[SUG][PLAYER] Slow motion

[namida]

We have fast forward to speed things up, but currently, no way to slow them down (other than outright pausing).

It would be very trivial to implement this. On the other hand though, I don't know if it'd be worthwhile even for a trivial feature, given that we have pause and framestepping anyway. But I'm open to implementing this if anyone thinks it'd be useful. (IchoTolot, for your solution videos, perhaps?)

I envision this being about 50% of normal speed, but other options can be considered for sure.

[GigaLem]

It'd be an interesting idea to test out, I'm fine with this regardless

[Crane]

Personally, I think it's unnecessary since I just use Pause plus the Next and Back buttons for frame-precise actions that are otherwise superior to a slow-motion feature (which would otherwise be used for more precise actions compared to regular time). Saying that, I have no reason to oppose it either (and slow motion in replays is actually a good idea), so would this be a neutral stance?

[ccexplore]

If the only good reason people can imagine for this feature is for videos, doesn't most video editing software provides slow motion effect already?

Within the game, I agree totally with Crane and feel like framestepping is a far superior solution anyway for the cases where player might want to see something slowed down, as framestepping explicitly let the player directly control which parts to slow down and by how much.  At the same time, just because we don't find a slow motion feature useful, doesn't mean it won't be useful to someone out there.  The only reason I could even manage to conceive of for actually opposing the feature, is maybe if it further clutters the toolbar with yet more buttons.

So I guess somewhat neutral but leaning towards "no, maybe spend time on new features or bug fixes instead"?

[Proxima]

C++ Lix had an ultra-slow mode (around 10% of normal speed), and I used this a lot back in those days. It's a nice convenience to have, even alongside the other features that are in both programs.

Still, if I could choose, I'd say 10% is too slow, and namida's suggested 50% probably too fast -- I don't think it would gain enough precision over normal speed to be worth including (though I'd have to try it out to see how it feels).  I'd go for something in between, like 25%.

[namida]

If the only good reason people can imagine for this feature is for videos, doesn't most video editing software provides slow motion effect already?

Yes, but then these will distort music and sounds too. And that also means a significant extra step in creating the video - as things currently are, one can simply record the video and upload it directly as-is.

[Dullstar]

I could see it being useful for multitasking on certain levels. Framestep works but can be a little annoying in situations where things are running just a little too fast to easily play at full speed.