind has many more players these days, players who come from a variety of backgrounds and with different setups, and they’d like to enjoy the gameplay, too, so some accommodation is necessary. One of the other layouts then, with larger fonts from the get to…

My original assumption was that the default would be the middle option--partially modal with most windows and info still visible, just the significantly larger text (yay for most people on laptops) and smaller map view (but still large enough). Leaning even more heavily in a modal direction for new players loses some of the overall atmosphere, plus hiding information can be bad. However, that may not be the case with what gets immediately hidden in Cogmind--the top-side windows aren’t essential for new players, and necessary messages are still shown and accessible… so maybe hiding windows is okay in order to let everyone see even more of the map at once? The message log being permanently visible doesn’t seem to imply that everyone will read it anyway--plenty of people miss important messages :P

The modal inventory has the largest impact on gameplay, and it doesn’t even take effect until part way through the game, at which point there is supporting QoL, and applies to both 45-row layouts anyway, so that doesn’t work in favor of either.

Results on a default: Inconclusive xD

This is the end of our multi-part series about building Cogmind’s fully upscaled semi-modal interface layout:

• History and Theory
  
• Holy Mockups
• Dynamic Terminal Swapping
  
• Simpler Lightweight Fonts
• Completion and Demos

I was really happy to have come up with workable concept for a modal inventory, as well as producing a mass of mockups with proven solutions for all the potential hurdles on the road to dropping 15 rows from Cogmind’s interface. Or so I thought.

Suddenly at the end of that process, a review of remaining UI systems revealed an unexpected show-stopper: ending animations.

Cogmind has a lot of different endings (currently nine, with more to come), and all of them feature full-screen ASCII animations. While some of these are flexible enough to fit dynamically within any terminal dimensions, a good many were designed to assume a height of 60 rows. The only way to fit those into 45 rows would be a complete redesign…

I put a lot of time into the existing animations, and they make good use of their space, so one would hope there must be another way…

Terminal Swapping

What if… the terminal was still 60 rows during ending animations?

After all, there’s no strong need for the endings to be limited to only 45 rows--you’re essentially watching these animations for the overall visual effect rather than needing to interpret every little detail for gameplay purposes. As described at the beginning of this series, the reason for shrinking the base terminal dimensions is to enable larger fonts across the board, but the intent there is to facilitate reading and interpreting details, which we don’t need in this case.

So the theory is we use a 45-row terminal for normal play, but once we need to do an ending animation simply switch over to a 60-row terminal to display that, then switch back when done.

This reminds me of games that switch to a different display mode specifically for cut scenes, especially common (and noticeable) in early video games, and then later it became a big deal when those sorts of things could be done “in engine,” which is the norm nowadays. Cogmind has always been consistent about its display, but in this case I could ideally continue to make use of all the work that’s already gone into the animations.

Now come the important questions: Is the engine architecture capable of such a feature, and what other roadblocks might be in the way?

Technically the idea immediately showed some promise based on the fact that Cogmind already uses what I call “terminal swapping,” but only between frames and behind the scenes, specifically for special screenshotting purposes.

The main usage is for map output, or creating a composite PNG containing the entire current known map. This is useful for sharing interesting layouts with other players, or asking for advice about where to explore.

I also used it to produce an image marking the launch of Cogmind’s achievements, for which I wanted the background to be a matrix of many achievement icons.

Both of these use cases required generating an image larger than the screen, so a normal screenshot wouldn’t do.

Already armed with a built-in way to take a “screenshot” of the terminal contents (bypassing the screen itself entirely), if we build a larger terminal than the screen we can just as easily run the “screenshot” process on that to produce an even larger image.

With just a small bit of isolated code it’s pretty easy to temporarily replace the engine’s terminal with one of a different desired size, write to that, generate the image, then restore the original terminal as if nothing happened. We’re not actually rendering to the screen itself so resolution doesn’t matter, we don’t need to change the video mode, none of this is ever displayed, nor does any outside interaction occur.

This was a promising starting point, at least providing a theoretical approach for our ending animation management.

REX, Again

The above initial examples of basic terminal swapping are pretty much entirely Cogmind-side. As it’s happening between frames for the sole purpose of creating an image using the normal system, the engine doesn’t need to know or care about what’s going on. All that was needed was a simple function allowing the root terminal to be swapped out for another one.

Taking the next step and swapping the terminal with a new one that would exist for a longer duration, and even involve some level of player interaction, would be a much more complicated process, meaning it’s once again time to revisit the engine to expand its core capabilities, like I did not too long ago with the quads and octs powering the map zooming system.

Also once again, as an engine feature it makes more sense to head back to the simpler engine testing environment to build and debug it, rather than using Cogmind itself.

I was pleased, and surprised, to find that terminal swapping of an extended nature really wasn’t an incredibly complex operation with many repercussions. As far as the engine was concerned, it only required changing a handful of core variables, although beyond that I had to resolve some cursor-related issues, like crashiness related to its screen position and hover data, and the software cursor dirty rect status.

It took about a day to implement terminal swapping and work out all the kinks.

The next stage in building this feature would be to import it into Cogmind while changing as few variables as possible. It doesn’t have to be specifically for endings, and we don’t even need to start by actually changing the terminal dimensions--simply swapping from the default 60-row terminal to another 60-row terminal and back would be sufficient to weed out any issues with regard input or other basic functionality. One step closer to a real use case scenario. That went fine as well!

When and Where

Having passed a simpler test, it was time for the real thing, but exactly where is the best opportunity for a swap to take place? Swapping is a pretty significant cutoff, after all, forming a clear barrier between what is before and after, and there shouldn’t really be much talking between the two sides, at least not on an interface level.

As stated at the beginning, the goal here was to allow animated endings to use 60 rows instead of 45. Given the simplicity of terminal swapping at the engine level, it seems easy enough…

As so many things are, up close it no longer looked so easy.

I originally imagined just having the animation segment of the ending in a different terminal, and tried that for a bit, but the endings (there are so many xD) are a relatively complex collection of classes and processes since they mix and match different components, and it was really hard to untangle what needed to be untangled. Even before considering swapping needs, it turns out that in many cases the process involves multiple windows in varying states of visibility and overlap. While swapping right before an animation would be possible, it would likely be pretty tough to both implement and debug.

Then a new idea popped up: How about instead of focusing so tightly on the animations we move one level higher and handle the entire game over process in its own separate terminal interface? This would include the standard game over screen (losses as well), stats, and restart menu etc. This is a much cleaner break, far easier to pull off without worrying about any serious complications.

The only drawback is that said stats screen would then be in the 60-row terminal interface using the original font size. In other words, back to the smaller font. Still, this might be fine since it’s 1) just text, 2) not a lot of text, 3) only in that one spot, although if we wanted to we could perhaps use the new zoom text font size to display it. Doing so would require reducing the number of listed stats in order to fit in the available space, at least if trying to keep the vertical design. They’re only a tiny subset of those found in the massive scoresheet data, anyway, but I don’t like the idea of further slimming down the already short representative list, so it’s either accept a smaller font size for that particular screen, or eventually go as far as a more significant redesign that makes more use of horizontal space. I tried a few mockups but didn’t like any of them, so nothing will probably change with that at first.

While working on this whole terminal swapping business I also happened to discover that if you manage to close the game window during an ending animation (including the loss animation), it would not overlay the separate program close animation that I added some versions back. This is not an uncommon occurrence, inadvertently uncovering obscure bugs in old, or in some cases very old, parts of the source that were simply never encountered or noticed before. Always a good opportunity to stay alert and fix things :)

One final note: For an article about new tech to support ending animations, there is a curious absence of samples demonstrating the primary use case, but I figured I’d leave those out ;)

This is the third in a multi-part series about building Cogmind’s fully upscaled semi-modal interface layout:

• History and Theory
  
• Holy Mockups
• Dynamic Terminal Swapping
• Simpler Lightweight Fonts
• Completion and Demos