This first screen shows off the rough placement and aesthetics of the UI. I have retained the orange theme, but have used a lighter colour to prevent the UI seeming too dull or hard to see. The font has been changed to one that is more readable, and I have chosen to use white due to feedback on using a darker colour. Labels related to resources output are colour coded for ease. All interactive buttons are orange, whilst text boxes are grey. The text boxes have grouped content based on a particular theme (eg. military power/resource output/overview etc.). I have tried to provide as much information to the player as necessary whilst keeping the UI clean and clear of 'waffle'.
A second screenshot shows the layout of the construction of improvements. A planet is selected from the list on the far left. Then an improvement slot is selected, which in turn reveals all the available improvements. Currently only the first tier of improvements is available to be built. Selecting an improvement will bring up a final window containing all relevant details. This includes a quote that adds some flavour to the particular improvement (at the moment this is just the same quote for each one), the details of what the improvement will do, the cost of constructing the improvement, and a button to build it. You may also notice that improvements have an upkeep that must be paid each turn (not currently working but seen above the improvement slot list).
Finally this screenshot shows how the central list changes size to contain information about the built improvements. Where the details on the right detail generally how the improvement will work, this list shows the actual effects on the planet from all system improvements. You may also notice that the improvements are not balanced at all- a knowledge production of more than 1000 is insane!
Well I hope that was worth the wait, and there will be more changes, additions and improvements to both the UI and gameplay in the weeks to come. Another thing I would quickly like to say is that I have scrapped plans to work on implementing multiplayer in favour of a worthy single player AI. I have made this decision since I cannot realistically implement both features within a reasonable time frame, and I need more experience in designing AI than I do with networking. However this does not mean that multiplayer is not on the table, and it may come post release depending on the ease of implementation. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back again on Friday (hopefully).
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