[DISC] Make 'Replay Mode' a single-mode feature in NeoLemmix CE

[WillLem]

Guigui makes a good point.

Replay Insert mode arrived after the standard mode, when advanced players wanted more out of it.

Thus could be tricky for newcomers, sure. UI is key.

I'll come back to this.

[IchoTolot]

I agree with Guigui here that having everything in a single-mode can be very confusing for newer players and even seasonded ones at times.

As this seems to be a more advanced thing anyway and as dumb as it sounds:

I think having the 'Replay-single-mode' as an optional setting could be the best thing here - maybe as a sub-option to "click air to stop the replay".

Advanced players can choose to activate it.

It won't confuse newer players at first and at later stages when they get more familiar with the program they can choose to opt in.


I would regard the new player issue higher as the advantage to experienced players here.

[Simon]

If insert-by-default is confusing (because it keeps earlier and later assignments, both related and unrelated), the old non-inserting replay mode must be confusing at least half as often (because it keeps earlier assignments, and it ditches future unrelated assignments, which is surprising/annoying in a multithreading level).

I'm beginning to feel that airclick-to-cut is a fundamental design dead-end (= no problems as long as you don't design any further), and all the other design problems follow from having it. But airclick-to-cut is so ingrained that it should remain on by default ... at least until we have much clearer UI about what's going on and how to cut it.

Had I to design this from scratch today, here is what pops into mind:

• Idea: I'd put "Replaying. [Stop here and cut all future]" somewhere big, and something like "next assignment in 0:03" below. Such a glaringly obvious alternative to the airclick is also the fix for saxdude-like confusion (new user exits and restarts NL to stop the replay).
  
• Idea: Along the bottom of the screen, always show the replay as a timeline, like what a video player displays. Assignments are points along the line, and you have a playhead. You can click to navigate, similar to the minimap. (The minimap is becoming more and more obsolete after the zoom bugfix and after possible future RMB-scolling fixes).
  
• Idea: Tweaker always open, which is practically the timeline, but bigger and with all the bells and whistles. But it would take a lot of screen real estate. And it's an expert feature and it looks like one. Not what I'd want to show first-timers.
  
• Idea: Over each lemming who will receive a replay assignment in the next 5 seconds, we paint a large arrow with the skill on it and a countdown. You can click an [X] on that arrow to cut the lemming's future.
  

I'm also beginning to think that namida foresaw these airclick issues, forbade airclick in insert mode, and put the explicit future-cutting hotkey as a replacement.

-- Simon