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Interactive Crafting Tables to Clean up the GUI


ZombieHunter

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One thing I really am not fond of in Project Zomboid is its GUI - it is just a massive amount of screens and options which is essentially dumped into a single massive crafting window. 
 

Many games simplify the crafting element by having specific objects to focus on specific crafting elements. An only shows those associated crafting Recipes when you interact with that object.
This would cut down on the crafting GUI exponentially. 

 

This is seen in games like Fallout New Vegas, Starbound, Subnautica, etc. 

 

Also moving specific actions from that crafting GUI through special flags to separate; 

  • Actions ( opening \ packaging ) 
  • Crafting ( combining two items ) 

 

So actions are not displayed in the crafting window but only displayed on direct interaction would again reduce the amount of crafting GUI spam. 
Instead specifically for packaging, it will list it is possible but the icon will be greyed out when you try to interact with something where you don't have enough to package it. 

 

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Finally, quick filters for GUI would help go a long way by way of tabs

To display only food items \ weapons \ etc. Instead of scrolling down and up. 

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For the sake of explaining it only, not necessarily disagreeing:

 

Because to the game, they're all crafting: recipes and evolved recipes. Opening a can creates a new opened can object. Putting items into a box, creates a new box item that contains a certain quantity of nails ( but these nails don't actually exist until they're unpacked ). It'd take up a lot more memory and hard drive space gone if they were distinct objects throughout.

 

They're not actions in other words. Flagging them as actions, does make a kind of sense though and I'm all for making the crafting UI simpler. It's just kind of ironic that this is basically the right click menu already in the game, in what you only see the available actions / crafting options for the item that you just clicked.

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2 minutes ago, EnigmaGrey said:

For the sake of explaining it only, not necessarily disagreeing:

 

Because to the game, they're all crafting: recipes and evolved recipes. Opening a can creates a new opened can object. Putting items into a box, creates a new box item that contains a certain quantity of nails ( but these nails don't actually exist until they're unpacked ). It'd take up a lot more memory and hard drive space gone if they were distinct objects throughout.

 

They're not actions in other words. Flagging them as actions, does make a kind of sense though and I'm all for making the crafting UI simpler. It's just kind of ironic that this is basically the right click menu already in the game, in what you only see the available actions / crafting options for the item that you just clicked.

 

Ya that's why I didn't want it to be a separate object.

Simply an added flag which is just an extra line of code the game checks to essentially "hide" the options in specific windows. 

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What about a crafting tab? Not as indepth as the recipe menu, but part of the inventory itself. Click it and it will show you all the items you're currently capable of crafting. You can right click on the item you want to confirm or just double click the item and you'll instantly set about crafting it?
This will free up right click menu space...
And speaking of right click space... Perhaps you could move the Carpentry Menu to holding ctrl with a hammer equipped and right clicking? You'll be "readying your tools" and there might be less visual noise to find what you need? Same could be done for the Metalworking with the blowtorch and welding mask equipped?

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