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Feedback: Starmourn needs Descriptive Space Maps

NusrizanNusrizan
in Feedback
I'm loving Starmourn so far, but I prefer if space has descriptive "rooms" rather than the scrolling ASCII map for when flying ship in space. Just make it optional, because I like to read rather than see graphics. Or make the autopilot ship just like people autorunning on ground. Anything but the horrible, messy looking ASCII graphics. Thanks!

Comments

  • AureliusAurelius
    There is no chance that would ever happen. You'd also be completely helpless as you'd not be able to see anything but the single room you're in, and would be an easy target for enemies to prey on you.

    Re: horrible and messy, that's a personal thing, but are you using Nexus or another client? If you're using another client, you need to make sure you're using a monospaced font, and one that is, ideally, as square as possible (though none of them are really 'square'). Particularly if you're not using a monospaced font, it'll look awful.
  • NusrizanNusrizan
    Aurelius said:
    There is no chance that would ever happen. You'd also be completely helpless as you'd not be able to see anything but the single room you're in, and would be an easy target for enemies to prey on you.

    Re: horrible and messy, that's a personal thing, but are you using Nexus or another client? If you're using another client, you need to make sure you're using a monospaced font, and one that is, ideally, as square as possible (though none of them are really 'square'). Particularly if you're not using a monospaced font, it'll look awful.
    This is open beta and we're giving feedbacks. But hey, it's your MUD. I might not be the only one with similar opinions. I'm sure other people might love the graphics and it is a personal thing as you put it.There is always a solution. Coders can always find a way to make things work. You don't need to remove the map from the mud, but rather, just make it optional by toggling it with options. I'm using Nexus.
  • TravelerTraveler
    Maybe I should be making a new thread, but personally I am struggling with space travel, and as a visual person I wish I could have a complete wilderness map of the whole area. I get so lost and turned around, and autopilot doesn't work very well. But maybe the wilderness is too big for all that...

    Don't mind me, I'll just be over here with my grid paper and coloring pencils for the next week or so...
  • NusrizanNusrizan
    Qitorien said:
    Then I think of the time it would take to describe those thousands of rooms...
    Wouldn't that be really something? I would love that.

    Qitorien said:
     I can't even imagine the spam of thousands of descriptive rooms flying by me at the pace of several rooms per second...
    No need. Just make it like autorun on ground where it skips all the already described rooms to the destination point.
  • ShrikShrik
    The technical achievement of having a graphical map like that which refreshes that quickly and also can have "overlays" drawn on it like the targeting cone is absolutely incredible. I'm not sure how they even did it, to be honest. Especially when you have people polling the thing every second at max speed.

    Don't see how SM representation of space could work purely with a descriptive map, to be honest.
  • StarwalkerStarwalker
    Nusrizan said:
    I'm loving Starmourn so far, but I prefer if space has descriptive "rooms" rather than the scrolling ASCII map for when flying ship in space. Just make it optional, because I like to read rather than see graphics. Or make the autopilot ship just like people autorunning on ground. Anything but the horrible, messy looking ASCII graphics. Thanks!
    I completely agree with this! The map is so annoying and I get so lost. The rooms would definitely help a lot.
  • TectonTecton
    Nusrizan said:
    Qitorien said:
    Then I think of the time it would take to describe those thousands of rooms...
    Wouldn't that be really something? I would love that.

    Qitorien said:
     I can't even imagine the spam of thousands of descriptive rooms flying by me at the pace of several rooms per second...
    No need. Just make it like autorun on ground where it skips all the already described rooms to the destination point.
    400 million individual room descriptions... just saying :P
  • zacczacc
    It's really not that bad if you know how to make a console in your client. That is, if your client has that feature. The map is 57x57 characters and lines, so it is quite large and takes up a bit of space. I've used the same script used in the other games for grabbing the maps, parsing, and throwing them into a mapper window with good results. You do have to choose a smaller font size, however, and it should be as close to monospaced as possible to keep it compact. I'm using Lucida Console at about size 6. In one sense, the map is the room description... depending on your interpretation and imagination. It's comparable to the wilderness, aetherspace, and sailing maps in the other games.

    The website states that the sector map is 20,000 x 20,000, which would be 400 million individual rooms with descriptions (even generic copy and paste descriptions). That's going to be a bit tedious...
  • NusrizanNusrizan
    zacc said:

    The website states that the sector map is 20,000 x 20,000, which would be 400 million individual rooms with descriptions (even generic copy and paste descriptions). That's going to be a bit tedious...
    You got a point. Damn. Space is definitely huge. Oh, well. I'll just bear with the graphics for now. Thanks, guys.
  • OryxOryx
    If you're using Nexus and don't want to see the map at the left, you can drag another tab up into the window with the map (like the "your character" tab or anything else, really) and just have that one in front of the map. Does that work for you?
  • BobbtheBreakerBobbtheBreaker
    The only problem I have with space travel is that it's so spammy I can't do anything but space travel. Even looking up space travel commands I can't quite remember involves frantic scrolling trying to find where in the pages of map the helpfile wound up showing itself.

    If anyone wants to post a handy dandy script for Mudlet that gives us a space travel map window and squelches it in the main display, they would be my forever bae. Seriously.
  • KaxKax
    The map is really cool, but I have to second BobbtheBreaker here. Flying anywhere takes a while, and being a passenger is especially frustrating. Sitting in a ship with a dozen people for fifteen minutes and being unable to really talk or interact because of the map spam was really not fun. 

    I'm not sure what kind of solution would work here. A config to reduce the update frequency might help some. 

    Objects in space like asteroids and planets are fixed, right? Maybe we could find a way to plot courses...instead of just telling the navigationally-challenged autopilot "go to Danica", we'd punch in a specific path that avoids the known obstacles. Then it could be configured to be text-only unless/until you run into another ship, at which point it starts spamming the map again and you can react appropriately. 

    In any case, as a passenger the map spam isn't really necessary...maybe there could be an option to squelch it unless you choose to look out a window or something? 
    "You know what the chain of command is? It’s the chain I go get and beat you with ’til you understand who’s in ruttin’ command here."
  • bairlochbairloch
    What do you guys mean by map spam? Is this a mudlet thing? I hardly get anything in the chat window when flying in Nexus.
  • zacczacc
    It's a not-Nexus thing. The space map is displayed on the main window and in full size for third party clients. Everytime the ship turns, the ship moves a spot, etc. the map is sent and it becomes very, very spammy (59 lines approx every two seconds) if you're not using a mapper and/or chat window.
    Although, either my client broke last night or the space map was reduced in size by a lot (now 41 rows and 42 columns, I think) because it broke my stuff when it happened, which was unfortunate. I think I'll be scripting an auto-halt to avoid space hazards... just in case the map gets any smaller.
  • AureliusAurelius
    Starmourn is definitely made to work best with Nexus. There is no space spam in it. For a third party client, you're going to want to script something that shunts the space map to a separate window, so that there is no spam, just a nicely updating map view. If nobody else does, that's something we'll get around to for Mudlet, but for all other clients you're likely on your own if you choose to use them vs Nexus and maybe Mudlet. 
  • KaxKax
    No love for us grumpy old people and our one-step-above-telnet clients? 

    Bah. You kids and your fancy modern client nonsense, with your "graphics" and your "features". Bah, I say!
    "You know what the chain of command is? It’s the chain I go get and beat you with ’til you understand who’s in ruttin’ command here."
  • AureliusAurelius
    Kax said:
    No love for us grumpy old people and our one-step-above-telnet clients? 

    Bah. You kids and your fancy modern client nonsense, with your "graphics" and your "features". Bah, I say!
    They're all telnet clients! Yours is just a lot more basic. ;)
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