Missing panels cause problems in BYOND Discussion

ID:138548
 
Jun 13 2000, 11:22 am
I was trying to show a guide how to build stuff, and it just didn't seem to be working for her.

Turned out that her panels were turned off, so she couldn't see options that were showing up, even though the code explicitly sets client.statpanel.

Most of the building/administration of my game uses a "master/detail" relationship, where the browser provides the master page -- links from which you choose the kind of thing you want -- and the panel provides the detail: the set of options available for that choice.

My UI is built on the assumption that the panels are visible, since they are absolutely required for my game.

I would be happy if setting client.statpanel forced the panels to show up if they weren't previously -- would that be possible/acceptable?

Otherwise I will be reduced to lots of warning messages asking the player to turn on their panels...
#1 Jun 13 2000, 11:58 am
I would be happy if setting client.statpanel forced the panels to show up if they weren't previously -- would that be possible/acceptable?

Otherwise I will be reduced to lots of warning messages asking the player to turn on their panels...

I wonder if Dantom plans to support this kind of "remote control" over client preferences by expanding the client.script feature.

"There is nothing wrong with your computer. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the stat panels. We will control the fonts. We can roll the image; make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: There is nothing wrong with your computer. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the BYOND."
#2 Jun 13 2000, 1:53 pm
In response to Guy T. (#1)
On 6/13/00 12:58 pm Guy T. wrote:

I wonder if Dantom plans to support this kind of "remote control" over client preferences by expanding the client.script feature.

Well, the current implementation is supposed to give this control to some degree. For instance, if you have a map, the map will be turned on by default. Ditto with the stat/verb panes and icon sizes.

As you noted, the script gives more powerful control by _forcing_ certain options, like colors and fonts. Right now you can only override the server-set defaults if the server has explictely deemed them not "important" (I forget the exact wording in the script). Actually, that might now work in the current version either, because of the funny way that configurations are handled, but eventually it will. It doesn't matter much: it's like overriding the server defined colors on a web page; I don't think many do this.

Eventually the server will be set macros too. That, to me, would really finalize the scripting.

#3 Jun 13 2000, 1:56 pm
On 6/13/00 12:22 pm Deadron wrote:
I was trying to show a guide how to build stuff, and it just didn't seem to be working for her.

Turned out that her panels were turned off, so she couldn't see options that were showing up, even though the code explicitly sets client.statpanel.

This is odd. The panels should automatically turn on the first time they become visible. Did she explicitely turn them off, or did they just never appear for her in the first place? If the latter (and I imagine it is, because why wouuld she turn them off?) then we have a bug. Otherwise I think the current behavior is best, because as Zilal noted, we don't want the panels popping up when the user has specifically said they don't want them there.
#4 Jun 13 2000, 2:42 pm
In response to Tom H. (#3)
On 6/13/00 2:56 pm Tom H. wrote:
On 6/13/00 12:22 pm Deadron wrote:
I was trying to show a guide how to build stuff, and it just didn't seem to be working for her.

Turned out that her panels were turned off, so she couldn't see options that were showing up, even though the code explicitly sets client.statpanel.

This is odd. The panels should automatically turn on the first time they become visible. Did she explicitely turn them off, or did they just never appear for her in the first place? If the latter (and I imagine it is, because why wouuld she turn them off?) then we have a bug. Otherwise I think the current behavior is best, because as Zilal noted, we don't want the panels popping up when the user has specifically said they don't want them there.

I don't know if she turned them off -- and she might not know either, being a still-pretty-new-to-computers person.

As a designer, I want to be able to force the panels to be visible. In my game it's just not an option -- no panels and you can't play. Worse, as in this situation, you may not realize why you can't play.

It would be like not displaying the map in a graphic-based world -- the player just can't play without the map.
#5 Jun 13 2000, 2:44 pm
In response to Deadron (#4)
On 6/13/00 3:42 pm Deadron wrote:
On 6/13/00 2:56 pm Tom H. wrote:
On 6/13/00 12:22 pm Deadron wrote:
I was trying to show a guide how to build stuff, and it just didn't seem to be working for her.

Turned out that her panels were turned off, so she couldn't see options that were showing up, even though the code explicitly sets client.statpanel.

This is odd. The panels should automatically turn on the first time they become visible. Did she explicitely turn them off, or did they just never appear for her in the first place? If the latter (and I imagine it is, because why wouuld she turn them off?) then we have a bug. Otherwise I think the current behavior is best, because as Zilal noted, we don't want the panels popping up when the user has specifically said they don't want them there.

I don't know if she turned them off -- and she might not know either, being a still-pretty-new-to-computers person.

As a designer, I want to be able to force the panels to be visible. In my game it's just not an option -- no panels and you can't play. Worse, as in this situation, you may not realize why you can't play.

It would be like not displaying the map in a graphic-based world -- the player just can't play without the map.

I could survive if I had API that reported whether the panels were showing. Then I could always check for them and pop up a request for the player to turn them on.