Replay on restart: Confuses/annoys new players, they don't click air

[WillLem]

How's this?

Status bar message for Replay mode

Adding a Status bar is easy. Getting it to display at the right time will be much, much more difficult, so we should be sure we want this. FWIW, I still prefer simply deactivating auto-replay; if players want the replay features, it should be a conscious choice. To that end, here's another possible solution:

Replay options in the Welcome screen

This is the very least we could do: there's potential to expand the Welcome screen to add much more information about NeoLemmix. As it's the first thing new players see, we should aim to provide as much as we can here. It's possible to add graphics and stuff to jazz it up a bit and make it more engaging.

We could even add stuff about the replay features on here, and a checkbox to make sure the user has read it (they could still check without reading, sure, but... well, that's on them!). Until it's checked, the Welcome screen shows every time NL is loaded. The replay features are probably the only truly problematic thing for new players; it's worth giving them every chance to get clued up from the beginning. We most likely wouldn't need to do this for any other feature.

[namida]

Let's assume at this point that the end of level behavior is a one off special case and aside from that, "no new suggestions" remains the case for NL. This doesn't mean the discussion can't be had for the benefit of other engines / forks, of course.

[WillLem]

Let's assume at this point that the end of level behavior is a one off special case and aside from that, "no new suggestions" remains the case for NL. This doesn't mean the discussion can't be had for the benefit of other engines / forks, of course.

In that case, would you mind providing some clarity on the questions raised here (and the subsequent discussion thereof); I think the community doesn't want yet another fork of NL.

[Simon]

Found another case on Lemmings Forums and added it to OP:

Example from 2023-06:
Join development team

yoyoz files the automatic replay as a bug. He had already changed the NL code to fix it, and writes:

There is a problem when you click on restart button: Same actions are replay. I have fixed it. But for the moment, i havent found where fix when you restart the level with the menu screen.

-- Simon

[WillLem]

I've added animation and clickability of the "R" icon to SLX's skill panel. Happy to provide code & graphics if namida wants this for NL:


NOTE: The "R" is in fact still visible on the darker frame of the animation - it might not be picked up too well in the above screenshot