Dungeon Master Forum

I would like to have a small detail of the user interface changed that kept annoying me since the very first DM release by FTL, and I think it wouldn't be too un-DM to implement this:

While you can rearrange the order of the champions in regard to their tile position at any time, you cannot manually rearrange their character boxes on the top of the screen or their action hand icons on the right, that order you have to decide at the beginning of the game. I would like to be able to swap them if I want to during the game.

I appreciate that the suggestion is for *in-game* reordering, but if you're willing to re-import the characters then you can already do this.

Of course I can reset it every new game. Yet I keep asking for ingame rearranging for ergonomical reasons: Have you ever played the classical 2 tanks + 2 robes approach? I guess you have. Have you ever hammered a monster with 2 quick weapons? Very practical if the action hand icons are immediately beside each other. But once you decide that another order would be better, because you can't heal an injured tank right now or want your experienced ninja-archer to be the one to wield the diamond edge, you suddenly end up with one or two staff-wielding and suddenly acciddentally charge-wasting robes between your front men.

Aside from such specific situations you just get a better quick overview if the order of the character boxes, spell-runes and action icons match the actual party order. Even after all these years of playing DM I still keep shooting past a small monster because I tend to forget that the current party order had changed previously. With the above mentioned boxes rearranged you just wouldn't miss that.

To prevent unessecary "NO - unDM" cries, I'm just asking for manual rearrangement, not automatical one (although I would like the latter too, but that woul probably too much of a change for many players).

To make possible implementation easier - complete manual rearrangement isn't nessecary, a single button that will match boxes, action icons and rune casting to the parties order would be absolutely enough.

This is something that has always "bothered" me about the FTL games and hence RTC. I too would like the action icons to match the party arrangement not the portrait order. e.g. When you change party arrangement the action icons automagically reflect this pairing the front and rear champions together. This would allow for nice neat rotating tank & robe (nice phrase Lunever) play. So I add my vote to this possible addition. It needn't be mandatory either, just another line in the config.txt.

In my opinion the option that would be the most useful for players and the least work for George would be a line in the config file, like copperman mentioned, that simply chooses whether or not the row of champions on top (and thus the spell tabs) automatically rearranges itself to reflect the current party arrangement in the upper right corner.

I know I for one would never use it! But it seems like it'd be useful for some.

Yes, I don't have a propblem with this one, but personally don't want to use it and would actively be pissed off if I accidentally tripped it or if the engine enforced it. While it can be mildly annoying not have to have the two attack methods side by side, it would be far more annoying to have the backpack, spell and weapons not where I have remembered them all game - I swap party around alot not for combat reasons but so spell slinging and protection in a fight - I would more than likely then fire the wrong spell or of course not be able to find the damn heal potion prepped because the charatcer has just moved!

Weird. I've never found this a problem.

With a config line as suggested by Copperman I'd be quite happy.

If you go for set defined party (tow fighters mages at back) in a dngeon you know, no problem, if you realise later a party selection needs tweaked or if if you are multi classing them you tend to swap around...but even then sicne the attack bars cover the whle screen i get used to clicking with the mouse over the next position anyway, so not much annoyance...