[Kde-games-devel] KPat Progress and Regressions

[Parker Coates]

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 17:17, Ian Wadham wrote:
> On Tuesday 24 November 2009 5:31:27 am Parker Coates wrote:
>> There's no need to use the word "game" to describe "a round of
>> playing" in KPat, because solitaire games already have specific
>> terminology for that: "deal". If we use this terminology, that frees
>> up "game" to be "a named set of rules".
>>
>> That gives us this [1] [2]. Note that other actions have changed to
>> match the new terminology. The layout has also been changed for better
>> grouping. This feels right to me. Much more natural. I still think
>> there's a chance that players will click "New Game..." when they
>> really wanted "New Deal" but that mistake does no damage, is easy to
>> learn from and will cost them at most one click.
>>
>> Unless someone has suggestions or criticisms, I think this is the
>> version I'm going to go with.
>>
>> [1] http://imagebin.ca/view/4MhGwr
>> [1] http://imagebin.ca/view/M874mVob
>>
> Thanks very much for forwarding copies of those screen shots to me,
> Parker.  Much appreciated.
>
> I think "New Game Type..." might be slightly clearer than "New Game..."
> in the main menu (only), even though I usually hate the use of the word
> "type", which is even vaguer than "game" imo.

I had considered this, but I didn't feel that adding a vague word like
"type" was worth the cost of making the toolbar and menu texts differ.

> Using "Deal" seems odd at first, but as you say one could swiftly get used
> to it.  "Restart Deal" sounds a bit strange though.  How do you restart a
> deal, without reshuffling etc.?  How about "Replay Deal" or "Start Again"
> or (American) "Start Over" (ugh, my English soul twitches, but you can't
> fight City Hall) ... :-)

Wait. Are you arguing that "Start Again" is clearer than "Restart"? :P
Maybe "Replay Current Deal" is less awkward? One thing to keep in mind
is that this is a destructive action. Having a clear name is obviously
important, but I'd rather err on the say of something to scary than
something too friendly.

> Sorry to keep harping, but I still think you should include "Save..." and
> maybe also "Load..." in the toolbar, if only as a buffer zone for quick
> action guys like Aaron.

I'm really not keen on this. Save and load are pretty advanced
features. Now that KPat can automatically remember the game state, I
would doubt that more than 1 in 10 players ever touches them. I think
sticking them in the toolbar could make KPat seem more complicated
than it really is. As for Aaron "Reckless  Clicker" Seigo's issue,
I've never heard it mentioned by anyone else. There is already the
confirmation dialog, and I personally feel that's enough.

> Should "Save" have a "..." in the menu version
> anyway?  I think it brings up a dialog.

Hmm. Good point. Technically, we use it as a "Save As..." action, so
I'll change it to that.

Parker