Minor interface tweak requests

For to fix what's broke, and improve what ain't. Or something thereabouts.

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Satan
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Satan »

Acc1 and acc2 links, the people demand it! :p
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Ryme
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Ryme »

Doc Igor wrote:
Just curious if this idea[1] has been rejected completely, or just not noticed, or something else.

Also, the equip link for the black box is nice, but it would be nice if the other crimelab gear also had them, for the sake of consistency if nothing else.
I put it on both yesterday. As Muh notes, it may be "useless" under many circumstances. The third doesn't need it, because you don't need to equip it.

This is a bit of an experiment. Generally I'm not into going out of my way to program stuff that's provided in the interface. Security, reliability, basic functionality and the like come FAR ahead of concepts like "saving clicks" unless it's simply a massive number of clicks being saved. Clicks are cheap, mostly.

However, this one bit got complained about an awful lot. Given the choice between believing a large portion of my playerbase is incapable of remembering to dress themselves appropriately for a quest (and this after remembering to go get the quest in the first place) and deciding that this one area might just be a little unintuitive somehow, I figured in this one case I'd try an upgrade.

But in general I'm very much opposed to inserting use/solve/whatever links in every location where they might be useful, and I greatly fear the slippery slope with a spot like this. Don't get me wrong -- I use KoL mafia and absolutely LOVE those additions when playing Kingdom of Loathing, but I'm also okay with those items being scripted additions instead of code I need to maintain myself.
Doc Igor wrote:
Just curious if this idea has been rejected completely, or just not noticed, or something else.
Something else, I guess. I saw it. Per my remarks above I'm not 100% sure I want to implement it, but it's not completely rejected. There's a part of me that an explicit link to "go adventure in Zone 47 for X combat units" somehow takes away from the storytelling aspect of "there's something hidden in an old theater downtown--go find it!"

May be completely irrational on my part, but working with the rough guidelines above, unless adding the link would make the difference between a lot of people completing the quest and somehow failing to complete the quest, it may not be something I want to code right now.
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Ryme
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Ryme »

Satan wrote:Acc1 and acc2 links, the people demand it! :p
Am I the only one who would find this completely useless, because I wouldn't know what's in which slot without checking first anyway?
Satan
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Satan »

I always know what's in which slot because I have a specific order that I follow when I do anything. But I see your point. I don't even use anything besides the black box, so I'm content :p
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Cristiona
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Cristiona »

Doc Igor wrote:Well, every other piece of gear, you simply wear something new to replace it, but accessories... you have to first remove before equipping a new one. Separate slots would allow accessories to behave as every other type of gear.
Yes, but the problem is knowing which is in which slot. I'm wearing a Hero's Cape and a Ring of Solis, but I don't know which is in which slot. Since I need to look anyway, I might as well remove the one I want to remove.

KoL has numbered Accessory slots, and I find I rarely use the functionality because I can never remember which is in which slot, so I either just remove the one I want to replace, or look at the number, scroll down, forget the number, scroll up, look at the number again, repeat it to myself as I scroll down, select the accessory.

It always struck me as something that seems like a time saver but isn't.
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Muhandes
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Muhandes »

I always have the same setup, acc2 is permanent and acc1 is what I change. So for me it would be VERY useful.
I think if there was such a feature people will get used to doing the same.
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Satan »

That's the same way I have it setup, Muh :p
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Ryme
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Ryme »

Wasn't really requested, but I realized today there's no need for the couch to do anything but dump all items, so I got rid of the "dump all" link and just made the "use" link dump all by default.
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Muhandes »

Ryme wrote:Wasn't really requested, but I realized today there's no need for the couch to do anything but dump all items, so I got rid of the "dump all" link and just made the "use" link dump all by default.
A good move, but it also makes some items EXTREMELY rare. I might have the only remaining copy of one of them :D
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Ryme
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Ryme »

If it becomes an issue, I can update the ones in display cases, too.
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Muhandes »

Ryme wrote:If it becomes an issue, I can update the ones in display cases, too.
Nah, it's not an issue at all. There will always be obsolete things one cannot get, and this is just one of them.
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Cristiona
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Cristiona »

so-and-so has buffed you with Armadillo Armor.
Your skin toughens until it's as tough as an armadillo's. (Added for 3375 minutes.)
At some point, would it be possible to turn the buffer's name into a link?
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Ryme
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Ryme »

Prolly.
Muhandes
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Muhandes »

A suggestion on how to make the AH a bit better.
I suggest that similarly to what happens when you cross 500 and 5000, when you reach 50000 and 500000, the minimum outbid will be increased. I am so fed up with auction snipers.
On a real auction house, if the current bid is 100,000 the next bed is something like 120,000, not 101,000.
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Cristiona
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Cristiona »

I suppose it could just be current +10% universally from the first chip. There was a MUD I played that did that.
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Muhandes »

Doc Igor wrote:
Muhandes wrote:On a real auction house, if the current bid is 100,000 the next bed is something like 120,000, not 101,000.
Uh, no... an auctioneer will try for a bid like that, but unless the published terms of auction specify otherwise, any bid higher than the current bid will be accepted. (For this reason, many publish terms to the effect that bids must be at least a dollar higher than the previous bid.) It's perfectly legitimate, in most auctions, to outbid someone by a minimal bid... the only problem becomes that the person you're bidding against usually takes your dropping to minimal bid increments as a sign you're gonna give up, and they'll jump-bid to try and get out of your (assumed) price range.
I stand corrected, it just appeared so in the few auctions I attended.

The original point still stands. Sniping is annoying. There is a simple way to prevent it, which is mostly implemented. This would just be extending the current mechanic a bit more.
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Patojonas
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Patojonas »

could there be placed a "Computer Lab" title above the software effects that links directly to the computer lab, just like the "Sidekick/companion:" title that links directly to the sidekick menu?

Minus 1 click whenever I need to change software....
Muhandes
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Muhandes »

On the left pane we have something like: Bedtime: 5:14 AM (~75 turns left)

This is sometimes misleading since one cannot adventure after 7AM on weekdays. Personally I'd find it very useful to know the actual number of turns I'm expected to play, taking into account the 7AM limit.
blackmatter615
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by blackmatter615 »

Doc Igor wrote: However, in all fairness, I'd like to point out that - when accumulating turns for a Frayday - I know the number of turns (255 or 262, depending on class) that I can carry forward. Losing that counter function would force me into doing the math every time.
Maybe if it was an optional setting...
How about:
Bedtime: 5:14 AM (~75 turns left)
Work Starts: 7:00 AM (~85 turns left)

So you have however many turns is the lesser of the two numbers, and on frayday the time is set to some unachievable number (i dunno how time is generally coded but it might be possible)
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blackmatter615
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by blackmatter615 »

Ok. I just put in a bid for a piece of pentium in the AH. The current bid was 5k, so I went to bid 5001. I accidentally hit one too many zeros so I bid 50001. The autosell was 20k. I automatically purchased the pentium because that happens when you make a bid over the autosell value. I would assume that many people would make bids over the autosell for the same reason I did, miscounting zeros.
My suggestion would be to make it so that instead of automatically purchasing the item for you, return you to the bid page and have the top of the page display a message along the lines of:
"You have attempted to buy the item for more than the buy now option. Use that button."
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Muhandes
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Muhandes »

blackmatter615 wrote:
Doc Igor wrote: However, in all fairness, I'd like to point out that - when accumulating turns for a Frayday - I know the number of turns (255 or 262, depending on class) that I can carry forward. Losing that counter function would force me into doing the math every time.
Maybe if it was an optional setting...
How about:
Bedtime: 5:14 AM (~75 turns left)
Work Starts: 7:00 AM (~85 turns left)

So you have however many turns is the lesser of the two numbers, and on frayday the time is set to some unachievable number (i dunno how time is generally coded but it might be possible)
I support this idea
blackmatter615 wrote:Ok. I just put in a bid for a piece of pentium in the AH. The current bid was 5k, so I went to bid 5001. I accidentally hit one too many zeros so I bid 50001. The autosell was 20k. I automatically purchased the pentium because that happens when you make a bid over the autosell value. I would assume that many people would make bids over the autosell for the same reason I did, miscounting zeros.
My suggestion would be to make it so that instead of automatically purchasing the item for you, return you to the bid page and have the top of the page display a message along the lines of:
"You have attempted to buy the item for more than the buy now option. Use that button."
Not a bad idea either.
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Patojonas
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Patojonas »

guess no one cares for software......by the way, good idea blackmatter615, would have prevented a few mistakes so far...

Anyway, another thing I came up with, could there be added a section in the Hero's Journal with a space to store text with at least, lets say, 500-1000 characters?

I'd be tremendously useful, at least to me, to keep a list of things to do/buy when available/look for for example, or for those who are testing drops to keep their progress...
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Cristiona
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Cristiona »

When you finish catalyzing a metal, you get a link back to the catalyzer. Could we get similar functionality for Vlad's Decryptonomicon? Except, back to the computer, of course...
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Patojonas
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Patojonas »

you just get a message, no link I think...
blackmatter615
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by blackmatter615 »

I think it might be cool to include a feature in the mementoniam memuseum that allows you to view a random display. Not very important, but it would be cool to view what people generally throw in there.
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Harry Dresden
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Harry Dresden »

How about adding a link back to the computer lab once something finishes decrypting? It would save a lot of clicks when decrypting a ton of data plates, or for the casino quest.
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Ryme
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Ryme »

it's actually there, just hidden. Try mousing over the words "your computer".
Satan
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Satan »

Then I shall request that it be unhidden. Not that it has any use to me. <.<
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Harry Dresden »

That is awesome. Might want to bold it or underline, though, so it's easy to realize the link is there.
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Ryme
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by Ryme »

Doc Igor wrote:Any chance of a "catalyze multiple" option? It would likewise save a lot of clicks. And time.
Not without rewriting big chunks of the least pleasant code in the game. Someday, probably, but not before a lot of other bigger priorities.
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Re: Minor interface tweak requests

Post by blackmatter615 »

On the showchar page (the one you get from clicking the name in the chat window), would people like to see the last place the person adventured, as well as any software the person has enabled. I think the software would be nice because although they provide relatively minor benefits, they are almost like 2 more equipment slots (in my mind), and the last adventure because id like to be stalkerish and know how people are spending the turns (or at least get a rough idea of it).
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