Ordering the Recruit Dialog (was Spearmen)

Sorrow · Post by **Sorrow** » July 15th, 2007, 10:23 pm

Move them to the top of the recruit list.

Thank you.

Post by **Velensk** » July 16th, 2007, 12:25 am

Unless I'm mistaken the lists are alphebetical, and cannot be edited the way you propose.

Mathijs · Post by **Mathijs** » July 16th, 2007, 8:40 am

It could be nice if you're able to set the attribute they're sorted on: their name, their cost, their level, ...

But I know: more is not always better

(but so it sometimes)

mat

Chris NS · Post by **Chris NS** » July 16th, 2007, 10:28 am

If you're determined to sort them in a custom order, you can always create units with names such as "1_Spearman", "2_Bowman", "3_Heavy Infantryman" or whatever order you want. (The rest of the unit description, including the user description that appears on screen, remains unchanged.)

Sorrow, it's generally a good idea to 1) suggest, not demand, ideas and 2) explaining why you would like this change. Since you didn't state why you wanted the change, I take it because you'replaying the loyalist faction in MP and don't like having to scroll to reach the bottom. Whilst I have some sympathy with this, I can see other people arguing other ways. I believe there are some plans to overhaul the recruit/recall interface completely, but in the meantime, you can save a bit of time using ctrl-alt-R to recruit the same unit as last time.

Multiplayer Scenarios / Campaigns · Post by **Rhuvaen** » July 16th, 2007, 12:25 pm

I don't think a custom order would make sense. There are a lot of advantages of having an alphabetical order - units are found easily if you know their name and that they exist in the faction. But first-time players might overlook the spearman altogether in their first MP game.

Another order logic that might make sense from a usability perspective could be:
1. ordering units alphabetically by race
2. within the same race, ordering units by usage in the order of:
a) fighter
b) archer
c) mixed fighter
d) healer
e) scout

But then I'm sure many people would wonder why the Saurian Augur comes after the Saurian Skirmisher etc...

Post by **irrevenant** » July 16th, 2007, 12:44 pm

ChrisNS, thank you - you've saved me quite a bit of typing.

IMO, it makes sense to be able to sort by different fields (name, cost, movement points etc.), but it would be a nice bonus to support drag-n-drop reordering of the unit list for the duration of the game.

Vendanna · Post by **Vendanna** » July 17th, 2007, 12:50 pm

It would be better if the user could "save" the rearrange of his troops on the panel, so you change them in the order you are most interested in, and the the game keeps track of it.

It is better than every single game you rearrange the spearmen at the top because you are fighting drakes, and also would look better for campaings that are multiple scenarios if the recruit list its big.

Post by **Darth Fool** » July 17th, 2007, 4:41 pm

http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/WesnothManual wrote: ctrl-shift-r Repeat last recruit

is your friend.

Sorrow · Post by **Sorrow** » July 18th, 2007, 6:02 am

Chris NS wrote:Sorrow, it's generally a good idea to 1) suggest, not demand, ideas and 2) explaining why you would like this change. Since you didn't state why you wanted the change, I take it because you'replaying the loyalist faction in MP and don't like having to scroll to reach the bottom. Whilst I have some sympathy with this, I can see other people arguing other ways. I believe there are some plans to overhaul the recruit/recall interface completely, but in the meantime, you can save a bit of time using ctrl-alt-R to recruit the same unit as last time.

Not demanding anything just stating it. I kind of annoyed me one game so I posted it while playing the game, not much effort put into it.

Post by **irrevenant** » July 18th, 2007, 8:49 am

Sorrow, by posting an idea like that you're asking the developers to put in significant time and effort in developing it. You're likely to get a more positive reception if you put some time and effort into your expressing your suggestion. Regardless of how you intended it, what you wrote is a demand.

P.S. I've renamed the thread to something a bit more meaningful.

Sorrow · Post by **Sorrow** » July 18th, 2007, 9:10 am

I have no ideas on how to improve it, if its less rude I can edit it. But it was during a game and I forgot about it after. So that post wasn't exactly heart felt or cared for.

Also the overhaul, is that a rumor or did the interface developers actually say they were doing something to it? I like it the way it is, easy/simple and i'm used to it. Just the order is kind of silly, at least in that one tiny way.

commanderkeen · Post by **commanderkeen** » July 18th, 2007, 9:26 am

Maybe they could be ordered in order of how many you have recruited?
That way, the things you recruit the most will be at the top, thus saving time.
Although it may confuse newbies who would then wonder why the recruit list shuffles around.

Post by **irrevenant** » July 18th, 2007, 9:06 pm

commanderkeen wrote:Maybe they could be ordered in order of how many you have recruited?

Ugh, no thank you! Office 2000 did this and it was a nightmare. People get used to where to click for a particular option. If the location of the options move about on their own it's just annoying having to get used to their new location.

IMO, the best suggestion is to allow both ordering by column and drag-n-drop ordering.

Vendanna,
The reason I didn't suggest saving the order beyond the game was twofold:
(1) One step at a time - I figured it would be easier to implement the feature then extend it to be saveable.
(2) I figure the order will change depending on which faction you're playing against.

But I do think long-term that it's a good idea to have a checkbox on the recruit dialog to save the ordering.

Vendanna · Post by **Vendanna** » July 18th, 2007, 10:14 pm

irrevenant wrote:Vendanna,
The reason I didn't suggest saving the order beyond the game was twofold:
(1) One step at a time - I figured it would be easier to implement the feature then extend it to be saveable.
(2) I figure the order will change depending on which faction you're playing against.

But I do think long-term that it's a good idea to have a checkbox on the recruit dialog to save the ordering.

I wholeheartly? agree with you, its better to implement the feature and later extend it once it is know as bug free.

And while the order may change slighty depending on which faction you are fighting on, that doesn't stop you to rearrange them ingame but have the checked feature.

if one is a diehard, he could also "code" or similar to have its favourite faction recruit list be "listed against faction" something like the old game "Magic Shandalar" in which the decks checked the colors of the opponent "deck" in order to put "change certain cards on its deck"

That's all I wanted to say about this, tought. So I'll continue my lurking, thank for your reply