Launcher dialog

[tukkek]

Also, full remake of the launcher dialog in JavaFX.

[tukkek]

It would be great to have one icon for each game mode, allowing a much more beautiful launcher screen to be developed. This is important as the launcher is, by definition, one of the very first experiences a player will have with the game (not only on the first run but every time he starts the game) - making it an important part of the UI and the game experience overall.

What constitutes a good icon for each scenario is open for discussion but it should represent the spirit of each game mode.

• Campaign should feel much more expansive and noble, indicating that it will be a long, complex game. One representation for this would be a "campaign map", in which several plans are already drawn upon an old, torn scroll.
• Scenario mode is a much more puzzle-like type of play - and also much shorter and intense. It is also a challenge, which is not even guaranteed to be winnable - it's more about the journey and facing tremendous odds (and possibly emerging victorious). Representations for this could be two swords locked with each other, or an adventuring party just leaving to start their journey, or even a combat scene...

These images, as they're not part of the world or battle UI need not (and should not) be restricted to a 32x32 canvas. They can be as big as necessary to provide a good representation of the intentions above. It's important that each representation be of the same size though, as to maintain a standard in this screen.

It would also be good to present the full-size game logo in the launcher too, so that the player will then immediately recognize it when shown in the smaller taskbar icon and so on, making sure it "sticks"t with the player as the de-facto representation for the project itself.

[tukkek]

any resolution! but you can think of our current launcher window as the "base model". That is more or less the amoun of text that will be in that screen for now - so you shouldn't make an image too big that it will be much larger than all the text itself but that's still a lot of freedom - I mean, anything from 32x32 to 128x128 or even higher would do the trick, I think!

[tukkek]

So this gives us a lot more space that we can work with the text - if you need to add more or less (for example the top text can be empty). It also allows us to add buttons below like "open webpage", etc.

[tukkek]

[tukkek]

It would be cool to have the launcher with a "Always show this dialog on Launch" checkbox, that comes ticked on by default. If it is ticked off, the game just launches on the most recently played mode and it can then be accessed by using a "Game -> Start new game..." menu item.

If there isn't a save for the last played mode, show the dialog regardless of the checkbox.

[tukkek]

A "roguelike" mode would be the exact same as campaign mode but the Squad screen only lets you pick a single unit - up to a higher CR. The main benefit for this is allowing players to have a separate save from their main Campaign mode.

Roguelike could also be an option on a redesigned Squad Selection Screen - like a checkbox that will unlock higher CRs to choose from by restricting you to only a single pick. That way, new modes aren't necessary but any mode can be played solo instead.

There could also be an extended checkbox for even higher CRs (maybe up to CR6?) that will give you a single creature but with a XP penalty, like what you get with the Adventurers Guild.