Dungeon Master Forum

Hm, seems that you don't have time to update the gHoF. Anyway:
I noticed that if you have an item's action menu activated and exchange that item versus some other item, the action menu too will change to the new item's menu (good idea btw), but, it only does this sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. That appears strange to me, it should do this always, inlcuding when just taking that item away switching to the unarmed menu (which it currently never does).

Actuially, I think the better behavious would be 'unequip action item generating action, then close menu' full stop. General action menus (npt opnes generated from weapon action) should perhaps close when the party steps away fom the tile they are on?

Lunever - can you give me an example?

Actuially, I think the better behavious would be 'unequip action item generating action, then close menu' full stop.

I agree...

General action menus (npt opnes generated from weapon action) should perhaps close when the party steps away fom the tile they are on?

There's no difference between the two cases, so I don't think that can be done. More importantly, that would break the behaviour for menus generated for say a 4th attack method on a weapon (i.e. if you select the first two then you can wander about a dungeon ready to attack a monster with a single click, but if you select the 4th or higher, then you can't).

Ok, right now I don't have RTC ready, but I think I can remember an example (if it should prove not reproducable let me know, I'll verify another example then):

If you click the action icon of a torch for example, you'll get the action "swing" available. If you then swap the torch item in that character's hand with a club, the action menu will also swap the torch's action menu with the club's action menu, offering you "throw" and "bash" now rather than swing. That's fine. I had this example in my current RTC-DM game.
On the other hand, in my last O-DM game (the one I sent you the RTC file), I remember that this didn't work for all weapons. It didn't do this for example when switching between hardcleave and vorpal blade or hardcleave and diamond's edge, in these cases the menu just closed.
Also, if you remove an item from a character's hand while that weapon's action menu is activated, the menu does not switch to the unarmed menu, it also just closes.

Beyond that, if you accidentally choose an attack option without reach with a back-row character, that character will suffer a recovery time after the "can't reach" message, which he shouldn't.

BTW: Speaking of action item icons: Now that you have improved the usability of bombs, can you just make the engine by default draw from the quiver no matter what kind of item is thrown or used up (i.e. draw a sword when the magicla box is gone)? Can you allow magical boxes to be quiver compatible the way you made bombs compatible?

f you click the action icon of a torch for example, you'll get the action "swing" available. If you then swap the torch item in that character's hand with a club, the action menu will also swap the torch's action menu with the club's action menu, offering you "throw" and "bash" now rather than swing.

I don't get that behaviour with those two items (the menu correctly closes as soon as you do the swap). This might be because you're remembering wrongly (in which case, can you give me another example that you can directly verify), or more hopefully, because I've already fixed this as part of another fix.

Ok, I'll verify another example, I will post it here soon.

Now I'm completely confused: Since you couldn't reproduce what I seemed to remember and I wasn't sure anymore whether I at least partially remembered 37 behaviour instead of 38 behaviour, I started 38 to test it (and I am damn sure that at least sometimes the action menu does switch to the new item, I even profited from that behaviour repeatedly in combat, but that may have been in 37).

I tried the club/torch and vice versa switch I had seen shortly before my initial post here (in 38!), and it just closed the menu. Then I tried the same with club/falchion and vice versa and again, just a closed menu. Then I tried first a switch from torch to flachion, again with no result, but when I changed back to the torch, then menu still offered "swing", which proved that my memory hasn't been completely wrong. When I however tried to reproduce it once more, it didn't work, which kinda confuses me.

However, there is at least one reproducable effect: If you activate the unarmed action menu and take up a weapon like a knife, the menu will switch to the knife's options (but not vice versa).

In order to not make you confused by my own confusion, just convert this entire post into a suggestion: I think it would be good if a character's activated action menu just always and constantly switched to the current item or unarmed option, no matter whether you switch from item to item, unarmed to item or item to unarmed.

Lunever wrote:However, there is at least one reproducable effect: If you activate the unarmed action menu and take up a weapon like a knife, the menu will switch to the knife's options (but not vice versa).

Now fixed for V0.39

Lunever wrote:In order to not make you confused by my own confusion, just convert this entire post into a suggestion: I think it would be good if a character's activated action menu just always and constantly switched to the current item or unarmed option, no matter whether you switch from item to item, unarmed to item or item to unarmed.

The correct behaviour is actually the exact opposite of this! (i.e. you can't instantly ready a weapon).

So fixed for 39 means that you did the opposite of the behaviour I wished for and made that bug report for? That is now the menu will always close?

Well, that's a very predjudicial way of phrasing it, but broadly speaking yes!

To put a more positive spin on it, I would say that you helpfully spotted a bug showing that the engine was behaving in a way that wasn't intended. Now the fix has been made the engine is consistent and working as expected - which is a good thing.

Right, it's your decision of course. Yet declaring the removal of good features to be bugfixes sounds a bit like healing by amputation imho. While another similar issue, the removed left-hand-equipping, can be customized by the dungeon mechanics though, this one is engine-only and thus cannot be customized. I think that automatically switching to the new item's menu had been, when it worked, an improvement to the user interface. After all it doesn't do anything that you couldn't do otherwise, it just makes it easier for you to control, that is, more ergonomical.

I noticed that he later posted "no ammo" issue correctly does not have a recovery time in 39, while the "can't reach" still has it, although it shouldn't.