Improving menu usability

[rkwapisz]

When dealing with multi-page menus that have list options, some of the foward/back behaviour can get confusing and a little inconsistent. For example, if I have a list item highlighted on page 2 of a menu (e.g., Vehicle Options), the NUM4 and NUM6 keys move through the list options as desired, but in order to return to page 1, I have to scroll down to a non-list item and then hit NUM4. I'm used to the behaviour of NUM0 going "back", but in this case it boots me out to the root menu instead of the first page.

One solution I'd like to propose is to have NUM0 return to the previous page instead of the root menu. Right now the sequence is as follows

PAGE 2 --> [NUM0] --> root

I believe that we can improve menu usability by changing the sequence to

PAGE 2 --> [NUM0] --> PAGE 1 --> [NUM0] --> root

[shaneallgeier]

We could also change the menu to scroll, similar to how most built-in gta menus work. The downside is that it would be slower to navigate. To alleviate that issue, we could add two new hotkeys that simply scroll an entire "page" up or down (defaults to page up/down keys).

I'm not convinced this is the best way either, though. On Jul 21, 2015 11:28 PM, "Robert Kwapisz" notifications@github.com wrote:

When dealing with multi-page menus that have list options, some of the foward/back behaviour can get confusing and a little inconsistent. For example, if I have a list item highlighted on page 2 of a menu (e.g., Vehicle Options), the NUM4 and NUM6 keys move through the list options as desired, but in order to return to page 1, I have to scroll down to a non-list item and then hit NUM4. I'm used to the behaviour of NUM0 going "back", but in this case it boots me out to the root menu instead of the first page.

One solution I'd like to propose is to have NUM0 return to the previous page instead of the root menu. Right now the sequence is as follows

PAGE 2 --> [NUM0] --> root

I believe that we can improve menu usability by changing the sequence to

PAGE 2 --> [NUM0] --> PAGE 1 --> [NUM0] --> root

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/gtav-ent/GTAV-EnhancedNativeTrainer/issues/124.

[gtav-ent]

I don't support the 'back to first page' idea I'm afraid - will confuse people. A separation of item scrolling and page scrolling keys is a better solution, but might make everything more complicated to solve an occasional problem.

My preference would be you press confirm to highlight (represented visually) then L/R operates on it, then confirm or back applies it (only matters to the cash item) and then menu navigation is back to normal.

Remember that the average user here is an idiot. What will involve the least number of people complaining?

[rkwapisz]

Agreed on the highlight option to "lock in" a user's choice, at which point the L/R keys switch between values allowable for that option.

[ghost]

or simply just increase the line count and reduce the line height and spacing its very big as it is

[shaneallgeier]

Has this been fully implemented now with 6d5a23cac957370da9ac8e33635a86e216914941?

[gtav-ent]

The 'Cash' item ought to reflect these changes (which I tweaked slightly). If noone beats me to it, I'll do that in the next few days and then close the issue.

[rkwapisz]

Cash item might need a little bit of different thinking. We already "confirm" to add cash to a player, so it may get confusing having to num5 to lock into the setting and then again to actually add the cash. Unlocking may prove even more troublesome, since then we'd have to distinguish between when a user wanted to unlock the setting versus adding more cash.

[shaneallgeier]

Maybe we could change this feature to a typing field? Instead of adding cash, it will just set your cash to whatever number you typed in.

[qaisjp]

I agree with @shaneallgeier - :+1:

[gtav-ent]

I think it's better off left as it is. However both this and the Wanted level contribute to the confusion of what left/right does.