Arugh, Can't decide

ID:152591
 
May 19 2006, 6:51 am
...whether to have shop inventories displayed automatically in the statpanels whenever the player is near the shopkeeper, or require that the player click on the shopkeeper to open the panel, or require that the player right-click and use the shop verb to open the panel... What do you think?
May 19 2006, 6:53 am
browse(), client/Topic() on DblClick().
May 19 2006, 6:54 am
In response to Mysame
No, no, and maybe.

Interactive browser stuff is evil for its lack of control.
May 19 2006, 7:01 am
In response to Foomer
Lack of control? Care to explain?
May 19 2006, 7:03 am
Provide both!

When a player is within range(1,shotkeeper), display the shopping panel. Provide a command to display the panel when they are farther away (if, for instance, the shotkeeper is currently surrounded by many customers).
May 19 2006, 7:19 am
In response to Mysame
See [link]
May 19 2006, 7:21 am
In response to Foomer
Eugh, not sure but euhm.
while(locate(/mob/shopkeeper) in oview(1)) sleep(1)
src<<browse(null)
May 19 2006, 7:52 am
In response to Mysame
Yeah, but its pretty tacky, and can be annoying if the browser does other things, too.
May 19 2006, 7:57 am
In response to Foomer
True, but you could just make any input invalid if the move away from the shopkeep. Now I noticed that you where having problems with people leaving the browser up and things changing, but this could be a problem for anything. Also, I prefer popup lists over stat panels for shopkeeps. MLAAS did a decent job with theirs, but sometimes it was annoying because you already had 4 or 5 tabs, and then you go and add more.

If anything, make it a click command.
May 20 2006, 1:57 am
In response to Foomer
Foomer wrote:
Yeah, but its pretty tacky, and can be annoying if the browser does other things, too.

So use browser windows(ie popups) instead
May 22 2006, 11:46 am
In response to Foomer
That's a cop-out. A few simple, well-placed sanity checks remove all possibilities of player "cheats". If you have troubles with this, 99.99% of the time it's *your* design flaw.

As for which one to use, I highly suggest the browser interface. You can make it searchable for those shopkeepers that sell many, many types of items (spell components, books, trinkets and sundries, etc) or many variations on items (swords with minor magical abilities, pots of various sizes, etc). You can make it interactive and intuitive with AJAX. You can make it aesthetically pleasing with a combination of your famous artistic talents and a multitude of layout options. And, when all is said and done, scrolling through statpanels and clicking on items to output descriptions to browser windows or the text window is just an atrocious way to shop for items (recall, if you will, the agony of shopping in My Life as a Spy).

Don't let minor design obstacles get in the way of the best choice for interface and usability. If you care for help getting over the hurdle presented by possible player exploitation, please give me an email at piratehead c/o gmail dot com and I'll give you any sort of input or assistance that you request. I'd be pleased to do you a favor.