And now, for some more detailed feedback to Nepster's post.
1) I agree, that whole packs and ranks should be selectable (currently only ranks are). I would prefer that they go to the main menu of the pack, not directly to the first unsolved level. Only when one starts a level, the preview screen of the first unsolved level of the pack resp. rank appears.
I can see the logic behind this for selecting the pack as a whole (in fact, I had been considering this already and simply hadn't implemented it yet), but are we sure we want it for ranks too? I'd think first unsolved level makes more sense here.
2) I would prefer lazy loading of pack infos: Only load the packs upon opening the level selection menu. Only when viewing ranks or single levels, they are loaded. Currently it takes several seconds until the level selection menu appears. At first I thought it wouldn't do anything...
As mentioned, this is on my todo list. There's already some backend support for this; for example, in the level pack manager, data from the level file (such as title, level ID, etc) isn't loaded until it's needed; and when it is needed, all such data is loaded at once rather than having to load the file multiple times.
3) The default pack should not only being the last one played, but even the rank and current level should be opened already, as changing this will probably occur much more often than changing packs.
This makes perfect sense to me.
4) I very much like your key layout for the level selection menu. But I would like to be able to select packs/levels by double-clicking on them or pressing Enter. Currently one has to click on the "Ok" button (or tab to there). Moreover I would expect that one first tabs to the "OK" button, and then to the "Cancel" button, not the other way around.
Actually, I haven't done anything keyboard-wise there. It's just inherent properties of the controls in use. I'll look into making enter / doubleclick work.
5) Probably already on your to-do list: I would like to have the check-marks for solved levels, again.
Just pushed a commit now that implements this. It even applies to ranks and packs, rather than just levels. Do note, however, this data is currently not saved between sessions.
6) Regarding what to display as an info: A minimap view would be the best, but only if it doesn't take too long to produce. When moving through the level list, I don't want to wait a second every time I go to a new level. Otherwise I would like the following info:
- Pack name, rank name and title again.
- Number lemmings, save requirement and max saved lemmings of previous attempts.
- Time limit or infinite time.
- Some small talisman icons, if there is one. But not the actual talisman description.
I am not sure how useful the skill count would be, as they are not something I tend to remember. The used tileset may be confusing for levels that mix styles or that have selected a completely different main style for some weird reason.
I thought about this. A preview image will take a while to display, but would be nice to have. It could probably be saved somewhere when it's generated, so that next time, it can check the modified date of the NXLV file against the modified date of the saved image, and if the image is still newer, it just uses the saved image rather than rendering it again.
I find it interesting that you want the presence of a talisman to be displayed, but not what the talisman is actually for. May I ask why this is, and what method you'd propose for finding the talisman information from the level select menu - maybe displaying this information on the preview screen itself?
7) Perhaps we should display some infos regarding packs, too? Like their ranks and number of levels within the ranks. Number of already solved levels in the rank?
Yes, great ideas.