eytanz
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I know, I know, there's right clicking. But, as StuartK explained quite well in another thread:

Maybe if I had three arms (heck, I'll go for four so I've got another arm for dealing with my coffee) Reaching for the mouse ingame, sans additional appendages, breaks the flow of the game (I might do it once in a game to see how fast I did the room, the rest of the time, I just don't bother) If roaches are not always moving out of place depending on how the room is designed, or roach queens not always spawning due to brain placement, it'd be easy to lose count after 60, 90, 120+ moves. A bar would do the job, or a clock. Or the number of moves so far, from which the player could determine the next spawn time, with a little mental arithmetic.

The problem is, basically, that timing spawns is critical in many rooms - especially some of the new ones in user based holds (my own rooms often depend on it), and right-clicking is really annoying. Not only does it require removing one's hand from the keyboard as mentioned above, it also, for a fast player, needs to be done constantly since otherwise you lose track. When this came up originally a couple of months ago I supported the info-on-right-click idea, but now I really believe that the spawn counter (NOT the other info that's on right click - that's perfect as it is) should be on-screen at all time.

I think some sort of graphical display - bars being easiest, I guess - would be best. Numbers on-screen would ruin the feel of the game a bit, but a bar or clock could easily be in-theme.

This may well be a feature for a future version, but I figured bringing it up now in context of the beta can't hurt.

[Edited by eytanz on 07-13-2003 at 11:12 PM GMT: corrected the attribution]

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StuartK
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eytanz wrote:
I know, I know, there's right clicking. But, as Oneiromancer explained quite well in another thread:

Maybe if I had three arms (heck, I'll go for four so I've got another arm for dealing with my coffee) Reaching for the mouse ingame, sans additional appendages, breaks the flow of the game

That looks familiar.

I fully agree with the sentiment expressed by the original poster

Snicker
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LOL - I'm so used to FPS that my setup is completely remapped to the WASDX standard, and my right hand is always on my mouse...

StuartK
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Snicker wrote:
LOL - I'm so used to FPS that my setup is completely remapped to the WASDX standard, and my right hand is always on my mouse...

Hmmm. QWEASDZXC to move Beethro and R to swing. Not terrible. I'll try it

...

I tried it It's sort of like riding a bicycle with no handlebars, faulty breaks and a flat tyre, downhill, into a high wind, with a pack of wild dogs chasing, a deep ravine at the bottom of the hill, just wide enough to possibly jump across, but on the other side there's a chainsaw wielding madman.


Slight qualifier to my original sarcasm. I would /also/ be perfectly happy with the current respawn display notification, if I had 11 fingers of carefully customized length on my left hand.

Stupid hands. *Evolve* already!

[Edited by StuartK on 07-13-2003 at 09:10 AM]

Sokko
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Make the timer a pocketwatch; Beethro carries it around with him at all times so he knows when stuff is going to spawn.

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Oneiromancer
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eytanz wrote:
I know, I know, there's right clicking. But, as Oneiromancer explained quite well in another thread:

Actually, StuartK made that comment. It was a comment in a thread I started, yes, but it was his observation. Just have to give the proper credit before he gets mad....

I am personally of two minds about this. I think it should be an option, something that you don't have to have on all the time, but if you are having trouble with a room then you can turn it on by going to the Settings in the Main Menu.

Edit: oops, I see now that StuartK did react to the misappropriation with suitable sarcasm. Well, hopefully I spoke more plainly for the casual observer.

Game on,

[Edited by Oneiromancer on 07-13-2003 at 09:29 PM]

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zex20913
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StuartK wrote:
I tried it It's sort of like riding a bicycle with no handlebars, faulty breaks and a flat tyre, downhill, into a high wind, with a pack of wild dogs chasing, a deep ravine at the bottom of the hill, just wide enough to possibly jump across, but on the other side there's a chainsaw wielding madman.

Ha! I like the analogy!

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eytanz
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<-- me. (wish there was a smily of someone in a dunce cap). Sorry Stuart and Oneiromancer for getting the attribution wrong - my only excuse is that I'm not that smart.

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Oneiromancer
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eytanz wrote:
my only excuse is that I'm not that smart.

I hope you're not really being that hard on yourself...it was just a simple mistake. I would not have thought anything of it if my name hadn't been mentioned. Don't worry about it, okay?

Game on,

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eytanz
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Nah, that's just my standard excuse for everything.

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StuartK
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eytanz wrote:
<-- me. (wish there was a smily of someone in a dunce cap). Sorry Stuart and Oneiromancer for getting the attribution wrong - my only excuse is that I'm not that smart.

Correcting each others mistakes is a great way to bring our post counts up further

zex20913
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So is saying "I agree with the previous comment"

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Schik
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You may want to watch out for the APCE (Automatic Post Content Evaluator) that detects this sort of post. If your good post/bad post percentage gets below a certain point, it dooms to to be a Roachling forever.


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zex20913
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May I ask what this percentage of certain Roachling doom is?

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StuartK
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Schik wrote:
You may want to watch out for the APCE (Automatic Post Content Evaluator) that detects this sort of post. If your good post/bad post percentage gets below a certain point, it dooms to to be a Roachling forever.

I rail against the imposition of the APCE! It's just another way of discriminating again more recent board members.

Now there's no possible way I can catch up with known spammers like zex20913, except by being incredibly productive.


But I take your point *ducks*

Schik
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zex20913 wrote:
May I ask what this percentage of certain Roachling doom is?

Sorry, I'm afraid that's top secret.


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StuartK
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zex20913 wrote:
May I ask what this percentage of certain Roachling doom is?

5 1/2 times more posts for you than it is for me

OK, I really am done now

zex20913
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Schik wrote:

Sorry, I'm afraid that's top secret.

Wow! That's what the government says when they mean "I have no idea!"

(This comment was made to be comical, not critical)

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trick
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Eh, straying back on-topic for a bit, what about popping up the spawn count thingie when you press the enter key on the keypad ? That way it's always easily accessible by Way Of The Pinky, and you could just press enter again to close the thing and keep playing.

Would need to be changed by key-remappers, tho..

Sorry if that didn't make sense, as i said in another thread, i can't really play the beta until the linux port is done.

- Gerry

StuartK
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The counts could go in the message box (a large area of the screen that's mostly under-used) I wouldn't want to require pressing enter (or space) again though - just make it a toggle. If the counts were replaced with message text on a message text square, pressing enter/space would switch between them, but not actually switch the toggle on or off.

A clock or bargraph would be nice though (something visual/analog rather than a bunch of numbers) if it could be integrated into the interface, so it's always part of the peripheral vision for those who want it. I think it might add something to the gameplay on tar/roach queen levels.

Oneiromancer
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For a bargraph, it might be difficult to tell whether you have 1 or 2 ticks left, for example. Numbers are much less ambiguous. Just something to think about.

I also agree that the space on the left side of the screen is underused...I forgot that scrolls went there until StuartK mentioned it. As long as nothing vital to the game goes there, the scroll could just overlay the timer, etc.

Game on,

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mrimer
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trick wrote:
Eh, straying back on-topic for a bit, what about popping up the spawn count thingie when you press the enter key on the keypad ? That way it's always easily accessible by Way Of The Pinky, and you could just press enter again to close the thing and keep playing.

Would need to be changed by key-remappers, tho..

Hey, why not? Enter isn't being used for anything else in the game screen at the moment. I'll put it in build 29.

(Note that <Enter> actually can't be mapped to a command because its used for special things like activating widgets with focus, like buttons, etc. If someone actually wanted to use Enter for a command, I'm sure they would have complained by now. Since no one has, we'll assume it's not important to use as a command key. If you're thinking about using it, too bad!)

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