Ape Apps

Over the next few updates, I want to make some updates and improvements to the basic UI of the game, so I am looking for feedback and suggestions from the community. Particularly on mobile, I get a lot of comments about the difficulty in seeing the resources, or the fact that the resource listing takes up too much screen real estate.

How can the primary interface be improved and made to be more legible, while still providing all of the necessary information?

Maybe make a resource tree like the tech tree that shows them all? It would be easier to see and not in the way of anything! Tell me your thoughts

do you think that would make it too 'out of the way'

I don't think it needs to be to engaging but yeah it would need some work, maybe like the thing on mobile showing buildings but on the top you click on it and it opens a page with a tech tree format? Maybe get some more ideas then have a vote?

The resource listing on mobile is hard to read because of the color contrasting. I actually have to move the map around a bit to get the listing atop a contrasting color to read certain resources. Perhaps make the expanded resource listing panel background white and opaque while the reduced panel retains the transparency.?

When resources decrease the reduced resource listing expands so when building something massive it's like the panel is not reduced at all. My suggestion is that when the panel is reduced to just show the resource icon and the red decreasing arrow and not include the numbers.

In the resource section maybe add a section with current resources?

I'd like to see the built amount of each structure like you've done for pavements 2 updates ago, but I think it is already planned...
I would love to build everything in a row from point A to point B as it is already possible with large Helium storages and some other buildings, but maybe this is not UI related. ("canChain" variable in your game.js)
I suggest also giving back some information about retired people amount and retirement requests.
Last thing I'd like is the possibility to define a group of buildings for the left side list. In that way you'll be able to show only the ones you need whatever association you'll imagine.

In regards to visibility for the resources, it might be good to have an engine setting that allows the player to adjust the color and transparency. This would be good across all platforms.

For the screen real estate that it takes up, that will be even more difficult to deal with as the screens are much smaller relatively than a pc monitor. Two ideas though: one, allow for the screen to be flipped sideways (might help somewhat) and two, have a setting that allows a player to choose which resources to have visible.

Re: resources choices - for example, if I am working on building up my food/water production in relation to my dying colonists, it would be nice to have only those resources showing; but if I am trying to aim for a particular building/technology, then I would like to have only those showing that I need/don't have enough of.

what's the UI?

Ottoich said:what's the UI?

What you see when playing the game... UI means User Interface, what you can see/use to do stuff. In this case the author is asking about the section that shows all the resources.