What I'm pretty sure of for now is that there won't be more than... mmmm... 9 or 10 employable characters, so this should fit (it's a matter of sizing the icons). For locations, there will be more but I'll use a grid, so it'll be multiple lines of locations. This should hold up to 30 locations easily (though it's not needed). And finally, possible actions will shouldn't exceed 5 per place+character I'd say. It's often a sequence of tasks (discover dryads > investigate > be friends) that replace each other as you progress.
We should still clearly see the chara on the left, with the right half partly obscured by this interface. I might try another fake attempt to see if it's awful or not ^^;
The map... as an interface... seems not to be necessary anymore. But since I don't think MB is MB without a map, I thought I could use it to introduce each resolution part :
- Task interface, you assign tasks
- End Turn
- Resolve phase goes through characters (MB1 style), showing the full body character on the left, maybe a third of background behind, and on the right, the map, zooming on the actual location.
- The actual VN scene takes place
Again, it's for the arcade feel
(think "character introduction in a fighting game"). Seeing the map would let you get an idea of where each place is... but it's not mandatory to play (since distances are not important anymore).
... With people asking for a dateable Framboise, I always wondered what I messed up... Framboise's apparent age or Dalmaryon's undeclared age? XD. There are indeed "neighbors" meant for Dalmaryon. And if there ever is a Dalma-Framb relationship, it'd probably be more of a "let's take care of MagBou together" and after quite a few years "let's marry" ^^;.