September 4, 2013, 12:43 am
Posts: 3
Likewise, the use of ALT, SHIFT, CTRL, combined with LEFT and RIGHT as interface keys feels archaic and unnatural to me. Perhaps I'm getting old, but in 30 years I've never encountered a game in which using a seemingly simple interface feels like I'm getting my teeth pulled.
That being said, there's a lot of potential here, and I'll keep my eyes on this project and its improvements.
September 4, 2013, 1:45 am
Posts: 346
B&D is a rogue like (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike). So you are supposed to die a lot (especially at the beginning). Challenges are what makes video games fun!
And do not worry; you will soon learn not to die because of the water :)
The default controls used to be G+F+D+S+Arrows, but some peoples have complained that it was "terrible" (you can find that discussion in the forum).
Ctrl+alt+shit+arrows are a good default configuration of video games because it is easy to find them when you do not know your controls!
Anyway, you can configure your controls in the option menu. So, you should simply configure the controls you like!
Also, as you may have seen, you cannot jump in the survival mode.
A long time ago there was a discussion about allowing or not the players to jump. I created the "devel mode" to allow players to test the game with the jump (you can still test it).
The conclusion what that the jump would break the game play (either make the game too easy, or make it very hard to build a good fortress if the monster were also able to jump).
That is why you cannot jump in B&D!
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I like having opinions of players. It is thanks to those opinions that B&D is what it is today! You guys have helped be to develops new concepts of game player and solve bugs.
But please, having non constructive comments such as Rahlzel's one is quiet useless!
Cheers,
September 4, 2013, 5:13 am
Posts: 3
I appreciate the response, and I apologize for not being constructive enough. Hopefully the following will alleviate that.
I understand that the controls can be changed, but I believe the problem lies with having two different menus - one for the inventory, and another selected by using the Action key on the "right" menu, such as Define Jobs. Several times I wanted to navigate into the second menu (Define Jobs, Define Areas, etc.) but found myself accidentally closing it with the wrong key and having to start over again. Or, if I want to go BACK to the first menu, I can't. I have to close it and start over again.
Here's what I humbly suggest:
1. Allowing the top menu item - Inventory - to be selectable in order to accomplish #2 below.
2. Use the Left/Right/Up/Down keys to navigate both menus - move forward and backward, and to select the option itself.
Here's a quick visual drawing I sketched using Google Draw to show what I mean: (Apparently the URL BBcode is broken)
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1NgZ1J_l9FybmRq2ttHZWfw-RSH1jIaXqcZhtulCmn6U/edit?usp=sharing
The arrows signify the player that the menu can continue to the right. A diamond (or whatever you choose) signifies that THAT is as far as the menu will go to the right, and that THAT option is a selectable action. Also, I used numbers beside Inventory and Workers to allow players to quick-select whichever menu they wanted by hitting the corresponding number on the keyboard - 1 key for Inventory, and 2 key for Workers.
This isn't my optimum interface design, as I would go a slightly different route, but I believe this is the most effective change with the least amount of work.
P.S. I feel guilty saying it was a "terrible" experience. The game is actually very intriguing with a level of depth I haven't begun to explore. The error message that pops up (in my screenshot) made me think that the "jump" feature was only available in the paid version, so the demo'ers like myself just had to deal with falling in water and dying. I misunderstood.
September 11, 2013, 2:05 am
Posts: 3
I hope I haven't offended too much. I'm curious to read what you think about my menu design idea and whether or not it's feasible.
