[Kde-games-devel] Proposal for UI changes in KFourInALine

[Eneko Nieto]

Hi,

I would want to discuss some changes in KFourInALine's user interface
before coding them, to receive feedback and to ease the approval of
the patch.

PRESENT BEHAVIOUR
 * When you start the game there is a pretty nice "Quick Launch"
window that let you select some options (who starts, your color, game
dificulty or two player game). Once you start the first game this
window cannot be launched again.
 * After starting first game you must go Settings -> Configure
KFourInLine to change game options. Here there are more options but
presented in a totally different way (Starting Player Color, Player
Names, Black Plays With and Red Plays With, Computer Difficulty, Use
AI learning).
 * To play a network game both players need to go Settings -> Network
Configuration. There both clie   nt and server see the same dialog but
fields change according to the option selected in first radio button
(Create a network game or Join a network game).
 * Players can select Keyboard or Mouse as control method. If Keyboard
selected you must type from 1 to 7 to drop chip.

PROPOSED BEHAVIOUR
 * Create an unique dialog with all options (new game, options and
network game). Behaviour should be something like this:
    - A tab selector or similar in the top: Human vs Computer, Human
vs Human, Network Game (and Computer vs Computer? It's funny to see
your computer playing against itself, it remembers to WarGames :) ).
    - If Human vs Computer selected: Player name, Player color, Who
starts (add random option), Computer Difficulty, Use AI learning.
    - If Human vs Human selected: Player1 name, Player1 color, Who
starts (add random option), Player2 name, Player2 color.
    - If Network game selected: two panels, the first for server
(Player name, Player color,  Who starts, Game name and port) and the
other for the client (Player name, Host, Port and Game name). Another
option is to split this in two tabs, Create game and Join Game.
    - If Computer vs Computer selected: Computer1 Difficulty,
Computer2 Difficulty, Who starts (add random option), Use AI learning
(I don't know how if this option works in C vs C).
 * Create a Play again button to play again maintaining options. The
New button should launch the new dialog now.
 * Delete input method for players to clean up UI. Both should be able
to use keyboard and mouse in their turn. Undo function is implemented
to solve if you drop other player's chip by mistake.

What do you think about this changes? Feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

Eneko