Need input on usability issue in game.

[Jompe71]

I'm working on a game where there is a user interface at the bottom of the landscape screen.
Most parts of the vital info is displayed there, but from time to time user input is required.
At that time i show the build in virtual keyboard and "of course" this covers the interface.
The game is pretty much relying on that you see what you type and the typing is rendered real time in the now covered interface...
So what's the bet option in this case ?

a) render the user input above the keyboard temporary while typing and then when keyboard is closed render it in the interface.
b) Skip the rendering in the interface (regarding the user input) since it serves no use. ONLY render the user input at runtime.
c) Try to get the virtual keyboard to show at TOP of screen instead of at bottom if possible.
d) Just assume that a typo error will be reviled by the game engine and shown in clear text WHEN the keyboard is closed.

Q2: How to use the hardware keyboard for input to the simulator. Clicking the virtual kb drives me nuts! ... sorry MORE nuts than regular.

// Jompe71

[mobileben]

Originally Posted by Jompe71

I'm working on a game where there is a user interface at the bottom of the landscape screen.
Most parts of the vital info is displayed there, but from time to time user input is required.
At that time i show the build in virtual keyboard and "of course" this covers the interface.
The game is pretty much relying on that you see what you type and the typing is rendered real time in the now covered interface...
So what's the bet option in this case ?

a) render the user input above the keyboard temporary while typing and then when keyboard is closed render it in the interface.
b) Skip the rendering in the interface (regarding the user input) since it serves no use. ONLY render the user input at runtime.
c) Try to get the virtual keyboard to show at TOP of screen instead of at bottom if possible.
d) Just assume that a typo error will be reviled by the game engine and shown in clear text WHEN the keyboard is closed.

Q2: How to use the hardware keyboard for input to the simulator. Clicking the virtual kb drives me nuts! ... sorry MORE nuts than regular.

// Jompe71

It would help to know a little bit of what you are covering. We had a similar situation in a couple of games. In the first case, we created our own "text box" and printed the characters based on what the user typed. This kept the text box looking uniform to the product. We deliberately designed the interface so the important info would be on the upper part of the screen, so there would be no conflict with the keyboard.

In the second app, we used a UIKit textbox. But same strategy. The text we needed to fill in was at the top of the screen. If you cannot do this, I'd recommend doing something like this.

When the keyboard pops up, display a textbox or your own graphics for a textbox. You can do something like draw an alpha rect to darken the interface behind everything ... that way to the user, the screen behind it looks "unselected/disabled". We actually do this for the first case I listed, and it works well.

[Jompe71]

Originally Posted by mobileben

It would help to know a little bit of what you are covering.

The user input...

I'll will try the render text above the keyboard using the "input style" matching the rest of the game. Might even implement the modal alpha feature you where talking about.
I cannot place the user interface at the top since the gfx is built up with the interface at the bottom in mind.
A good thing is that the user input as well as the response of dito was displayed at the bottom. It now seems as the user input part is redundant at that spot giving more room to render the result which is a more friendly usability upgrade.
http://www.anddev.org/files/zoo_292.png

[mobileben]

Originally Posted by Jompe71

The user input...

I'll will try the render text above the keyboard using the "input style" matching the rest of the game. Might even implement the modal alpha feature you where talking about.
I cannot place the user interface at the top since the gfx is built up with the interface at the bottom in mind.
A good thing is that the user input as well as the response of dito was displayed at the bottom. It now seems as the user input part is redundant at that spot giving more room to render the result which is a more friendly usability upgrade.
http://www.anddev.org/files/zoo_292.png

I think if you create a text box that looks different (which it would if you have say a white text box) and use the alpha trick, then it will become clear to the player they entered the text that went there. If you were feeling extra ambitious, you could always "animate" the bottom text box up to the top of the screen right as you're opening the keyboard. But I think that would be overkill.

People are good at figuring out context as long as you give them reasonable context. Good luck!