Item Creation UI Design

Overview
Below is an initial mockup of the main UI for item creation. 1: The primary editing window. This is where the weapon being created is displayed, and where tools from the toolbox are applied.

2: The toolbox. Each button here represents a different tool that can be used to manipulate the current weapon (the function of these tools is listed further down the page.) This includes the buttons at the top of the screen (undo/redo, etc). The second and third row of tools are template-dependent: what tools are available will depend on the template you are useing.

3: "Part" selection (pending better name). The user can edit only one "part" of the weapon at a time, so this menu allows the user to select a currently active part.

4: Material view: displays stats about the material being used to create the current part of the weapon, and provides a button to switch materials for a part.

5: Statistics of the weapon being formed thus far (data points listed are placeholders)

6: A pane that contains options for whatever tool is currently being used. These options vary widely from tool to tool - for instance, the vertex editing tool can toggle 3D (advanced) vertex editing from here, and the fuller/draw tools can choose a shape to apply.

7: Displays help text for the currently selected tool, or whatever the mouse is hovering over.

8: An area for context buttons to appear - additional operations that need to be buttons that are only applicable in specific circumstances. For instance, when a vertex is selected, a "delete" button appears here that can be clicked to delete the currently selected vertex.

9: The "Done Editing" button that leaves this window and moves on to the embellishing stage.

Vertex Editing
Vertex editing the is the principal method of shape editing. Vertex editing edits only the outlines of the item; not all vertices in the 3D model will be available to the player for editing.

The player adds a player controllable vertex by clicking on a spot without a vertex. When the player performs this action, the system infers the vertices to add to the model to account for the new player added vertex. In this way, the player sees the item outline transform to include the new vertex.

Conversely, to delete a vertex, the player selects a vertex and then hits the delete key or button. The opposite of vertex addition occurs, and the system removes all model vertices that were previously present to connect to the deleted vertex.

Once a vertex has been selected, it can be dragged to alter item shape. Each blueprint has a bounding box which restricts the extent to which the vertex can be moved.

Additionally, two modes of editing should be implemented: simple 2D editing and more advanced 3D editing. 2D editing is useful beginners, as having only two dimensions will greatly lower the complexity of editing. Two dimensional editing allows the player to view and edit items looking straight at the item in the x, y, and z direction. Advanced users will likely want more granular control, and 3D editing will facilitate this desire.

Curved surfaces may not be implemented for the demo if time does not permit it.

Other tools
Tools are listed in approximate order of priority: tools described earlier are higher priority.

Design Feedback / Open Questions
How do we handle UVs? Snap grid to control how close two points can come - toggle for user


 * Just a plug for the UI, I really like it!