TASclient

[LordMatt]

That would be a nice option. It would be nice to totally filter some things (non-ba mods, speed metals), and drop others to the bottom (passworded games for example).

[Gota]

Would also be awsome to be able to delete maps from the map lists in the room .....

[ZellSF]

Just filter them out? :/

[Neddie]

You can filter, but if you're suggesting we filter non-BA for new players, LordMatt, you're out of line.

[LordMatt]

You can filter, but if you're suggesting we filter non-BA for new players, LordMatt, you're out of line.

Why would I suggest that?

Would also be awsome to be able to delete maps from the map lists in the room .....

Also a good idea.

[ZellSF]

What's the difference between just filtering them (which works atm) and "deleting" them?

[Gota]

...
You have to understand that to make a piece of software user frindly the small changes are the ones that matter.
There isnt MUCH difference.
Sure i can open the maps folder and a maplist in a room compare names and delete the maps i dont want but its not comfterble.
Why not filter? cause maps take space.I have 400 + maps
and i want to get rid of those i never play whch is probably more than half.

Would also be a good idea to be able to mark maps as bad so when you see a game with a map you dont have,and you want the lobby to give youthe map link the lobby would tell you that this map is in your ban list and would ask you ifyour sur you want to redownlaod it.
Also ca updater needs this feature so it's outo map downlaoder can work properly..cause i want it to work completly outomated but i dont want specific maps to be downloaded after idelete them
If we had 50 maps total that wouldnt be a problem but we have hundreds and most are unplayable or very old or ugly.

[Masure]

You're already able to rate your maps in the map list. But there is no specific behaviour when joining low rated maps.

[Gota]

How many people rate maps?1% of the community?

[Satirik]

maybe you could add default empty groups in the installer lordmatt like friends (with notify when joining etc), banned (auto kick) etc

[ZellSF]

Would also be a good idea to be able to mark maps as bad so when you see a game with a map you dont have,and you want the lobby to give youthe map link the lobby would tell you that this map is in your ban list and would ask you ifyour sur you want to redownlaod it.

This seems sort of pointless to me, if there's maps you don't like, you're sure to remember their name, or at least remember them by the screenshot on the download page.

Also, while I agree that an ability to delete maps from TASClient would be a nice idea (the map listing window in general needs a redesign like the replays window), I think you should just delete everything and start over when you have 400+ maps.

[Gota]

Zell...ah,whatever.

[Gota]

By the way.
There is a bug.the lobby crashes when you host a replay of a replay.
I think replays of eplays should not be stored or should beinstantly deleted.
If you think otherwise than the hosting of replay needs to be fixed.
Its very annoying and confusing.

[Gota]

Another thing.
In the replay menu.
Would be nice if you could press the delete button on the keyboard and not jsut thedelete button inthe menu to delete files.
Its annoying.
Another thing is being able to shift select or control selectmultiple files for deletion so u wot have to press delete for each file seperatly and wait forthe list to update tens of times.

I hope this is all usefull information for you satirik?

[Gota]

About the pop ups.
I remember you saying that you will try and make something of that sort and i want to suggest a way to structure it and makeit easy to use.
I think the lobby help should be done using pop ups and not pages of help just lying somewhere.
all the pop ups should be divided into a tree where certain pop upswill follow others.
what do i mean?
It should start from the very begining,welcoming users,expalining what the lobby is(in a summerized way) and telling them they need ot register by pressing x and y.
after they log in and pop up explains about the help system.
The help system should be as follows.
somewhere on the lobby or as an external cloud that can be closed youd have a small short list.
Youd have a few help trees each for a single topic in the short list.
The topics can varrey,for example :
1)single player(from the moment you log in and press the topic on the short list ,a pop up tree will follow you as you try to start a single player with an ai,it will follow what you do and tell you exactly what to press and when to start a game.
2)multiplayer,same structure as wit ha single player game.
The pop ups should laso explain how u download maps and mods and what it all means in a simplistic way.

In the small cloud there should be checkboxes near every subject and when you finish the small tutoiral on it the checkbox gets checked.
There should obviously be an option to close the cloud and to tell it to never open again.

Some may think that the whole seperate window or just taking lobby rom for it is wrong so maybe it can be done like this as well:
you get the same pop up when u open the lobby that expalinsconnection and what the lobby actually is and helps you register but there is no windows with help topics instead the lobby help reacts to what you do.first of all another pop up explains to you your options of either playing an ai or join a room to play with someone else.

You can choose on of the option and u get a pop up tree that follows you and points you where to click and so on.
A small problem with not having a smal llist available to the user is that after you played an ai and the lobby helped you and you want to join and play with somebody is that the help system needs to know when to ask you if you want to be guided through joining another game.
Maybe it can suggest you take the other route and learn howe to do it even if you dotn want to do that at that very moment and you can choose to do it or answer that you already understand how to and close the help system for good.

This is just arough idea of a help system that will be outomated and convenient.
I hope it has at least 1 or 2 good idea and you can use some of it.

[Forboding Angel]

Quad post...

[Machiosabre]

I always wonder if anyone actually reads all that stuff.

[ZellSF]

I didn't, not this time anyway. I still say that what TASClient needs to be more user friendly is multilingual support and less shitty singleplayer support. A more standard toolbar could help too. Not that I actually think TASClient needs to be more userfriendly.

[momfreeek]

I think the lobby help should be done using pop ups and not pages of help just lying somewhere.
all the pop ups should be divided into a tree where certain pop upswill follow others.

Personally I prefer manual which I can flick through and see everything at a glance (rather than risk important points being hidden behind an obscure structure).

Either way, with a bare minimum of effort needed, surely the following would do at least as a temporary measure..

- Popup the existing help system on first opening the client. Add a new first and second page.
- Example first page:
.. Page 1 left column:

Code: Select all

 Welcome to TasClient, a Spring multiplayer lobby!

Contents
-----------
Page 1. (this page)
Page 2.  - Multiplayer games (Joining and hosting)
         - Single player games (against an AI bot)
Page 3. Key to symbols. Hotkey reference.
Page 4. Rank symbols and the ranking system.
Page 5. Mouse controls and chat commands.

---------------------------------
** You can open this manual again using the 'help' link at the top of the application. **

.. Page 1 right column:

Code: Select all

Maps and mods
-----------------
To play a game you need a mod and map installed (for one player games you also need an AI bot). If you selected these options during installation then you should have everything you need to play. 

To download more maps and mods see links in the main-chat topic (close this help page and scroll to the top of the main body of text).

Total Annihilation base content
----------------------------------------------
To play mods based on Total Annihilation content, you will also need to download the otacontent file from here: XXXXXXXlinkXXXXXX. Just download and place the file in your base spring folder.

- then page 2 walks through the connection button, hosting and joining games.. and how to start a game against a bot.
- Needs a link to the wiki(?) on whats going on once a game has started somwhere (game manual / game controls)

Reasoning:
Minimum text, minimum confusion. On first opening the client the help contents immediately shows what is possible ('single player' is one of the most common starting questions and, to most, its not obvious that tasclient supports single player so state it right at beginning as a heading). The rest of page 1 gets them over the common starting hurdles. Page 2 should go into a bit more detail and guide them into a game asap. (most would rather play a bot on their very first game). Refer back to Page 1 from page 2 when explaining mods/maps they don't have and desynch problems.

Get them playing a working game and 90% of problems have already been solved.. and they have enough confidence in the whole system to persist and spend time learning further.

[Gota]

The client has become very buggy...i am forced to restart all the time due to access violation errors.