Your Secrets of Screen Management?

[rje]

So I'm back up to speed with BASIC 2.0, finished Rogue Forest, and am re-working the Space Trader game I wrote this Spring.

And I have to ask y'all's advice.  HOW do you organize multiple data sets on the screen?

I've got lists, maybe a map, and a status/alarm bar, as well as the player menu.  Call it four or five zones on the screen.

It's a bit painful keeping those data inside their boundaries.

I was wondering if anyone has some useful, practical advice about it?

[TomXP411]

You don't. You break it up into categories and only display the relevant data at the time. 

For example, in the menu that lets you travel from one planet to another, you don't really need an inventory and price display... but you do need fuel levels, travel distances, and times. 

I'm thinking if you look at the menu system in Elite: Dangerous, you'll get a good idea of what I mean.

 

[StephenHorn]

In terms of "not overflowing", I got nothing. I guess either hard code the appropriate boundaries or carefully choose the data so overflow is impossible. Abbreviate select words and whatnot. For instance, Megaman games almost always abbreviated weapon names like "M.Buster" for the Mega Buster.

I forget who said it here, it may have been John Gill, but someone was saying that there's just no getting around it: You have to plan carefully. I think that's very sound advice.

 

[Yuki]

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

That's what I have to say on the matter. The good ol' KISS.

[rje]

Thank you.  It's ALL good advice.  I think Tom and Yuki are saying similar things.  And Stephen, I guess planning carefully includes thinking about context.