OpenXcom Forum

Modding => OpenXcom Extended => OXCE Suggestions DONE => Topic started by: Arthanor on November 23, 2015, 05:55:00 pm

Title: [DONE] [Suggestion] Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Arthanor on November 23, 2015, 05:55:00 pm
Watching Meridian play Piratez, I got thinking: The ufopaedia is great for vanilla, but once you pack it full of articles like Dioxine did, it becomes a bit cumbersome. I thought about two things that might make it nicer:

1 - Fix the "research completed" popup so that it always displays what was completed. Currently, if you research a, say, sectoid medic twice, the second time the name of the research topic is not displayed, so you have to guess what just completed from what extra ufopaedia article you got.

2 - Allow all the ufopaedia articles that have been unlocked by the latest article to be displayed, not just one + one for getOneFree.

3 - Color red the names of articles in the ufopaedia which have never been accessed. If #2 is implemented, this becomes sort of redundant, but as things are currently, you can unlock multiple articles and it might take a while before you realize since they don't show up.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: ivandogovich on November 23, 2015, 05:56:52 pm
I heartilly concur with these suggestions!  This would be amazing!! <3
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: hellrazor on November 23, 2015, 07:40:31 pm
Those are thing we need to have since yesterday :)
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 23, 2015, 07:49:08 pm
Marking unread articles seems like a bit of a hassle to add (would probably require another line in the save, saying read: true or something), but would be very nice to have. And the rest is practically obligatory! :)
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Dioxine on November 24, 2015, 10:21:14 pm
I concur with Arthanor on 1 & 2, 3 seems like too much of a hassle, but maybe?
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: 7Saturn on November 25, 2015, 07:23:01 pm
Well, one thing that might make it a little more useful in regard of points 2 & 3.: The automatic display of research shouldn't be always-on. I for one don't want to read the Sectoid article the millionth time. I'd rather decide either in general, if I want that option automatically popping up the ufopadedia entries or an extra button within the research completed notification to look into the new results. That way, you could decide, whether you want to read them (e. g. testing/using a new mod) or not (e. g. the Sectoid entry, probably no veteran wants to read again and again).

As for point 1: Love that one!
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Arthanor on November 25, 2015, 07:29:44 pm
There's already the option of "view report" in the "we have completed: X" popup, just don't click on it? It would make sense that if you don't click on it, you don't see any wiki page, and if you do click, the "report" would include all the discoveries, not just one or two.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Meridian on December 28, 2015, 03:22:19 pm
Watching Meridian play Piratez, I got thinking: The ufopaedia is great for vanilla, but once you pack it full of articles like Dioxine did, it becomes a bit cumbersome. I thought about two things that might make it nicer:

1 - Fix the "research completed" popup so that it always displays what was completed. Currently, if you research a, say, sectoid medic twice, the second time the name of the research topic is not displayed, so you have to guess what just completed from what extra ufopaedia article you got.

2 - Allow all the ufopaedia articles that have been unlocked by the latest article to be displayed, not just one + one for getOneFree.

I wanted to implement this today, but the code is rather complicated/confusing... I gave up for now... maybe next Xmas.

3 - Color red the names of articles in the ufopaedia which have never been accessed. If #2 is implemented, this becomes sort of redundant, but as things are currently, you can unlock multiple articles and it might take a while before you realize since they don't show up.

This is easy to implement, but it would require adding more data to save file (list of already opened articles)... which I somehow don't want to do... I'll think about it.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 31, 2015, 11:52:01 am
This is easy to implement, but it would require adding more data to save file (list of already opened articles)... which I somehow don't want to do... I'll think about it.

Well, it's not like it would break old saves, so I don't think it's a big problem.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Meridian on December 31, 2015, 01:24:10 pm
Well, it's not like it would break old saves, so I don't think it's a big problem.

I can't decide which color to use?
What would you prefer?

I like red+yellow (10) and yellow+green (89)... 83 and 90 are also not bad.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Bloax on December 31, 2015, 01:48:51 pm
89. It fits the UI colors better than 10, which would otherwise be a good choice.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: ivandogovich on December 31, 2015, 03:20:08 pm
I prefer 90, myself, though 89 would be acceptable. :)
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Dioxine on December 31, 2015, 04:32:44 pm
Would it show all the articles at the beginning of the game as 'unread'? Won't it be a bit... annoying? Coercing the player to click through everything just to get rid of these extra colors? Also this is IMO a minor issue, there were only a few instances of 'stealthy' research in Piratez but these were, I believe, eradicated (for the most part at least). If not article, you at least always should get 'we can now manufacture' message. This upgrade should definitely be optional.
Also I like color #90 the best. Or 83? 83 seems more logical if more contrasting. I guess 82 would bomb out? These inventory colors are sooo tricky :)
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Meridian on December 31, 2015, 06:19:19 pm
Yes, all of them would be unread.
But, if there will be at least one unread... there will be also [Mark All As Read] button, which will serve both as indicator there is something new and as means of ignoring it.

I agree that with UFOpedia articles it is getting better... and features such as this will definitely be optional in time.

I will add the same to New Research list and to New Manufacture list... because I never remember what the "You can now manufacture" window was saying... I literally forget it after 5 seconds. Especially if it is something new I have never heard before, then it takes only 3 seconds to forget.
See attached example.

PS: the mark all as seen button disappears if there are no unseen items, and OK button takes the entire space on the bottom of the window
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Meridian on December 31, 2015, 10:08:51 pm
After 3 hours of deliberation, I took color 90 :D
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Meridian on April 15, 2016, 09:34:36 pm
1 - Fix the "research completed" popup so that it always displays what was completed. Currently, if you research a, say, sectoid medic twice, the second time the name of the research topic is not displayed, so you have to guess what just completed from what extra ufopaedia article you got.

I wanted to implement this today, but the code is rather complicated/confusing... I gave up for now... maybe next Xmas.

So, it didn't even take a whole year and I returned to this... it's fixed... just need to test it a bit and it will be in the next release.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Arthanor on April 16, 2016, 04:43:19 am
Woot! That's awesome!

That was one feature I was really looking forward to. I hate the uninformative popups! If it's on github, I'll recompile straight-away to test it!
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Meridian on April 16, 2016, 11:15:43 am
Yes, it is. Here: https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/commit/505d47d0d7ace5219fd137a7349fcabd84cd61f1
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 16, 2016, 01:55:46 pm
Yes, it is. Here: https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/commit/505d47d0d7ace5219fd137a7349fcabd84cd61f1

Does it mean I can tie several 0 cost researches to one research and get them all displayed?
Example from X-Com Files: you have several levels of authority, gradually unlocked with research. On level 0, you only have access to equipment available to normal police, namely pistols and a small shotgun for close quarters. At level 1, you get small calibre rifles etc. Each weapon has its own research that costs 0 and has the new level as dependency.
So, if after the advance you get all the new Ufopedia pages displayed one by one, that's awesome.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Meridian on April 16, 2016, 02:23:24 pm
No, I did point #1 from the list in the first post.

You're describing #2 (or something similar), that's not done yet.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: SupSuper on April 16, 2016, 07:12:52 pm
Yes, it is. Here: https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/commit/505d47d0d7ace5219fd137a7349fcabd84cd61f1
Added to nightlies, as it has been personally bugging me as well. :)
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Meridian on April 16, 2016, 07:44:49 pm
Added to nightlies, as it has been personally bugging me as well. :)

Woohoo, my first commit in the master branch!
Now let's hope I didn't mess something up... I tested everything I could think of again just now and it looks fine, fingers crossed.
Title: Re: Ufopaedia/Research QoL improvements
Post by: Arthanor on April 16, 2016, 07:52:16 pm
Yes, it is. Here: https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/commit/505d47d0d7ace5219fd137a7349fcabd84cd61f1

Perfect! Today is new version day again! (Just have to unhardcode vision range and add the new scanner+)

Maybe I'll make a github with "Arthanor's patched up code" so others can benefit from the stuff I scavenge around.