Goals of the Freeciv21 Client

[jwrober]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
This is more than a simple feature request. This is an overhaul of how the client looks and feels. There have been lots of discussions lately about the client. It's ugly, it's too hard to use, it's not intuitive, too may widgets and other things are on the screen all the time taking up real estate, etc. This GitHub Issue is to start a conversation with the community to see what we want in a client. We are going to only have one, so let's make it the best one!

Describe the solution you'd like

TL;DR Summary -- Modernize the client. Make it look great. Make it super easy to use. For the details, read on...

1. Rich immersive experience (ala Wesnoth)

• This does also imply a whole new HDI tileset, upgraded sounds and potentially an upgraded music soundtrack

Mock Up Image Sample... Assume the side bar on the left is gone and so is the messages widget

2. Easy to use; no hidden features/functions; everything available from the menus

• Be easy and intuitive to navigate
• Support single player, real time multiplayer and longturn
• Be extensible to mobile - support touch screens
• Everything is documented in the in-game help system and augmented by online content

3. All features from legacy clients are included. Things such as Lua Console, Map Editor, Autosettler settings, etc. from the legacy Freeciv clients are included

4. Clean and organized map/primary interface. The two main things that will always be on the map is the mini-map (bottom left or right corner) and the unit actions bar (bottom center by default)

• All other elements should toggle on/off. This includes:
  • Units widget (F2)
  • Players/Nations page (F3)
  • Cities page (F4)
  • Economy page (F5)
  • Research Tree page (F6)
  • Wonders of the World widget (F7)
  • Top 5 Cities widget (F8)
  • Demographics widget (F11)
  • Spaceship page (F12)
  • Messages widget (F9?)
  • Chatline widget (F10?)
    • (Note1: This implies that messages and chatline will become separate widgets)
    • (Note2: This also implies that we might make a more immersive messages and chatline into an integrated item depending on feedback.)

5. Proposed: New "information bar" at the top of the client right below the menus.

• This implies that the current side bar on the left will go away.
• Clicking on icons/elements in the bar should bring up an intuitive item (e.g. clicking on number of cities brings up a cities page)
• Iconography would be rich and immersive; hovering over gives more information. Support zoom in/out (make larger or smaller) that is separate from the map zoom
• From left to right show the following:
  • Nation Flag
  • Turn #
  • Year
  • Population
  • Number of Cities
  • Government
  • Global Warming Chance
  • Nuclear Winter Chance
  • Culture
  • Gold (surplus/deficit)
  • Tax Rate
  • Science Rate
  • Luxury Rate
  • Research Target (BPT / % Complete)
  • Units Pending Orders (Units Affected by UWT)
  • Time to TC / Manual TC Icon

6. Convert some UI elements that take up the whole page to dialog boxes

• Better supports multi-monitor on PC
• Sets us up to support mobile and touch screens
• Sample pages that would change to dialog box:
  • Players/Nations
  • Cities
  • Economy
  • Research Tree
  • Spaceship
  • City Dialog decoupled from the map

Another Mock Up Sample:

Describe alternatives you've considered
Obviously we can leave things unchanged, but that does not improve on what we are trying to do here.

[Corbeau-1]

Like I said elsewhere, about the mockup example: the current unit/tile widget on bottom-centre should be in the top corner, preferably vertical, horizontal is also ok, but definitely glued to the edge, not floating near the edge to make things more visually attractive.