An issue that I have with the main menu in Forge is that if you add more buttons to it, it will cover up the words on the bottom left. OK, it doesn't do that when I increase the window size (I'm on Mac), but it still irks me every time I load up Minecraft. In this image I have the Sound Packs mod, and it adds a "Sound Packs" button to another row, so the "Language" and "Options..." buttons cover up the words. (I also didn't like that the "Mods" button got to be next to "Texture Packs" and the "Sound Packs" button didn't.)

 

 

That could be a lot more compact. So I decided to play around with MCP to see just how compact you could make it. I put "Singleplayer" and "Multiplayer" on one row (which makes logical sense) and put the "Mods" button next to "Options..." instead of "Quit Game". I made a new icon-based "Quit Game" button to the right of "Mods", just like the "Language" icon button is to the left of "Options...". I don't see how I could make this into an actual mod compatible with Forge, Forge mods that add more buttons, and Sound Packs. I just copy-pasted the "Destroy Item" button into gui.png because I am not good at making textures, and it was only going to be used in this screenshot.

 

My initial plan was to make the "Mods" button icon-based and keep the "Quit Game" button where it is, but I changed my mind when I realized that people wouldn't understand what it did unless they clicked it. Quitting, on the other hand, is something that every computer user can understand if it's symbolized with an X. Besides, while making an icon symbolizing mods might be possible, it would be way too hard for me to make hackily and lazily.

 

 

This is what the above would look like if the Sound Packs mod had the "Sound Packs" button next to "Texture Packs". And the "Sound Packs" button just goes to the mod list because it doesn't matter, it's just for a screenshot.

 

 

As you might notice, my resolution for Eclipse testing the workspace is bigger than my resolution for loading up Minecraft. With this compact main menu, you would be able to add another row of buttons before it started covering up any words, not including the "Sound Packs" button. Also, the existence of the icon-based "Quit Game" button would make it more symmetrical.

Ya... FML adds no extra size to the menu, so if you have another mod that does, it's on them to clean it up. Aside from that you could just set your gui scale to smaller, or increase your window resolution.

Either way, if someone takes it upon themselves to stick even more things on there to increase the size, its them that needs to be contacted not us.

 

However, my personal option is this should probably get more compact but as I said its more for the mod that adds new buttons.

Unless we start shipping a API to put more buttons on the main menu, I dont see Forge/FML altering the gui anymore then we do.