Thread: Miniature development: Play chess games online
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qgil is offline qgil
2010-01-31 , 20:32
Posts: 3,105 | Thanked: 11,088 times | Joined on Jul 2007 @ Mountain View (CA, USA)
#157
Originally Posted by jukey View Post
A few questions regarding the buttons below the board:

There is a "Back" button. I'm not sure if it is really necessary in the offline- and online game mode. How often you go back a few moves in a real game?
Specially aficionados do request moves back. This is the function of that button in "pub chess" and online games.

I think this happens not as often as a "draw" or "decline2 request. I think this type of button (together with a "foreward" button) could be useful in a "repeat game" or "PGN view" mode where you can see every step of a game and this kind buttons could be used to go one half move forward or backward.
Maybe. We haven't even thought about the adaptations needed for the "Review game" UI.

My question also is: What happens if I press the backward button? Will there also appear a forward button?
No, the workflow is:

# Pressing the rewind button a player requests a move back.

1. The rewind button of the opposite player is highlighted and a "?" appears on top of it.
1. If the opposite player presses the rewind button the move is retracted.
2. If the opposite player moves a piece the request is ignored and the game continues.


The "play" button: Is this the button I have to press to confirm my move? If yes I would think it should be bigger but a real test will clarify this.
I have been advocating for a bigger "play" button as well. But considering that mikhas is just "covering" joshua or whoever designer taking the lead, I think the current solution is just find. I'll also wait for real testing.

Last but not least there is a "stop" button which will bring up the menu options. I think the current square icon is not the best because most of the people would assume thaat the game is stopping after they pressed the button. My proposal would be a "menu" button.
But it is common sense that there are different ways to stop a chess game, isn't it? Thy show up when you press Stop. Also detailed in the workflow:

Pressing the stop button a player requests some kind of resolution for the game. The options appear in his dashboard without overlapping the board:

1. "Pause" button requests to stop the clock.
2. "Draw" button requests a draw.
3. "Resign" button leads to a confirmation dialog to resign the game.
4. "Adjourn" button requests to save the game.
5. "Exit" button simply closes the application.
6. Moving a piece cancels the dialog and the game continues.

So all in all I would say the area below the board should contain only two buttons "confirm move" and "bring up game options" which will get all the (width) space available beside the players picture.

What do you think?
I think the current UI is better, more precise than a simple Confirm/Else, but let's wait for the real tests with real users. I find the mixture of a chess interface and a media player UI is at least provocative and I'm looking forward to users' reactions.
 

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