ClonesGame.com Forums

[Warskull]

Overall the interface is fairly good, but a few things annoy me a little.

1) The hotkeys are not displayed over the abilities. Having to mouse over them as I learn the hotkeys is a bit of a nuisance.

2) An option to auto-deselect a clone after applying an ability to them would be nice.

3) It took me a bit to figure out that the radial menu around the clones was called the belt (to disable it.) Maybe an alternate name should be included in parentheses after "belt" in the option to enable/disable it.

[tom]

1) The hotkeys are not displayed over the abilities. Having to mouse over them as I learn the hotkeys is a bit of a nuisance.

We've receive this comment from another player, so we'll probably add the hotkeys to the HUD buttons instead of just the tooltip.

2) An option to auto-deselect a clone after applying an ability to them would be nice.

Hmmm, this is simple to add, but can you explain why this would be useful? There are so many times that multiple morphs need to be applied in sequence to a single clone (in multiplayer and the more advanced singleplayer levels) that auto-deselecting would make it much more difficult to do. It's unlikely we would add this feature in unless you can provide some good justification.

3) It took me a bit to figure out that the radial menu around the clones was called the belt (to disable it.) Maybe an alternate name should be included in parentheses after "belt" in the option to enable/disable it.

This is explained in the manual, but I agree, it may not be obvious. We'll add an alternate description to this option.

Thanks for your feedback!

[Warskull]

2) An option to auto-deselect a clone after applying an ability to them would be nice.

Hmmm, this is simple to add, but can you explain why this would be useful? There are so many times that multiple morphs need to be applied in sequence to a single clone (in multiplayer and the more advanced singleplayer levels) that auto-deselecting would make it much more difficult to do. It's unlikely we would add this feature in unless you can provide some good justification.

I've only recently picked up it (saw the ad on penny-arcade), so I am not to the more advanced levels yet. However, the issue I am running into is that I have to click on a clone, then click off a clone to dump the selection before swapping to the method where I can hold down the key to apply a morph to multiple clones. I am ending up accidentally activating morphs on the previously selection clone.

Maybe an option toggle wouldn't necessarily the best solution, but some method of choosing between a sticky selection and a brief selection could be nice. Maybe even an easily accessed "clear selection" hotkey or a modifier key that when held keeps the clone selected.

It is probably a personal preference thing, it currently feels a bit counter intuitive to keep a morph selected. However, I can also see the value of being able to hotkey a series of morphs with only one click. That's why design is a tricky job.

[tom]

However, the issue I am running into is that I have to click on a clone, then click off a clone to dump the selection before swapping to the method where I can hold down the key to apply a morph to multiple clones. I am ending up accidentally activating morphs on the previously selection clone.

Are you using the belt, or is it turned off? I'm assuming you have the belt off if you are using the hotkeys. Currently there is no hotkey to deselect a clone other than clicking somewhere where there isn't a clone. I can see your point if you are used to the "Lemmings way" because Lemmings didn't have a lemming selection. Normally, what I do in your case above, is I select the first clone I want to assign morphs to, then press and hold the morph key while clicking on subsequent clones.

Maybe an option toggle wouldn't necessarily the best solution, but some method of choosing between a sticky selection and a brief selection could be nice. Maybe even an easily accessed "clear selection" hotkey or a modifier key that when held keeps the clone selected.

Yes, we could add a hotkey to "clear selection", or an option to allow for "sticky" or "brief" selection, but I feel this would just complicate things even more. The real solution is one needs to employ the "select clone", then "apply morph" method consistently, and unlearn the way lemmings way of giving actions. Over time, it will feel very natural. In any case, I will discuss this issue with rt and see if incorporating the above mentioned options is a good idea.