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Advanced Mode Slider

Started by sdog, January 29, 2012, 02:46:05 AM

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sdog

Based on recent discussions i should like to propose following:


A slid er at the opening dialogue of simutrans with combined settings for the difficulty of the game.


In the first setting a new game is started in "beginner mode" and "freeplay", the standard option for a new game is set to load a map suitable for beginners included with the pak set.


All more advanced options are hidden, this would be included, in time, to most dialogues in the game. Pak-sets also hide most of their build options, only one station type, one rail type, basic signals, basic bulldozer, no monorails, trolleybuses or trams etc.


On the second setting, "beginner mode" and "freeplay" become selectable. The standard for new game is the map generation dialogue.
Pak sets do not hide any of their build options or tools. All (or most) dialogues stay in the simple form.


The third setting has full dialogues and options, it just hides the expert_settings.


The last setting, the expert mode, doesn't hide anything. (A psychological trick, switching to expert mode, should also make the screen where it is controlled look complicated and overwhelming, to shy away the faint of heart)




The workload for full implementation would be considerable. However, it can be introduced in steps, first the parameters and agreeing on what they should do,
then adding dialogues as they are worked on during normal maintenance/improvement.
Makeobj could handle a new setting in dat to hide stuff, when set to one, and do nothing as default.




A future extension could be help popups or a tutorial fornew players in the easiest setting. On portable devices, something similar to the second setting might be desirable, due to the reduced screen area and reduced precission (it sucks to tick boxes on ipads or smartphones etc)