Object Desktop vs. GalCiv GUI
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Stardock Forums
Stardock Forums
1) Stardock makes its money from Object Desktop and the like. Object Desktop is an *excellent* tool for customizing your Windows desktop. It has all sorts of innovative features and lets you do things with the Windows GUI I wouldn’t imagine were possible. It’s evident that Stardock has a clear view of what makes a good GUI and the expertise to make it happen. The success of Object Desktop shows that their view is a popular one.
So how is it possible that:
2) The GalCiv GUI is abysmal. Not in a fuzzy ‘I’d prefer more blue’ way, but in concrete functional matters. Very few elements operate the way most computer users have grown accustomed to them working. From sliders to arrows to check boxes to radio buttons, most everything has been re-invented—usually for the worse. How many times have *you* hit ENTER to dismiss a GalCiv dialog box?
There have been numerous posts complaining about one specific element or another e.g. Why is so hard to load a specific low number onto a Colony Ship? Why aren’t the Planet View choices in a drop-down list box? Have you ever tried using the slider to the right of the yearly reports—look out. It seems to me the people who created Object Desktop should have eaten these kinds of issues for lunch.
Simply reusing standard Windows elements ala Stars! would be vastly superior to what GalCiv has. Creating a GalCiv skin in Object Desktop and using that would be better still.
Don’t get me wrong, I play and enjoy GalCiv. But it’s definitely in spite of the UI, it’s quite frustrating. Mostly I’m just stupefied how a crew with as much obvious GUI talent as Stardock could create the GalCiv GUI.
On the gripping hand, maybe I’m just being grumpy—any thoughts?
So how is it possible that:
2) The GalCiv GUI is abysmal. Not in a fuzzy ‘I’d prefer more blue’ way, but in concrete functional matters. Very few elements operate the way most computer users have grown accustomed to them working. From sliders to arrows to check boxes to radio buttons, most everything has been re-invented—usually for the worse. How many times have *you* hit ENTER to dismiss a GalCiv dialog box?
There have been numerous posts complaining about one specific element or another e.g. Why is so hard to load a specific low number onto a Colony Ship? Why aren’t the Planet View choices in a drop-down list box? Have you ever tried using the slider to the right of the yearly reports—look out. It seems to me the people who created Object Desktop should have eaten these kinds of issues for lunch.
Simply reusing standard Windows elements ala Stars! would be vastly superior to what GalCiv has. Creating a GalCiv skin in Object Desktop and using that would be better still.
Don’t get me wrong, I play and enjoy GalCiv. But it’s definitely in spite of the UI, it’s quite frustrating. Mostly I’m just stupefied how a crew with as much obvious GUI talent as Stardock could create the GalCiv GUI.
On the gripping hand, maybe I’m just being grumpy—any thoughts?
