LTM Suggestions 101

[LinktheMaster]

(By LTM, not about LTMs.) :tongue:

1. "Warp after Strings" screen flag. Once the linked message strings are over, the next "A" or "B" button pressed would cause the Tile or Side warp to initiate.
2. A "No Hindrance by Message Strings" quest rule. This would essentially remove that annoying "invisible wall" created my ZC when there is a guy and message string.
3. Allow the quest maker to set the direction Link faces after a warp. How could this be done? Well, whenever you're setting a Green or Blue square, ZQuest already disables moving from screen to screen. So, the quest maker could press an arrow to set the direction Link faces to the direction they press. If there is no button pressed, ZC simply loads the default direction presented by the warp.
4. Could there be any way to "Bookmark" places in the combo list? This would make it easier to jump to important combos in the combo list (the one on the right of the screen, not by going to Quest->Graphics->Combos). These could be kept track of in one of the "Page Down/Up" menus at the bottom. ;)

[ShadowTiger]

"Warp after Strings" screen flag. Once the linked message strings are over, the next "A" or "B" button pressed would cause the Tile or Side warp to initiate.Would be nice. :) Would also be nice if you'd warp automatically after the string finishes without having to do anything at all. VERY useful for cinematics. (End of UCoL. VERY Timed Tic Warp driven.)


A "No Hinderance by Message Strings" quest rule. This would essentially remove that annoying "invisible wall" created my ZC when there is a guy and message string.<3 ... You know it. :p Watch out for Goriya rooms though. The Guy would still have to be unwalkable, I'd bet. Then again, ... you could make a combo do just that. Since feeding the Goriya the Bait triggers the room's secrets anyway, that should solve all the problems for this. :D


Allow the quest maker to set the direction Link faces after a warp. How could this be done? Well, whenever you're setting a Green or Blue square, ZQuest already disables moving from screen to screen. So, the quest maker could press an arrow to set the direction Link faces to the direction they press. If there is no button pressed, ZC simply loads the default direction presented by the warp.Well, unless the quest designer wants to force it. :shrug: For example, that could be used in puzzles, like in DFW's Hidden Duality Mirror Shield Maze.


Could there be any way to "Bookmark" places in the combo list? This would make it easier to jump to important combos in the combo list (the one on the right of the screen, not by going to Quest->Graphics->Combos). These could be kept track of in one of the "Page Down/Up" menus at the bottom. The closest thing we have to this is to right-click a Combo on the main ZQuest build area, and "Scroll To Combo." Obviously a bookmark would be nice as well though. ;-p

[LinktheMaster]

Would be nice. :) Would also be nice if you'd warp automatically after the string finishes without having to do anything at all. VERY useful for cinematics. (End of UCoL. VERY Timed Tic Warp driven.)
The only problem I see with that... is that once the "instant string" button is finalized, it could be used to instantly skip the string and start the warp. This would prevent the player from reading the string at all. :disgust:

[Freedom]

Why not just do that with timed warps.
I did that in Castle Haunt II, it averaged around 300 tics.

[LinktheMaster]

Uhh... because not everyone skips the strings instantly. Heck, not everyone skips through the strings at all. Plus, the new "skip message" button will mess things up even more. (Of course, it is a quest rule.) I'm not saying timed warps couldn't be used, but a "Warp after Strings" screen flag would much nicer, as it would be fit with every player. ;)

[Freedom]

skips the strings?
I'm not understanding I guess.
You time the strings at normal speed and that gives the person enough time to read it, then it advances to the next.
If you are going to push a button to advance your way then it's no different than how it can be done now with tics.
If you set up a "warp after strings" screen flag, then it has to either require the player to push a button, or some kind of timer has to be built in, otherwise if it triggers the second the message stops then people will be missing half the message.

[Rakki]

I'm pretty sure LTM's problem with setting a timed warp tic is that everybody reads at different speeds. So he'd have to set the timer up to take longer than most people would need to be able to give EVERYONE enough time to read the message. Furthermore, if someone was playing the quest for a second time, and didn't WANT to read the text, they'd skip by it, but then they'd have to sit there for some time while they wait for the timed warp to happen, which can be VERY boring to a player, if they think they're going to have to do this for all cutscenes in the entire quest. It's probably more than enough to deter some people from playing the quest all the way through. Needless to say, I agree with LTM's thought that a "Warp After String" screen flag would work better.

Although, I just had a thought (because of idontknow's day/night system thread). What if we instead had a screen flag "Trigger Secrets After String?" It'd be able to accomplish warping through the use of triggering an Auto-Warp secret combo, as well as allowing for things like, a guy revealing a staircase after he's done talking (like Richard does in Link's Awakening, after you give him the Golden Leaves).

[LinktheMaster]

Yeah, Rakki is correct in what I meant by skipping the strings. ;)

And, I didn't think about triggering secrets after the string. That probably would work better. :)