[SUG][PLAYER] save replays with level names

[mantha16]

ias per discord suggestion s it possible to make it so that replays are saved with the level names when WillLem has been play testing levels in my new pack I've had to ask him which level  the replays refer to if the replays saved with the level names it would just make life easier

[namida]

Put up a poll to gauge general opinion on this.

Note that the new proposal doesn't necesserially need to win in order to get implemented, as it's feasible to make this an option (which people who prefer status quo can then ignore). The poll is more (a) to confirm it's worthwhile implementing at all, and (b) to determine whether or not I make an option instead of an outright change.

[Simon]

In a pack, you can also append the level title to (the existing rank-name and position).

Makes for long filenames.

-- Simon

[Strato Incendus]

@Simon: Yes, I saw Armani did this on his testing replays for Lemmings Open Air, but I don't know how it's done automatically - I already thought he might have renamed them all by hand.

[Armani]

@Simon: Yes, I saw Armani did this on his testing replays for Lemmings Open Air, but I don't know how it's done automatically - I already thought he might have renamed them all by hand.

Correct. I actually save most of the replays manually. I would be very happy if this option is implemented.

[Proxima]

I have a strong preference for the current system, for ease of collating challenge replays by rank. I don't object to there being an option for level-title-only, but I would object to a unilateral change.

[Dullstar]

Level titles are easier to remember. If you reference Taxing 6, I have absolutely no idea what level that is unless I go look it up. If you ask me about Compression Method 1, however, I know exactly what level you're talking about. The level titles are also probably less likely to change than rank and position. While individual levels may potentially get renamed, as one develops a pack, it's quite likely that levels can and will be re-ordered based on player feedback about the difficulty - and moving levels around can alter the positions of several levels other than the one that was directly moved.

The replays have the level titles stored in them, but if you aren't quite sure which replay corresponds with which level, opening a bunch of replays in a text editor until you find the one you're looking for is a pain. It's particularly bad with the contest packs, because then when people submit replay packs that haven't been manually renamed, you can't just open your level in the editor and bring up the replay associated with yours. Instead, you have to either open replays until you find the one that matches your level, or you have to go open up the contest pack so you can check which position your level got inserted into.

If I have to choose one, level titles are more useful, in my opinion. But probably the best would be an order of pack->rank->position->title->timestamp etc. The filename is what you see when you're selecting a replay, after all. The pack information, in my opinion, is mostly only useful when working with the pack as a whole. Probably the only time I really want the position information is if I'm going through the pack of replays sequentially. When I'm working with individual levels, whether or not those levels are part of a pack, the title is a lot more helpful for finding the replay I want.

[Strato Incendus]

I'm also a fan of level titles - I have all replays for my own packs stored under level title names, so if it were the same for other people's levels, that would make things much more straightforward.

[WillLem]

Level titles are easier to remember. If you reference Taxing 6, I have absolutely no idea what level that is unless I go look it up. If you ask me about Compression Method 1, however, I know exactly what level you're talking about. The level titles are also probably less likely to change than rank and position

Massively agreed

I have a strong preference for the current system, for ease of collating challenge replays by rank

I agree that this is a concern, and is the only reason I hesitated before voting. To be fair though, there's no reason it couldn't still do this; as Dullstar suggested, it could simply save the replay as, for example:

Fun_01_Just_Dig!_2020-01-01_00-00-01.nxrp

I'd go as far as to suggest that this is the best option of all, long filenames notwithstanding.

[namida]

Okay, I've made this very flexible for the 12.11 update.

You'll be able to select, as you can now, whether to auto-save replays or not. You can further select how filenames are determined - with seperate settings for auto-save, manual ingame saves, and manual postview screen saves. The options available are Position + Timestamp; Title + Timestamp; or Position + Title + Timestamp (or for the manual ones, "Show file select dialog").

Not happy with those options? You can enter a custom pattern, using the following placeholders (which should all be self-explanatory): {TITLE}, {GROUP}, {GROUPPOS}, {PACK}, {USERNAME} and {TIMESTAMP}. You can also use this to give a popup dialog while setting a default name, or set different patterns (in particular to not use group / grouppos / pack where not applicable) for levels in a pack vs loose / testmode levels. I'll elaborate more on this at release time.

Leaving this topic open in case anyone has other suggestions for placeholders that should be supported - not promising they'll be implemented but no harm in suggesting.

EDIT: Based on the poll results, I have made "Title + Timestamp" the default setting. However, nothing's stopping those who prefer position + timestamp from changing it back, of course.

[Strato Incendus]

Great job, namida!

The only issue I see is with packs that players already started playing before the update.
Then the scheme changes in the middle of the pack, with the replays from the lower ranks still being named by level number, and then the later ones by level name.

There doesn't happen to be a way to integrate the update into the Replay Refresher tool, so that old replay files could be automatically renamed by whatever title the level has that their number is referring to?

I have no idea how much effort this would take, I'm just putting that suggestion out there.

[WillLem]

Brilliant work!

[namida]

The only issue I see is with packs that players already started playing before the update.
Then the scheme changes in the middle of the pack, with the replays from the lower ranks still being named by level number, and then the later ones by level name.

Nothing is stopping players from switching their settings back, for now.

There doesn't happen to be a way to integrate the update into the Replay Refresher tool, so that old replay files could be automatically renamed by whatever title the level has that their number is referring to?

I haven't even brought the Replay Refresher up to date to account for the Jumper; it was meant as a one-off thing to deal with a potentially breaking change (and the side effect of being a quick way to add a username to replays). On the other hand, a quick mass rename based on this kind of pattern was indeed something I was thinking about implementing as part of a future replay manager, though I'll note that we're not likely to see this feature until, at least, the next version after the new skills.

[Strato Incendus]

Ah great, if it's generally possible, then I don't mind how! Making it part of the new replay manager is probably the more pragmatic decision anyway; the (old) Replay Refresher was just the first thing that jumped to my mind as an example.

[namida]

Okay, so it doesn't sound like there's much concern about need for further work on the naming itself, so I shall close this now.