I think this is my first suggestion for the player, and not the editor
The way we load quests into ZC has been in place for so long, yet it's never changed, and to the first-time user, it's not all that obvious. Plus, ZC now revolves around the custom quests, and not the original games. So, my suggestion is; When you start a new file, a window pops up asking if you want to load a custom quest. Clicking Yes will open up the file-select window so you can choose the quest you want, and clicking No will start a default file as usual
This is actually a great idea. It will really cut down on people not knowing how to load custom quests and can make it much more user friendly for newbies. Great idea *b*!
Yeah, great idea! Way too many people have hard time figuring out how to load custom quests. *sigh*
Even better would be the possibility to make quests to .exe files so there would be no loading needed anymore. 😉 Dunno if it has been suggested nor if anything like it will be ever implemented, but one can always dream eh?
I doubt that saving quests to .exe is plausible, mainly because they still require the main ZC engine to run. However, the idea of a more user-friendly setup is a great idea, because I think someone new registers to ask about loading custom quests about once a week.
So, how would you suggest people be able to load quests? Keep in mind that the original Z1-style still has to be an option.
down the bottom add an option to load a custom quest... (ya know... beneath the creat player/delete player area) and have it so you choose it then choose the slot you want to load a custom quest for then have it ask what quest file to use.
and keep the original method of loading custom quests aswell.
edit: call the extra option "setup custom quest" or something like that.
Or maybe we can immediately assign a quest to a file once the name has been created. After the name has been confirmed, why not just go directly to the load quest screen where the player can either browse for a custom quest or select the first, second, or third quests? This would be much easier and it would assign a quest to a file immediately after it was created instead of requiring the user to press either Start or A.
because that is not how you start the original quests... DN said it has (he didnt say must) to remain in compliance with LOZ.
How about a message that appears saying "press A to load custom quest" after you name your file.
What about a menu that is brought up (same graphics as the game select screen) that says Original Quest and Custom Quest after you select Register Your Name
It'd go like this:
Register Your Name > Menu pops up > Original Quest or Custom Quest
Original Quest > Name entry
Custom Quest > File browser pops up to load quest > Name entry
Would something like that be acceptable/plausable?
MUCH easier to understand this way
Nice mock up *b*. That would work great.
That looks like it would work well!
erm2003 wrote:Nice mock up *b*.
That's no mockup...it's a space station.
I think that such a system would be a tremendous improvement over the status quo, for the sake of the dear new users.
it should say at the top... play which quest... and give you a choice of original, custom, cancel
Petoe wrote:Even better would be the possibility to make quests to .exe files so there would be no loading needed anymore. 😉 Dunno if it has been suggested nor if anything like it will be ever implemented, but one can always dream eh?
We've talked about that actually; there are three disadvantages:
1) Quest size. The ZC executable and data files would have to be embedded in the quest.
2) Portability. Currently, all quests can be played on Windows, OS X, Linux, and anywhere else we are able to port ZC. If we have ZQuest publish quests as executables, it would be up to each quest author to generate an executable for every supported platform; I fear most authors would be lazy and OS X and Linux users would get screwed.
3) More files for quest authors to manage. If a quest author wanted to update a quest, he could no longer just download it from a qdb; he'd have to keep the editable version of the quest on his harddrive, and if he loses this version, he's screwed.
Of course an executable quest also has many advantages, so making such a change is worth discussing as a future plan.
How about an option in ag.cfg so that all slots autoload a certain quest file? To the end user, it would appear to be an embedded quest (no need to manually load a custom quest, it becomes the default).
a) add a command line switch so we can load quests straight away
b) config option for default quest
c) new screen as depicted (corrected by me) by *b*
franpa wrote:c) new screen as depicted (corrected by me) by *b*
Don't get ahead of yourself there. I chose those titles for a reason. For the first time user, which this suggestion is for, the original Zelda is considered a game. It still is, but we call it a quest because it's editable
no, we call it a quest because it is a quest... the term "quest" does not mean that it is editable.