Improve usability of CoordinateDisplay about codecombat HOT 11 CLOSED

Two quick thoughts: First, if possible we may want to have some sort of option for either a static or floating coordinate display system in the Options section. However if that is currently unfeasible I would suggest that a static location in one of the four corners is the best option, following along with the general color themes of the game. Second, While I agree that getting rid of the grid lines would clean up the look a lot, I think that keeping the border numbers is still quite helpful.

from codecombat.

Seems like this is still an issue. It took me quite some time to realize that there is a coordinate displayed along with the cursor. I like @mlewisno idea with a fixed dedicated position for the coordinate. This way if we design it the correct way, i.e. don't reset the value of the coordinate too fast, the user could keep the mouse at a coordinate and then move the mouse back to the code and still see the last coordinate.

I think this is also more comfortable than clicking an extra button ever time that might not even be close to the the code or the coordinate (for example in the bottom next to 'zoom').

@nwinter what do you think about it? I would look into it tomorrow.

from codecombat.

Is it possible to detect when a Coordinate is actually required in code? This way, when the user types this.moveXY( we could trigger ON the CoordinateDisplay. Then, the user can click on the specific coordinate in the map to insert it into the code.

Now that auto-complete is being implemented, I think this should be possible.

from codecombat.

Have you thought about a shortcut that grabs the coordinate under the cursor and pastes it at the caret in the editor. I know you're short on shortcuts but it would improve usability by a lot.

from codecombat.

A shortcut would improve usability for experienced user who are used to shortcuts in general. However beginners are not too used to it and rather mouse oriented if it's not about entering the text/code itself but rather accessing functionality. I like the idea however.

from codecombat.

We could try to detect when a coordinate is required in the code, but it probably won't work very well until we get through our other backlog of bugs with the smart features of the spell editor. Might be worth a shot, though.

The level editor's scripts preview coordinate picker uses shift+click to select a point. We could have a script fire in any of the intros that try to teach the coordinates to say, "Shift+click a place on the map to insert the coordinate", and when you press shift, your cursors changes and the coordinate display gets emphatic. Not sure if that's a valid enough use of the shift+click, but we aren't using it yet.

from codecombat.

Seems like a cool idea. We could change the cursor to a little flag or so and I think pressing Shift is not a too difficult key-combination even for beginners. I would love to give this a shot however how do I communicate in the best way between the two views for the game and the editor to get the coordinates?

from codecombat.

Try using the Backbone.Mediator events to pass the information around.

from codecombat.

Okay cool. Will give it a shot.

from codecombat.

The shortcut is in! Now we need to mod some tutorial scripts (I'm thinking the Brawlwood tutorial to start off) to point out that you can shift+click to grab coordinates and see how users respond when playtesting.

from codecombat.

Updated the styles here on suggestion of another user somewhen:

Also noted that you can use the shift+click in a few tutorial comments and in the loading tips.

from codecombat.