I like the way the mouse works on the interface. I also like how the keyboard commands work. I do not like having to toggle between Keyboard mode and Mouse mode (the default "Keyboard mode disabled" behavior).
Here is a list of specific issues I have with the current Keyboard mode activated/disabled functionality. Perhaps a few other people share in some of my annoyances.
- I hate it when I see "Examine only necessary in Keyboard mode". I would love to be able to use 'x' in Mouse mode. It's faster to see the details of what cogmind is standing on with 'x','d' than it is to move the mouse to him and right click. Sometimes I just feel like tabbing through items or enemies rather than mousing to them and switching between modes is annoying.
- The mouse cursor doesn't disappear in Mouse mode when I start pressing buttons. If I'm moving the targeting cursor around with the keyboard in mouse mode the mouse annoyingly blocks half the tile. More importantly, when just moving around it gets in the way and starts showing descriptions of things it is hovering on or just changes /SCAN/ from what's under cogmind to what's under the mouse. I have to move my hand to the mouse to push it out of the way. It would be best if it disappeared and stopped doing anything until there was mouse input detected again.
- You cannot toggle modes when hacking. When at a terminal querying entries it's super annoying to have to type out things like "Query(Interstellar Exploration Fleet)" because I forgot to switch modes before the hack.
- Despite being invisible in Keyboard mode the mouse still does things. It is possible to bump the mouse and alter your fire trajectory, click and move cogmind, and alter inventory all inadvertently.
You could add a hybrid mode but I think tweaking Mouse mode is a better solution. Include all Keyboard only features in Mouse mode. Have the mouse cursor disappear and stop functioning on keyboard input and come back on mouse input.
The mouse should actually be disabled in Keyboard mode. I would also add that we need a way to scroll through a large inventory without using the mouse and scroll w heel but I feel like that might already be possible and I just don't know what button it is.
The simplest solution is to see if it's possible to combine the modes so that they're no longer modes at all. Originally the purpose was to more easily separate map look mode from everything else so it was easier to implement (done during the 7DRL...). Since then there are also a few input behaviors that work differently between mouse and keyboard mode. Merging them and having the cursor auto-hide on keyboard and unhide itself on mouse input would be ideal. I'll have to investigate.
Quote from: Agroesch on October 07, 2015, 02:48:51 PM
I would also add that we need a way to scroll through a large inventory without using the mouse and scroll w heel but I feel like that might already be possible and I just don't know what button it is.
'[' and ']' to scroll, plus 't', 'm', and 'i' to sort by different criteria, and press again to reverse-sort. (So by using just 't' you can quickly see all items in a size 20 inventory.)
I should also add Ctrl-[/] to allow for paging up/down in an inventory via keyboard, rather than one at a time.
QuoteAlpha 4 (0.10.151103) changelog:
* NEW: Press 'd' to open info for item at current location (even in mouse mode)
\o/
I do what I can :). That one was easier; I also came up with what should be an ideal solution for your manual query hacking, but implementing it will be more involved so it had to wait...