Couple suggestions on the gameplay screen...
Started by
mikecos23
(joined · 11 posts · 26 karma)
, ago
As always, brilliant to see the progress with this game !
Couple of nitpicky suggestions ;P
If we have player photos enabled, would love to see the option of having the photos displayed on field with the player positions, I think this could really add to immersion.
I might be getting old now, but the second thing is I am still having a hard time with clicking through the pitching, fielding and at bat options during gameplay. This is slightly cumbersome when managing both teams. Would love to see either a quick pitch option, which would be just a resolve at bat thing and/or a text option for the buttons, I swear I still have to let my mouse hover over the buttons to figure out which one to click on to resolve at bats ;P. Maybe have a text display option ?
Lastly I think I meantioned this already, but if I am in game and click on a player card via the box score, would like to see a players complete historical player stats like when I am not in game. And also the players actual age - this is really nice to have when doing replays.
Hope these don't sound too petty !
Comments
mikecos23
(joined · 11 posts · 26 karma)
, ago
I think you have the jist of what I was thinking, sorry this is really just a trivial thing lol. See this mock up I whipped up, I just like to see the player image on field with their position. Even the little image for the batter is nice too.
Harlin
(joined · 239 posts · 389 karma)
, ago
That's about what I had initially but felt like the images should be as wide as the labels and that caused them to be too big and I just didn't like the whole thing at the time. But I think we'll give this a shot and see. It won't be default for now (unless a bunch of people ask for it) but it's good to get some feedback and hear that someone does think it's a good idea.
banditelvis721
(joined · 118 posts · 195 karma)
, ago
I think that is really cool
Harlin
(joined · 239 posts · 389 karma)
, ago
Excited to put this in really. If I can just get past these audio syncing bugs. They are the biggest pains in the ass ever.
banditelvis721
(joined · 118 posts · 195 karma)
, ago
replying to @Harlin
audio syncing? you mean with the announcer?
Harlin
(joined · 239 posts · 389 karma)
, ago
replying to @banditelvis721
Yes. This is BY FAR the most difficult thing to implement which is probably why very few games have it. The sound quality and recordings are easy as heck to do, but I'm finding that getting each and every one to sync properly is darn near impossible and may never work perfectly especially over the web since network latencies can be off by a lot. It's a tall task to say the least.
banditelvis721
(joined · 118 posts · 195 karma)
, ago
replying to @Harlin
i hear ya with the announcer i think it is very cool, but if it impacts the game at all, then bye bye if you want.
Hammerpgh (joined · 1 post · 1 karma) , ago
The photos idea is really good providing it doesn’t impact performance. Not sure I would want them open as default though but as an option or to pop up when you hover over the player it’s very cool. I play a lot on a laptop so screen space would be an issue with the photos always visible.
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Thanks, and none of these sound petty at all!
They're all pretty good ideas imo, so I've added each one to the list:
player photos on the field at their positions (fair warning here, I did try this and thought they looked terrible lol but I'll see if I can make them look better)
text labels on the gameplay buttons
a one-click Quick Play when you're managing both teams
full career stats with the player's age that season when you open a player from the box score during a game.
Fair warning on timing: I have a large backlog of bug fixes to work through first, so it will be several days before I get to these. Keep the suggestions coming!
Appreciate the replay Harlin, obviously no rush on any of these just happy to get them on the roadmap !
With the on field photos thing, one idea might be to have them optionally display only before an at bat is resolved and the other option to stay "on" during PBP. And obviously just "off" by default.
Honestly it's just nice to see the gameplay screen with player images , always reminds me of when they show the field position lineups before a big game.
Can't express enough how refreshing it is to have a dev so open to ideas and suggestions. I do think some of the bigger boys are pretty good with this , but honestly they are all still somewhat rigid on certain things.
Mike, a quick correction to what I said earlier. The one-click option you asked for is already in the game: it's called Watch Game. Set both teams to Computer-controlled and the pregame screen shows Watch Game in place of Play Ball. On the gameboard the only button is Resolve At-Bat, so each at-bat takes one click and the manager makes the swing, bunt, steal and positioning calls for both sides. You can still pinch hit, pinch run, change pitchers and move fielders for either team between at-bats. If you want to call the strategy yourself on certain at-bats, use Manage Both Teams instead.
The text labels on the buttons are still on my list. Thanks again for the suggestions!
replying to @Harlin
Related question - if I sim a historical season and I select a team, am I able to play out and/or watch other teams games ? Is there a way to just bring up a schedule for the whole league for a day/week/month/year ?
Sorry if I am missing this...
...I typically like to control a single team and play all their games, but also cherry pick some intriguing matchups from the rest of the schedule and either watch or play out those games.
Thanks !
replying to @mikecos23
Yes, that's exactly how a lot of people play it.
Every day of the season, the Advance Day page lists every game in the league on that date, with yours first. For any game, PLAY lets you manage the away team, manage the home team or choose Just WATCH to watch the computer manage both sides. Auto-Sim plays a game out in the background.
So for your style, I might suggest to play your own team's game, pick out any other matchups that look interesting and play or watch those, then click Auto-Sim All to finish the rest of the day.
There's also Auto-Sim All Except My Team, and Sim Week Except My Team, which sims everyone else's games and stops on the next day your team plays.
You can only play games on the current date, though. Games on later dates can't be played ahead of time. That's just too much of a nightmare LOL
For looking ahead, the Schedule page on the season dashboard shows a monthly calendar for one team at a time.
You can then use the team picker to switch to any club, and "Jump to date" to go straight to a given day. There isn't a league-wide schedule for a week, month or year yet. Advance Day is the league-wide view, one day at a time.
The docs are good to read ;-)
https://actionsims.com/baseball/documentation/#advance-day
https://actionsims.com/baseball/documentation/#browse-the-full-schedule
replying to @Harlin
Thanks for the response, I should have figured that out LOL I was afraid the Advance Day would sim through the day or something LOL
replying to @mikecos23
I have the issue written up like so (see below). I know it's a lot to read, but when you get a chance, would you mind reading through it and see if this is how you think you'd like it to be. I honestly no have good idea on how to do this one. And if there's anyone else reading and want to offer inputs, please feel free to do so.
...
Request
Forum (mikecos23, "Couple suggestions on the gameplay screen"): when player photos are on, show each fielder's photo on the field at his position. "I think this could really add to immersion."
Follow-up from Mike: make it a setting with three choices, off by default. "One idea might be to have them optionally display only before an at bat is resolved and the other option to stay 'on' during PBP. And obviously just 'off' by default. Honestly it's just nice to see the gameplay screen with player images, always reminds me of when they show the field position lineups before a big game."
What to build
A gameboard setting, Photos on the field, saved per user like the other gameboard toggles, with three choices:
Off (the default): the field looks as it does today.
Before each at-bat: fielders show their photos while the at-bat is being set up. Once it's resolved and the play starts, they switch back to the plain markers for the ball flight, then show photos again for the next at-bat.
Always: photos stay on through the play-by-play too, including the ball flight, covers and chases.
Only offered when player photos are enabled (portraits_enabled, templatetags/player_portraits.py). With photos off sitewide the setting has no effect.
Each fielder marker on the field (bases/_field_markers.html) shows that player's photo (the same team-season photo the rest of the gameboard uses) in place of, or inside, the plain position marker, with the position label still visible.
A player with no photo falls back to today's marker.
Markers keep working the same: drag/save positions, resize, tooltips, defense shifts (Gameboard: fielder labels move to match the defense's positioning calls (infield in, DP depth, corners in, outfield depth, hold runner) until the at-bat ends #2221), ball flight covers and chases, the jog on/off at the half.
Readable at every size the field is shown at.
Done when
Off by default, and Off looks exactly like today.
Before each at-bat shows photos before the at-bat and plain markers during the play.
Always shows photos the whole time.
Works on any ballpark and custom layout. Players without a photo show the plain marker.