In every game, the GUI (Graphical User Interface) is essential. It provides useful information and allows you to transfer actions and commands between the game and the player. In Spring, the GUI consists of many elements as an RTS game allows many commands, functions and can provide all sorts of different information. In this post I will be explaining the GUI for Balanced Annihilation.
Now, the GUI changes all the time and varies for different users as there are multiple types of GUI created by different users all the time. As Spring is an Open Source project, you can even create and use your own GUI. In fact, the GUI is customizable in every aspect so players can change their interface to suit them and their playing style. Therefore I cannot analyze and explain every function that the GUI offers but I will be explaining my own GUI that I use. Some elements will look very similar if not identical and some may look completely different so don’t worry if yours doesn’t look the same, the theory behind each feature is the same.
This is my GUI that I have labeled, descriptions and explanations are below. ( May take some time to load ):
Control Panel: This panel features two separate parts. The commands and the unit inventory. The commands are the options which you apply to units which allows you to control them. For example if a unit(s) highlighted and you issue the move command and click where you want that unit(s) to move, the unit(s) selected will move to that position.
The pictures below the commands are the units. Units are anything that can be selected in the game. To build units, simply click on the build pictures in the Control Panel and then click where you want to build them on the map itself.
Mini-map: The Mini-map shows an overview of the whole map in a small box view. It shows exactly what you can see when you zoom out all the way and you can even issue the same commands and highlight units using it.
Clock – FPS – Volume: These are pretty obvious. The clock displays the time the game has been going on for. The FPS displays the frames per second you are receiving. If this gets below around 15 then you will see a significant drop in the smoothness of the game. The more FPS you have, the better. Volume simply allows you to adjust the ingame volume.
Console: This is area where all text is displayed from system messages to chatting with other players. To chat or issue system commands, simply press enter and then you can type your text and use enter again to send your message. To chat to allies only hold Alt and press enter before you start typing, to talk to spectators only, use Shift and Enter and for normal chat which everybody can read, use Ctrl and Enter.
Resource Bars: These show how much Metal and Energy you are receiving. If you are new to Spring then don’t worry too much about the numbers displayed just yet. All you need to know for now is that when the bars get too low, you need to start saving Metal by not building as much stuff and to build more metal extractors or metal makers. If you are low on energy then you need to save nano power by not using too many nano turrets or construction units, then start making more Energy production units like windmills and solors.
When the sliders at the right end of the bars are dragged further left, your resources are shared equally to all your allies. If your energy and metal is maxed out and can’t go any further past the slider, the spare resources you are not receiving are shared to allies. The only way energy and metal can be wasted is if everybody on your team has max resources.
Player Info: This displays how much Metal and Energy your team mates have. More advanced information on how to share energy and metal will be explained in future intermediate guides.
Defense Range Widget: This is a widget created by Very_bad_soldier, allows the attack ranges of your units, allies units and even enemy units to be displayed as a circular line around the units. This widget also has the ability to label ally and enemy nukes and anti-nukes once there are visible to you.
Player List: The player list displays all the players in the game including their Ping and CPU. The widget I am using at the moment is known as Advanced Player List. This gives much more information than the standard player list and also is a lot neater or and more compact. If you are using a version Balanced Annihilation later than the date of this post then the Adv Player List is already installed for you. If not, then you can download the latest version here.
Tooltip Info: This displays all the information about the feature or unit that your cursor is hovering over. It provides useful information about units and features such as how much Health they have, the energy and metal they are using and the energy and metal they are providing.
These are the basics of the GUI for Balanced Annihilation that new players need to know. More advanced features of the GUI will be explained in future guides.
