2.00 Hints

[Wafflem]

This will be a very useful feature, but how should they be displayed?

Should they be displayed in a dialog box, or should they be displayed on the top screen like how it was in Cheapo?

Hints will also be useful for things like gimmick levels (e.g. if you have a gimmick combo, but the player doesn't want to figure out what gimmicks are being used, they can read the hint to see what exact gimmicks the level uses).

Also, there are those hint arrows that were converted from Cheapo graphic sets; those should be in every official standard NeoLemmix graphic set.

[ccexplore]

Seems like the only difference with dialog box is that they obscure even more of the level area and thus generally more obtrusive.  I can't imagine that being good qualities to anyone for hints.

[namida]

A dialog box for hints could work provided it paused the game while displayed. Assuming the level in question isn't a Frenzy level, that is.

Anyway, I'll definitely make sure support for these is in there from Day 1. Feel free to suggest / discuss ideas of how they should be implemented (and keep in mind, we do have a dedicated object type that can be used for them; eg. to display an arrow alongside a hint; although these could also be made a standard thing outside of object types too, similar to what I'm considering for one-way walls and pre-placed lemmings).

[ccexplore]

A dialog box for hints could work provided it paused the game while displayed. Assuming the level in question isn't a Frenzy level, that is.

It still seems so unnecessary when it's a lot more out of way to just show it in-level like in Cheapo.  It is a hint after all, not a warning or error message.

I'd say the only real reason to use a dialog box is if it's easier to implement.  One possible secondary reason is if you worry about text legibility (assuming the text is displayed with transparent background so you can see-through to the level area), but there are a few not-too-tricky solutions for that (so again, back to ease of implementation).

I'd also suggest if at all possible, even with a dialog box implementation, the exact same keys and/or UI buttons that bring up the hint should also be usable to dismiss the hint.  (Actually with the mouse, the best thing would probably be to allow any click anywhere to dismiss).

[Simon]

Overlay somewhere on the screen, that's good.

Dialog box, bad. Introduces a mode, prevents from solving while reading, breaks control flow. Dialog boxes are bad, use the overlay instead.

-- Simon