A Good Interface

I propose that our present interface be replaced with a good interface.

How about letting us script the user interface with client-side LSL in HUDs. Then we can make our own user interface, AND do cool stuff in the UI that would be way too laggy now.

Well, if highly flexible and individually customizable is onsidered good, then I suppose that would be ok.

I wanted, however , to make a suggestion that didn't get bogged down in technical minutia.

Something everyone could support, you know.

We've had a fair sampling of our current interface, and I think it's time to try a good one for a change.

Good is change.

I suport this idea completely and I would add that we need good dialogue boxes as well. We have used the Linden dialogue box for a while now and it would be interesting to try a good one instead. I think this would be better.

Care to elaborate on "good"? Saying something needs to be improved without giving some actual suggestions as to how isn't entirely helpful.

Describe your idea of a "good" interface then?

My idea is... give people a way of prototyping better interfaces.

And leave what's there in place, because I don't want to end up with a better interface that doesn't let me get even as close to the guts of the system as I can now.

Really, I'd like to take over the UI and be able to script more stuff and push scripts around instead of animations, so I can REALLY build a user interface to my *av*... wear motion capture gloves and have my character's hands move to match. Because I don't see LL doing that.

Good dialog box:

llGoodDialogBox(key agent, string title, string format, list elements, integer channel);

Example:

hug_dialog(list agents_nearby) // called from sensor()
{
    list dialog = [
        DIALOG_BACKGROUND, <0,0,0>, 0.5,
        DIALOG_TEXT, "Who do you want to hug?", <1,.5,.5>, 1.0,
        DIALOG_SELECTOR, "agent", llGetListLength(agents_nearby)] + agents_nearby + [
        DIALOG_BUTTON, "button", "Hug", "hug",
        DIALOG_BUTTON, "button", "Kiss", "kiss",
        DIALOG_BUTTON, "button", "Bite", "bite"
    ];

    llGoodDialogBox(llgetOwner(), "Hug/Kiss Multitool", "$button $agent", dialog, 1);
}

DIALOG_BACKGROUND, color, alpha
DIALOG_TEXT, text, color, alpha
DIALOG_ENTRY, name, default_value
DIALOG_SELECTOR, name, count, string, ...
DIALOG_BUTTON, name, label, value

Format is just a string with variable substitution. If the format is left empty you get a list in CSV format of name-value pairs.

Elements are packed top to bottom, left to right.

This sort of techno-factionalism divides the supporters of good and encourages the formation of splinter groups that engage in vicious infighting and backstabbing and somtimes hair pulling and slapping, which if allowed to go unchecked might result in some form of popular entertainment, assuming the contestants are fairly buff and not wearing an excess of clothing. But I digress.

We must not allow factionalism to divide the supporters of Good Interface, for to do so ensures the continuing triumph of Present Interface.

We must put the Present Interface in the past, and the Good Interface in the present, in order to make a better future!

If that doesn't work, we can just highlight "Good Interface" and select "Bring To Front" from the context menu. (We could if we had a Good Interface, that is.)

I thought this was sounding ok till I looked at it more closely and realized it wants to hug people, not bug people.

An automatic way to bug people sounds pretty good.

Oh, like maybe ballpoint pens that click themselves repeatedly at times, or a doorbell that rings itself early Satuday morning and pretends its trying to sell magazine subscriptions.

Doesn't work, I already tried that with "Scripted Animations" and "Texture Linden Trees".