I searched, and while there are a few topics discussing UI improvements I felt was necessary to call this out in specific.
The Thoughts screen is in some trouble. The amount of info it contains has increased over the years and its grown from a simple collection of thoughts and preferences and has since turned into a 30 page dossier created by the NSA
It's not just a "nice to have" feature anymore. A dwarf's personality, needs, physicality, etc. all have actual impacts on gameplay and in some cases dramatically so.
It's time to move away form the walls of text and make it a bit more readable
Here are a few suggestions
1. Add 2 Line Breaks Between Sections
This is the easiest one to implement. It doesn't address how vertically "long" the screen is, but it makes it far easier to parse.
Simply add a double line break so that sections are separated by a blank line. This is a standard when separating paragraphs without using an indent.
2. Give Each Section a Title
Thoughts and Preferences contains way more than those two things these days. The UI should be updated to remind the user what each section actually is
All players could benefit from a reminder, but new players - particularly viewers of Let's Plays - would find such info vital.
Something like:
Personal Values
Like others of her culture, she holds craftsdwarfship to be of the highest...etc
Personality
She has little interest in playing around. She needs alcohol to get through the working day...etc
3. Hide Extraneous Information
There are generally two use cases for accessing Thoughts:
-I need to know a vital piece of information so I can perform a game action, like assigning them a job, addressing their needs, addressing their unhappiness, etc.
-I want to know flavor information about a dwarf, often in the context of sharing the dwarf in a Let's Play situation
I'd propose that Thoughts have two 'modes' that you can toggle with a button.
The first mode shows the basics or "rolled up" versions of each section. For example, if a dwarf is largely undistracted it'll simple say "She is undistracted" and will not display the 15-20 factors contributing to her undistraction.
The second mode shows the expanded version, which is what we have today
4. Consolidate Redundant Text
This one is harder by virtue of the fact there's a text generator that needs to worry about all sorts of possible strings that may or may not exist, strings that can could vary in wording and length, etc. etc..
That said, consolidating accomplishes two things:
-You reduce the amount of words, making it look less daunting
-You improve the 'flow' of a sentence, making it easier to read, conceptualize, and memorize
"She is a citizen of the Youthful Basement. She is a member of the Fleshy Crypt" -> "She is a citizen of the Youthful Basement and a member of the Fleshy Crypt"
"Her hair is straight. Her very long hair is arranged in double braids. Her hair is flax" -> "Her very long flaxen hair is straight and arranged in double braids"
I know this has been suggested before and some areas are already 'consolidated', but look for some more easy wins
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Topic: The Thoughts screen is in a state of distress and must improved for readability (Read 751 times)