Sword & Llama

Post #5

Redesigning the aquascape menu

The menu where you actually place plants and rocks started life as a plain list. Functional, but it covered the tank (see rule from devlog #2) and showed no art — just text.

The original aquascape menu: a list that hides the tank.
The original aquascape menu: a list that hides the tank.

I sketched a wireframe: dock it to one side so the tank stays visible, switch to a grid of cards with a thumbnail for each item, and move the categories to a vertical rail.

The wireframe — grid of cards, side dock, category rail.
The wireframe — grid of cards, side dock, category rail.

Then I built it. The chrome came out clean — real category icons, tidy cards, the tank visible the whole time.

The built version. The layout works; the thumbnails are still placeholders.
The built version. The layout works; the thumbnails are still placeholders.

The honest part: the menu stopped looking like programmer art, but the item thumbnails are still flat color swatches. For an art-led game, those thumbnails are exactly what players look at when choosing — so that’s unfinished business. It also surfaced a design question I keep circling: is this a shop or an inventory? Right now placing decor looks free, which means money never really touches the scaping. I haven’t decided if I want it to.