Lemmings Forums

NeoLemmix => Bugs & Suggestions => Closed => Topic started by: namida on July 25, 2020, 09:00:06 PM

Title: [SUG][PLAYER][DORMANT] Hold/tap determined by press time rather than setting?
Post by: namida on July 25, 2020, 09:00:06 PM
In my other project, Tiel Attack, when implementing a minimap, my partner pointed out that having to hold the map key is annoying, and it should be tap. However, sometimes I'd rather hold the key then it disappears when I release it.

This lead me to realise: The inputs for this are actually, more or less, mutually exclusive. And so now, Tiel Attack's control for map is that if you tap the Map key, it will appear and stay there until you press the key again. If you hold the Map key, on the other hand, it will disappear as soon as you release the key. From memory, I think the cutoff point was 7 frames (for reference, Tiel Attack runs at 30fps, so roughly double NL's frame rate).

Now of course - we have similar keys in NL. Clear Physics Mode and Projection Shadow (both variants) can be used either via tapping on / tapping off, or by hold-to-activate. The difference is that these behaviours are mutually exclusive (but can be different for different keys, including that if you have two different keys for the same function, one can be tap while the other is hold).

But - I'm thinking, is there any reason not to implement a similar behaviour to Tiel Attack's minimap key here? So in other words - there'd no longer be a tap vs hold setting; instead, if you quickly tap the key, it activates the relevant feature until you tap it again; if you hold the key, the feature only remains active while you hold it.

It's likely this behaviour could extent to several other features as well, such as the fast forward / slowmo keys. Pause is a special case where I don't think this behaviour would make sense (though if you disagree, let me know).

I'll note that putting this as a third option in addition to both "always-tap" and "always-hold" is probably too much work.

Thoughts?
Title: Re: [SUG][PLAYER] Hold/tap determined by press time rather than setting?
Post by: WillLem on July 26, 2020, 01:54:05 PM
Whenever I use CPM, I tend to do so via its hold function, which makes more sense for Lemmings since I generally only want to check things in CPM very quickly.

I do also have a toggle Hotkey assigned as well, just in case there are any times when I need a more extensive look at a level, for instance if it has a particularly complex layout with lots of trigger areas. Now that I think about it, though, I don't think I have yet used this Hotkey other than to test that it works!

For a minimap in Tiel Attack, however, having both options is definitely a good idea since players may use keys or an X-input controller to play the game, and there are likely to be a variety of input preferences amongst players. More user-side options is always better, especially for anything to do with controls/input.

Also, studying a minimap could arguably take longer than quickly checking something in CPM, so an on/off toggle makes sense for that reason as well.
Title: Re: [SUG][PLAYER] Hold/tap determined by press time rather than setting?
Post by: Dullstar on August 05, 2020, 11:36:12 PM
It certainly doesn't sound like a bad idea as long as the threshold is chosen well. I'm guessing I probably wouldn't use it much, but it sounds like it could also be one of those features that you don't really know you want until it's already there, ready to be used.

For reference, I currently have CPM on toggle.
Title: Re: [SUG][PLAYER] Hold/tap determined by press time rather than setting?
Post by: namida on August 15, 2020, 07:32:10 PM
Hm, seems like most people don't care about this option, and the few who do, are not all in agreement about whether it's a good idea or not.

This feels like another one of those "leave the topic open, but do nothing for now", then. I might look at this again if in the future, a new key would be better suited to it (or I see benefit in extending the toggle / hold functionality to further existing keys, for which there are some good candidates for it).