Tomb Titivator
Posts: 911
Joined: Thursday, 17th December 2015, 02:36
Friday, 21st October 2016, 02:28
'sticky cursor'
Imagine if the cursor remained in place after you exit x-mode. And stayed in the same position, relative to your char, even if you moved around, auto-explored, etc. Upon pressing x, f, etc., the cursor would not jump to some default position. Pressing "-" and "+" at any time would move the cursor creature-to-creature (without changing the message bar, if you're not in x/f/etc mode).
This is the most basic version of a sticky cursor I can think of, and it has some UI advantages. While you're pressing x/f/etc, you already know where the cursor is and where it needs to go, so you're already moving your fingers to the arrows or vi-keys, without waiting for the game to give you visual feedback. This simulates the sense you get in a game where you can move and aim simultaneously and independently.
Of course, it is not without disadvantages. I'm sure many people appreciate the auto-lock feature of Crawl's aiming system, like when you pelt crimson imps with arrows. At least tab has some of that functionality.
And here's what a more intrusive implementation might look like: you use shift+direction to move the cursor around, and the game always draws a beam to it. Holding shift has the same effect as hovering over a tile in x-mode (i.e. some info pops into the message bar). If you press "f", "V" and select a wand, or "z" and select an attack spell, the game doesn't even ask for confirmation (as long as the action isn't deemed pointless or suicidal), it just pops the missile or whatnot to wherever the cursor is at the moment. Shift-space centers the cursor on you, or toggles sticky cursor mode, whatever. As you can tell, this can save a lot of button presses, as well as the mental energy spent responding to the game's auto-aim by confirming or correcting it.
This is the most basic version of a sticky cursor I can think of, and it has some UI advantages. While you're pressing x/f/etc, you already know where the cursor is and where it needs to go, so you're already moving your fingers to the arrows or vi-keys, without waiting for the game to give you visual feedback. This simulates the sense you get in a game where you can move and aim simultaneously and independently.
Of course, it is not without disadvantages. I'm sure many people appreciate the auto-lock feature of Crawl's aiming system, like when you pelt crimson imps with arrows. At least tab has some of that functionality.
And here's what a more intrusive implementation might look like: you use shift+direction to move the cursor around, and the game always draws a beam to it. Holding shift has the same effect as hovering over a tile in x-mode (i.e. some info pops into the message bar). If you press "f", "V" and select a wand, or "z" and select an attack spell, the game doesn't even ask for confirmation (as long as the action isn't deemed pointless or suicidal), it just pops the missile or whatnot to wherever the cursor is at the moment. Shift-space centers the cursor on you, or toggles sticky cursor mode, whatever. As you can tell, this can save a lot of button presses, as well as the mental energy spent responding to the game's auto-aim by confirming or correcting it.