Formspec Discussion

[LMD]

In my opinion, it's getting clear that we are in need for a formspec replacement, or should at least consider adding various styling and alignment features.
First question : Should we have an image-based GUI ? Things look much better then, but we need (a) SVG-Renderer or (b) the GUI is non-scalable. Here's an example(mine, java, unfortunately :/ ) :

Or rather a nice-scalable, hardcoded, GUI...
And how many parametres should the user be able to control ?
At least :
text size, color, font, decoration, bg color, fg color.
Furthermore, please remove this : _ cursor in text field, maybe replace by this | one ?

[v-rob]

Pros and cons of each type of GUI type for formspecs:

Hard Coded GUI:

Pros:

1. This is probably easier to code than image-based GUIs.
2. Pressure about scaling images properly is much lower.

Cons:

1. This will ultimately end up with an ugly grey GUI or something similar with little to no customization similar to what we have now.
2. Images will not stay consistent between screen resolutions. Images that match up in 1920 by 1080 might not in 1600 by 900.
3. This is totally not ideal for texture packs because hard-coded grey boxes cannot be customized through texture packs.

Image Based Scaleable GUI:

Pros:

1. Highly customization in themes.
2. All elements have default images that can be changed with texture packs.

Cons:

1. Images will not stay consistent between screen resolutions. Images that match up in 1920 by 1080 might not in 1600 by 900.
2. Scaling images properly will be hard without losing image quality.

Image Based Non-Scaleable GUI:

Pros:

1. Highly customization in themes.
2. All elements have default images that can be changed with texture packs.
3. Image quality is not lost between resolutions because the number of pixels in the formspec are always the same.
4. Elements always match up because the number of pixels between them is always the same.

Cons:

1. Formspecs may be very small in large screen resolutions or cut off in small screen resolutions.

[Linuxdirk]

Hard Coded GUI

No. Just no. This will end up in a lame compromise like we have right now and in addition to that it won't look good outside the responsible dev's system.

Non-Scaleable GUI

It has to work from tiny 4.5" 1280x800 smartphones up to 30" 4K high-end displays. A non-scalable GUI is simply not an option.

[v-rob]

Hard Coded GUI

No. Just no. This will end up in a lame compromise like we have right now and in addition to that it won't look good outside the responsible dev's system.

I didn't say that I was advocating a hard coded GUI. In fact, that's my least favorite option.

Non-Scaleable GUI

It has to work from tiny 4.5" 1280x800 smartphones up to 30" 4K high-end displays. A non-scalable GUI is simply not an option.

That leaves an image based GUI as the only option left, unless someone can think of some other option.

[Sires]

https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/6527

[Linuxdirk]

It has to work from tiny 4.5" 1280x800 smartphones up to 30" 4K high-end displays. A non-scalable GUI is simply not an option.

That leaves an image based GUI as the only option left, [...]

.. left out, yes. Images are horribly scalable. You need to add images for all common resolution to make it look somewhat okay on most clients.

For being properly scalable absolutely NO images should be used for the interface. SVG images with relative/percentual positioning and sizes at least.

[LMD]

It would be great if we could support html + css for formspecs....

[Astrobe]

I would recommend not to go for more complex GUIs but more simple ones. Complex GUIs full of buttons, checkboxes etc. will be bad on small screens no matter what. Text input on Android is never pleasant. Formspecs break the flow of the game.

You don't need scalable GUIs and what not. You shouldn't need more that 1280x800 for your UI. Desktop users don't fully benefit from their 4K screens, so what?
Minetest is not a spreadsheet or a text processor. It's a fraking 3D game.

Don't add more complex GUI features that let people build more complex GUIs that are only worse. Complexity is what happens when you don't know better. Some limitations are features.