I’m pretty sure Cogmind is the first ASCII roguelike to support a drag-and-drop mouse interface.
Usage of drag-and-drop is not required, but it is slick, and will help non-hardcore players get into the game by enabling an intuitive feature common to modern interfaces.
Dragging works between the parts list, inventory, and map, meaning you can use it to drop, attach, remove, or re-arrange parts.
For mouse users, the original part manipulation controls (Ctrl/Shift-clicks) are still available (they’re faster than drag-and-drop), but drag-and-drop does make it possible to arrange the order of parts in your list, a special feature previously only accessible via keyboard.
Aside from organizational preference, changing the order of parts is only meaningful for weapons, since it determines their firing order.
Cogmind is still (and always will be) entirely playable without even touching the mouse, which is the most efficient way to play, but every command is also mouse-accessible, meaning mouse-only play and hybrid styles (probably the most common) are all possible.
Next: See a sneak peek of the intro.
Edit 160728: See a newer recording of the drag-drop UI and lots of other features to help ease new players into the game in this more recent post.
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6 Comments
The UI is looking very nice :)
Thanks! I didn’t realize it when posting, but I suppose this is the first look at the non-map UI itself in action.
I don’t comment every post, but be sure i’m reading them all. I appreciate more and more what you are doing with Cogmind, and with ASCII games in general. I’m really waiting for a playable version. I first wanted you to work more on X@COM but now i see how Cogmind “rebirth” may be even better.
Thanks Tchey, I know some of the readers are following progress religiously--makes me wish I could do more, faster ;)
Cogmind will definitely be a better project in the short term, though many of the engine enhancements and lessons learned will be applicable to future X@COM development, to be sure. In any case, I’m always trying to push the limits of ASCII so we’ll see where that gets us in terms of gaining appreciation from a more general crowd. Adding things like drag-and-drop control really simplifies the interface for some players who may be on the fence; the game can be as simple as maneuvering/attacking while grabbing parts, though with many additional layers beyond that for those who want to get more out of the game.
Speaking of X@COM. The name is very search engune unfriendly. :/
Very true. The name of that game will be changing when I get back to it. (It’s always appeared on the first page of Google search results, but that’s not good enough--should be at the top, especially considering how popular it is.)