Lix for kaywhyn

[Simon]

Hi kaywhyn,

New and exciting panel button.

• Download: https://www.lixgame.com/etc/lix-kaywhyn-2026-08-25.exe
  
• Put this executable into any recent Lix installation (alongside lix.exe).
  
• Try it off-stream to see if this idea is worthwhile.

I'll write more details after your first feedback.

-- Simon

[DanielOakfield]

Honestly, I have no idea what is different...?

[Simon]

Hi! It's a half-failed UI experiment.

The old button (as in the current stable Lix 0.10.34) was rewind-to-previous-skill. When you pushed it, the view rewound to the most recent skill assignment, i.e., to the latest assignment that is still earlier than the currently viewed physics update. This didn't change the replay, it merely rewound the view.

The new button (-1 in the screenshot) doesn't rewind, but instead changes the assignment to happen earlier by 1 physics update. Then it recomputes physics (based on that changed history) to the currently viewed time.

Inspiration came from watching kaywhyn play Lix. kaywhyn used the rewind-to-previous-skill in the following maneuver:

• Misassign skill, but don't know yet that it's wrong.
  
• Let physics play on to see the outcome.
  
• Press rewind-to-previous-skill.
  
• Rewind 1 extra physics update.
  
• Reassign the skill. This cuts the skill from the replay and inserts a skill that is 1 physics update earlier than the deleted skill.
  
• Let physics play on to see the outcome.
  
• If not happy, repeat from #3.
  

kaywhyn complains that this is too elaborate.

Idea: Merge everything that happens from #3 through #6 into a single invocation of the -1 button:

• Misassign skill, but don't know yet that it's wrong.
  
• Let physics play on to see the outcome.
  
• Press the new -1 button. This pulls the misassigned skill earlier by one physics update and recomputes history. You don't have to rewind.
  
• If not happy, repeat #3.
  

The outcome is exactly the same in both workflows.

Downsides:

• I threw the -1 button onto the forums here without explanation. It was deliberate not to explain it. kayhwyn didn't understand it immediately. This is a problem on my side, not on his side. User interfaces should be clearer than this.
  
• Repeated invocation of the -1 button pulls the skill so early that it fails to apply. E.g., a single lix falls, then walks. You can assign builder at any point to the walker. You can then pull the builder assignment earlier, but if you pull it so early that the builder assignment would now be to the faller, it's invalid (fallers can't build). Where is the skill?
  
• You have no way to see in advance whether the -1 button will help you or if it will merely eat your skill. You only see its outcome at the later game time, not the time of assignment.
  
• Some invocations will look like it pulls back by some random amount because you always see how it has played out in the future. It's hard to build the correct mental model from observation.
  

-- Simon