I assume: When you click a radio button on the left, you don't affect the final result (summarized at bottom-right), but you make the program show a different set of controls at the top-right. Choices in the top-right affect the final result even after you click different radio buttons on the left, which hides the earlier top-right choices.

In this case, the Replay Kind radio buttons are action buttons with immediate effect, not choices, which violates Nielsen's guideline #12 on Checkboxes vs. radio buttons: "Use checkboxes and radio buttons only to change settings, not as action buttons that make something happen."

The column of radio buttons isn't the appropriate UI widget for Replay Kind. Instead, the dialog should have tabs, one tab per Replay Kind. The different Replay Kinds should be a row of tab handles, probably across the left because you'd need multiple rows if you put them across the top. Nielsen: Tabs Used Right, guidelines #10 and #11, are at odds with each other for us here.

I think you should keep the summary below the tabs, it's succinct and good. Although -- if we need the summary at all, keep in mind guideline #3 of Tabs Used Right and weigh the tabbing against a huge dialog that shows all Actions for all Replay Kinds at once. Most likely, tabs and summary are fine.

Having radio buttons for Replay Kind would be fine if, after confirm and exit the dialog, the Action for the single chosen Replay Kind were the only Action to happen, and nothing happened for other Replay Kinds. Then, the radio buttons for Replay Kind would be choices that affect the final result of the dialog (you'd un-violate guideline #12), and the immediate showing/hiding of Actions would be nice progressive disclosure of the appropriate sub-options for the single chosen Replay Kind.

-- Simon

All right! Would you like me to put these levels in the next Lix release?

We have a few authors now who have only built one level per player count. I'll make a directory "other" for them. I'll put your 4 maps into the release here:

levels/network/2p/other/sunnydayatbeach2p.txt
levels/network/3p/other/sunnydayatbeach3p.txt
levels/network/4p/other/sunnydayatbeach4p.txt
levels/network/5p/other/sunnydayatbeach5p.txt

-- Simon

"Inside Your Router," I wasn't sure what the cyan rectangles where the arrows in the upper corners were. Doesn't matter, since the Lixes can't even get into those corners, but yea, I'm not sure what those cyan rectangles mean there.

Ah, right, you commented on those extensively in the video. Those are triggered flingers.

They're a weaker version of the flingers at the bottom middle. They have a red button and a yellow sign over it. In 2023, I put unreachable flingers into Inside Your Router purely for the decorative yellow sign. The red button is buried in the terrain below the yellow sign. Now, in 2024, we have the cyan rectangles, and the unreachable flingers became more confusing than necessary.

Indeed, describing the gadgets on mouseover will reduce the confusion by 80 %. Probably the clearest is to remove the decorative flingers entirely.

Interesting case of cultural moss, where levels from the past clash with newer game design choices.

-- Simon

Thanks!

Usually, going down is easier than going up. The players with hatches at the top are at an advantage. Are you okay with such an imbalance? It's your choice.

I recommend a darker background. The medium blue background clashes with the moons and with blue lix. I think a dark blue will go well with the moons.

In 5-player Sunny Day at the Beach, player E has to go to a hidden exit. Please make all the exits clearly visible. Also, player E has by far the easiest route: His exit is immediately near his hatch. Maybe enlarge the island in the sky with 5 players, to make everything less cramped?

I'll be happy to merge Sunny Day at the Beach if you address these concerns.

-- Simon

I show my solutions to your guys' nominated levels here as well
https://youtu.be/woKK3hjwjJc

Thanks for recording these! Yes, both Inside Your Router and Rhizome are intended. geoo's Dangerous Goods is also intended.

Quote from: Simon

Fix #427: Reveal trigger areas during play: When you activate the splat ruler, you also see trigger areas of gadgets (goals, traps, flingers, water, ...) as cyan hollow rectangles.

names of the objects/traps to appear when you mouse over them while the splat ruler is activated, similar to how it is when you mouse over objects and traps in NL while CPM is activated.

Have you seen a particular trap/flinger/exit/... where it was unclear what would happen?

Hatches, during mouseover, already print the spawn interval to the status bar. This text appears in the same spot where we print information about the hovered lix. And it doesn't depend on whether the splat ruler is active.

Yes, it's sensible to add mouseover text for all gadgets, again regardless of the splat ruler. Text in the status bar is unobtrusive.

• Hatch: Spawn interval 37.
  
• Triggered trap: Open. Will take 8 physics updates.
  
• Triggered trap: Busy for 5 more physics updates.
  
• Permanent flinger: Forward speed 8, upward speed 10.
  
• Triggered flinger: Forward speed 4, upward speed 12.
  
• Triggered flinger: Busy for 3 more physics updates.
  
• Exit, fire, and water need only the type, no extra info.
  

"names of the objects/traps": I assume that you mean the type of trap here, not the filename of the tile. The type should be enough. The filename would be overly specific.

rewind to previous skill assignment feature, though admittedly I was negligent on the feedback on testing it before it was in stable Lix. In all honesty, I do miss the way NL implemented it

I've answered in: Implement Rewind to Last Assignment

-- Simon

The secret feature is neutral lix.

geoo has built Cage, a 2-player map inspired by Cage by Tom K. from Clones (clonesgame.com).

The 6 concrete cages (marked X) at the top contain one neutral lix each. Only neutral lix score points here. With 0 overtime, it's a race to save one of the neutral lix before your opponent saves one. Both players can easily reach all the floors of Cage. There are neither blockers, runners, nor batters.

Here's a gif of an ending where the frog eats lix left and right, but it's the neutral's lucky day and she sneaks by the busy frog. geoo has exactly one worker ready to mine for the win.


Here's a gif of an ending where I have one chance to save a stray lix from the bottom. geoo is controlling the upper floors, and if I fail this, he'll win.


-- Simon

Your showcase animations are always excellent. Thanks for taking the time to make them!

-- Simon