Liftet object placing and buildings validation

[ekzarh]

Hi there
I propose to change how things go when char tries to build something or land a lifted object.

Lifting.
Suppose we have character with a boat above his head. We want to place it somewhere
How it is done now
1 User right-clicks on a place where you want to place it
2. Character walks there
3. Tries to place a boat on the ground
4. Server checks is there enough space or not
5. If no - character stops.

So - time wasted to walk to invalid place. And now character is the obstacle for placing the boat - so user has to move it back and then retry.
Tons of time wasted.

My proposal
1 User right-clicks on a place where you want to place it
2. Server checks is there enough space or not.
If no - send a message 'Cannot be placed'. Or send nothing just leave character where he is
If yes - continue
3. Character walks there
4. Server checks is there enough space or not again (something could change while char is walking)
5. Boat is placed or not depending on check result

As a result - player does not waste time for character walking to wrong destination, walking back to free destination from himself.

Building
Currently
1. User selects some building from menu
2. User clicks on the ground
3. Character walks there
4. Server checks is it possible to build there (needed range of cells is free)
5. If yes - building sign is placed. If no - building process is reset

And again - to build player move character back to free space, go through all menus (or drag and drop shortcut), click, walk to destination. And repeat again if failed. After 3-4 times it's like FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!

My proposal
1. User selects some building from menu
2. User clicks on the ground
3. Server checks is it possible to build there (needed range of cells is free)
4. If no - process is stopped. BUT! building is still selected. So player can click again and retrying to build is performed immediately
After few clicks that precise spot which is valid and satisfies user is found and process continues
5. Character walks there
6. Server checks is it possible to build there again (if something occupied the place)

As a result - player economies lots of time and clicks and gameplay becomes smoother. Look how it is implemented in strategy games to make better understanding what i mean.


P.S. All pieces of code are already there. All what has to be done is just reordering them a little bit. And trust me - user friendliness wil increase drastically.
P.S. It will optimize performance too (no need to calculate char movement(redraw distance, objects etc) in cas when action will fail and player will have to move back.

[SuperNoob]

I like the build idea...it always irks me when I click through all the build menu to build something then it goes poof from my cursor if I click the wrong spot(I actually hotkey certain builds to avoid this at times)

[Arcanist]

yes, this would be better

[Taxaso]

No, just keep the build menu open. You have to leave the menu manually. Fixed that way!

[SuperNoob]

No, just keep the build menu open. You have to leave the menu manually. Fixed that way!

so 2-4 clicks to get back to your main little menu instead of a single right click to remove item from your cursor? the reason behind the idea was to make it more user friendly and 1 click is better for the user than 2-4 clicks...

[ekzarh]

No, just keep the build menu open. You have to leave the menu manually. Fixed that way!

It does not solve ol the problem - you have to walk back 'cause your character occupies building location after unsuccessful try to build.

[ImMortal]

Good Idea! More optimization - better game...

[cobaltjones]

Great ideas. Stuff like this is why the UI of the game struggles. jorb seems to think that UI just means "graphical interface" when in reality it's so much more complex than that.

[dragonxkai]

Stuff like houses and pave checks should be more easier to use.

Say a 3x3 log cabin is actually a 3.2x3.2, it needs a 5x5 area if you build it ala grid.

But if you used the ender client, turn on the 'hide' mode for houses and enables the hidden red tiles for it, you can see the collision pixels for the log cabin and by using the shift key, you can 'place' it in a really precise way to arrange logcabins one another another.

The only issue is that when you build stuff, the signpost does not show the colliding areas on it.

If it's a signpost for a stone mansion, you 'don't' see the actual area.

Maybe for construction purposes, the 'area' that is being built will be shaded like a shadow being there.

[SuperNoob]

Stuff like houses and pave checks should be more easier to use.

Say a 3x3 log cabin is actually a 3.2x3.2, it needs a 5x5 area if you build it ala grid.

But if you used the ender client, turn on the 'hide' mode for houses and enables the hidden red tiles for it, you can see the collision pixels for the log cabin and by using the shift key, you can 'place' it in a really precise way to arrange logcabins one another another.

The only issue is that when you build stuff, the signpost does not show the colliding areas on it.

If it's a signpost for a stone mansion, you 'don't' see the actual area.

Maybe for construction purposes, the 'area' that is being built will be shaded like a shadow being there.

1-only noobs that don't know any better build log cabins
2-I like the idea of showing the area where things are being built also, maybe have the sign in the middle and a roped off area for the actual buildiing area if its going to have a hitbox
3-when building a bunch of houses most people like to leave that space there so they can walk between them to get to another area of their land