Default settings for online options?

[namida]

So yes - as you've probably gathered, I'm adding some minor online capabilities in the next update. No, no multiplayer - I have no plans for that - but rather, for content acquisition.

Eventually, I hope to have a proper NeoLemmix content database, which can be accessed directly through NeoLemmix itself rather than needing to be manually viewed via a web browser. However, the initial capabilities will simply be - 1) download missing graphic sets, and 2) check for (but not download) updates.

Currently, I have two configurable settings relating to online functionality - whether to enable online functionality at all, and whether to run the update check on startup (specifically, it runs the first time during each use that one views the menu screen - leaving the menu screen then returning will not trigger a second check; only exiting NeoLemmix completely will reset the "checked" status). This popup could get annoying, and it also causes a slight lag upon loading the menu screen - however long it takes your PC to download a ~300 byte text file from neolemmix.com (it's noticable, but not long enough to be annoying, on my machine; it could be quite problematic for those on slow connections). So - with this in mind - should the Check For Updates option be on or off by default? To be clear - the update check does not actually download updates, it simply checks if one is available, notifies the user if there is one, and asks if they'd like to go to the NeoLemmix website to download it.

In regards to enabling online functionality at all, the main concern here is that some users have expressed in the past that they're somewhat on the paranoid side, and I was thinking that they may not feel comfortable with any functionality that auto-downloads anything. Outside of this, there is no huge disadvantage to having it on - the style check is only triggered when a style is missing, and the situations where it would cause lag (while the file downloads) are ones that, in the absence of this functionality, would cause the game to crash altogether anyway.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

[IchoTolot]

Not 100% sure here.

Downloading missing ones...no brainer.
Auto-update......hmm    When i have an update for my tilests ready, but there are still the "older" ones on the website that count as up-to-date it could get messy for creators in general.
For pure players on the other hand it can be (apart from the popup) good.
Voting against default auto-update for now.

[namida]

Sorry - maybe that wasn't clear enough. Auto-update (or rather, auto-check-for-update) relates to NeoLemmix itself.

[Simon]

Downloading missing sets is good.

Finding updates for sets, even though you haven't asked for it, sounds very exciting. No idea how often set designers break physics in old tiles, compared to adding/recoloring tiles.

To be clear - the update check does not actually download updates, it simply checks if one is available, notifies the user if there is one, and asks if they'd like to go to the NeoLemmix website to download it.

An update popup on program start kills the user experience.

When you open the editor, you want to get things done. Not update the editor. I predict everybody will dismiss the dialog, then forget about the update. I can fish relevant articles from user-experience sites.

The functionality is valuable, as long as we find a nonintrusive method to suggest the update. Some text/link sitting quietly in the background, etc.

-- Simon

[namida]

At the moment, this is in relation to the player. If people find it useful, I'll integrate similar functionality into the other associated apps too.

I haven't yet implemented anything to update graphic sets themself; only slightly future-proofed the design to enable adding that later. At the moment, it can basically be summed up as running through the following steps until the graphic set is found:

1. Check in NXP for graphic set
2. Check in "styles" folder for graphic set
3. Check in NeoLemmix.exe for graphic set
4. Check neolemmix.com for graphic set; if found here, download copy to "styles" folder for future use
5. Fail