HTML5 Client Updates - v2.3

Tecton

We're pleased to announce the release of the latest version of our HTML5 client! There's some exciting new changes which should make it easier than ever to play Achaea. The details of the major changes are as follows:

• Customisable hotkey buttons have been added (mapped to the function keys)
• Tab-targeting has been added, cycle through the denizens in the room with the TAB key, then attack them with the hotkeys, or your own client-side aliases (using the @tar variable).
• Tab-completion from the output window has been moved to Shift+TAB. Simply type in a couple of letters, then Shift+TAB to complete the word.
• A new trigger/alias action has been added: Waits! These will allow you to simply specify a delay between different actions in your reflexes.
• Several small changes to the mapping system should result in faster transitions between maps.
• The Autosipping reflex package has been removed, as this is handled in-game with the CURING system (HELP AUTOCURING).
• Highlighting triggers will now correctly revert background colours after the triggered text.
• Issues with scripts firing from triggers have been resolved.

Take a look today, head over to http://client.achaea.com to log in! If you're a regular user of the HTML5 client, you may need to "force" a refresh in your browser to get the latest version.

Don't forget that there's a feedback form built directly into the client, so don't hesitate to use that if you encounter any issues.

Unad

Can I cry now? Customizable hotkeys are great, and I love the possibilities, but on a Mac, it means two buttons presses at the same time. Can I re-mapped them to something besides the function keys? Well, I can just use my old alias I suppose, but if I do that, can I get the screen space back by deleting the display of the buttons?

Okay, just figured out I can use the mouse, but that is going to be hard to get used to. I like using keyboard commands when gaming for better control and faster response. If I do use the buttons, can you have them default to the first mob in the room for Jab (Kill), Consider? Or if that is to be done with changes to the scripting, what would I use to set up the default target?

and can I have the display of target restored, so a quick glance tells me what I am targeting?

Sorry to be negative, but after two days of tying to figure out mudlet and failing miserably, I was looking forward to not having to script things myself.

Nemutaur

Unad said:

Can I cry now? Customizable hotkeys are great, and I love the possibilities, but on a Mac, it means two buttons presses at the same time. Can I re-mapped them to something besides the function keys? Well, I can just use my old alias I suppose, but if I do that, can I get the screen space back by deleting the display of the buttons?

Check out Palua

https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/palua/id431494195?mt=12

Tecton

You can use the Fn button (bottom left key on the keyboard) in combination with the F-keys to activate the buttons, or you can go into system preferences -> keyboard and click on "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" for a more permanent option.

There isn't a way to remove them currently, but I'll add that to the list.

Unad

Tecton said:

You can use the Fn button (bottom left key on the keyboard) to activate, or you can go into system preferences -> keyboard and click on "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" for a more permanent option.

There isn't a way to remove them currently, but I'll add that to the list.

Thanks for the tip, but I share my computer with my husband.

"Were you gaming again?" "How did you know", "You messed with the function keys" 

More incentive to buy the PC gaming rig we keep talking about I guess. Just didn't realize it would be an issue with HTML gaming

Lucine

I don't know if you just start attacking the first thing in the room or if I end up ALT+TABing into an issue where I'm targetting something I don't want, but, this is going to result in some novice attacking a guard and getting killed.  It's easy enough to accidentally hit the (in this case) firelash button or f1 when you mean to hit a 1.

Achimrst

Maybe send a message about who you target?

Further playing around with the tab targetting thing has revealed to me that the tab is it's own targetting variable? Or is it the SETTARGET thing?

Tharvis

Unad said:

Tecton said:

You can use the Fn button (bottom left key on the keyboard) to activate, or you can go into system preferences -> keyboard and click on "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" for a more permanent option.

There isn't a way to remove them currently, but I'll add that to the list.

Thanks for the tip, but I share my computer with my husband.

"Were you gaming again?" "How did you know", "You messed with the function keys" 

More incentive to buy the PC gaming rig we keep talking about I guess. Just didn't realize it would be an issue with HTML gaming

@Unad do you have the apple aluminum keyboard? if so, F13 through 19 are free for keybinding without any FN press or changing settings

Ayleth

Lucine said:

I don't know if you just start attacking the first thing in the room or if I end up ALT+TABing into an issue where I'm targetting something I don't want, but, this is going to result in some novice attacking a guard and getting killed.  It's easy enough to accidentally hit the (in this case) firelash button or f1 when you mean to hit a 1.

I'd have to agree with @Lucine, here. I did some testing with the ALT+TABing (and all I did was hit TAB. No alt included) targeting in Hashan, and I got my giraffe (okay, that's fair game) but I also got the CITY guards on my target list too. This is... really bad when it comes to newbies ratting and they accidentally hit ALT+TAB instead of just doing ST RAT.

Achimrst

idk, it shows on the bottom what your targetting, and it highlights it in the Room box too. Newbies gotta learn somehow :P 

Lucine

Achimrst said:

idk, it shows on the bottom what your targetting, and it highlights it in the Room box too. Newbies gotta learn somehow :P 

Just not sure the best way for a newbie to learn is by being yelled at by everyone and their dog when a guard kills them.

Achimrst

Some newbies attack guards now, without a tab target. They should be made aware how to use it definitely, and shouldn't be attacking things in the city in the first place. 

Edit! I'm also pretty sure a newbie wouldn't know intrinsically to push tab to target things, they will probably have to be told how to use it in the first place. Unless they learn it in the trial thing.

Tharvis

Lucine said:

Achimrst said:

idk, it shows on the bottom what your targetting, and it highlights it in the Room box too. Newbies gotta learn somehow :P 

Just not sure the best way for a newbie to learn is by being yelled at by everyone and their dog when a guard kills them.

this, this'd actually scare newbies away from the game

Sena

Most people are pretty understanding when a newbie is killed by a guard, there's rarely any yelling.

Achimrst

I'm agreeing with Sena on this, most people talk to a newbie when they hit a guard before yelling at them. At least most reasonable people do.

Tharvis

Achimrst said:

I'm agreeing with Sena on this, most people talk to a newbie when they hit a guard before yelling at them. At least most reasonable people do.

can't assume everyone to be reasonable though

Achimrst

Tharvis said:

Achimrst said:

I'm agreeing with Sena on this, most people talk to a newbie when they hit a guard before yelling at them. At least most reasonable people do.

can't assume everyone to be reasonable though

I suppose not, but you can always yell at the unreasonable ones. At least they know what they did wrong.

Nemutaur

Unad said:

Tecton said:

You can use the Fn button (bottom left key on the keyboard) to activate, or you can go into system preferences -> keyboard and click on "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" for a more permanent option.

There isn't a way to remove them currently, but I'll add that to the list.

Thanks for the tip, but I share my computer with my husband.

"Were you gaming again?" "How did you know", "You messed with the function keys" 

More incentive to buy the PC gaming rig we keep talking about I guess. Just didn't realize it would be an issue with HTML gaming

@Unad that's why you should really buy Palua, it will only turn off Fn keys if you have a certain program in focus and as soon as you tab to something like Safari it's back to the normal Mac function keys with brightness and volume control etc.

Tecton

Nemutaur said:

Unad said:

Tecton said:

You can use the Fn button (bottom left key on the keyboard) to activate, or you can go into system preferences -> keyboard and click on "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" for a more permanent option.

There isn't a way to remove them currently, but I'll add that to the list.

Thanks for the tip, but I share my computer with my husband.

"Were you gaming again?" "How did you know", "You messed with the function keys" 

More incentive to buy the PC gaming rig we keep talking about I guess. Just didn't realize it would be an issue with HTML gaming

@Unad that's why you should really buy Palua, it will only turn off Fn keys if you have a certain program in focus and as soon as you tab to something like Safari it's back to the normal Mac function keys with brightness and volume control etc.

Yeah, $2 is a lot cheaper than $600+ for a new computer!

Nim

I don't really use HTML5 for similar reasons to why I don't use Mudlet, but personally having TAB change targets and SHIFT+TAB as auto-complete seems wrong to me because:

1. I might come from a weird background, but TAB has generally been an "auto-complete" feature in programs for me, so having SHIFT+TAB for that instead would mess me up personally - though I dunno about anyone else.
2. It seems to me that auto-complete would be a more common feature than target switching in a text game where things can have all sorts of crazy names, so having it be the more complex of the two macros seems backwards. I might be wrong, though - maybe newbies switch targets an awful lot more, and you have actual data to back that up.
   
3. Changing targets also, as stated above, can be a pretty dangerous thing if you're not aware of it, and no matter how aware of it you might be when you're alert, everyone makes mistakes. I'd personally want that sort of feature behind a slightly more complicated key press than a single key, particularly one attached to a common macro like ALT+TAB (and fifty times moreso if alt tabbing causes a target switch to happen too)

'Course, if people who actually use the client agree the setup is better as-is, then who am I to judge otherwise? It just looked a bit weird to me, that's all.

ETA: Also, shift+tab is usually "auto-complete but in the opposite direction," so I guess point 1 would apply even if the macros were reversed.

Tecton

Nim said:

I don't really use HTML5 for similar reasons to why I don't use Mudlet, but personally having TAB change targets and SHIFT+TAB as auto-complete seems wrong to me because:

1. I might come from a weird background, but TAB has generally been an "auto-complete" feature in programs for me, so having SHIFT+TAB for that instead would mess me up personally - though I dunno about anyone else.
2. It seems to me that auto-complete would be a more common feature than target switching in a text game where things can have all sorts of crazy names, so having it be the more complex of the two macros seems backwards. I might be wrong, though - maybe newbies switch targets an awful lot more, and you have actual data to back that up.
   
3. Changing targets also, as stated above, can be a pretty dangerous thing if you're not aware of it, and no matter how aware of it you might be when you're alert, everyone makes mistakes. I'd personally want that sort of feature behind a slightly more complicated key press than a single key, particularly one attached to a common macro like ALT+TAB (and fifty times moreso if alt tabbing causes a target switch to happen too)

'Course, if people who actually use the client agree the setup is better as-is, then who am I to judge otherwise? It just looked a bit weird to me, that's all.

ETA: Also, shift+tab is usually "auto-complete but in the opposite direction," so I guess point 1 would apply even if the macros were reversed.

Tab targeting is a staple in most graphical MMOs, which is what the system is primarily aimed at - tab complete is natural for people who've used mud clients (or CLIs) that support tab completion, so I can definitely see where you're coming from.

Unad

Nemutaur It is actually easier to justify a new computer that we can both use for a wide array of games. For my MUDs, the agreement is no $$. I get into trouble if I spend on games.

As for the tab stuff and highlighting targets, is there a way to make it optional? It isn't really needed at first. By the time someone wants tab commands and whatever else comes along, they can switch to the advanced client, leaving the simple version for people with no clue about computer gaming.

Unad

Sorry for the double post, but I got a screen cap of a problem. I used "ST wildcat" earlier, then chat with Vellis. Using tab, and alt-tab to swap between butterflies.  You can clearly see a red butterfly is targeted. For fun, I tried to KILL the butterfly, but the game tells me "You are currently targeting wildcat". ???

Sanek

Tecton said:

Tab targeting is a staple in most graphical MMOs, which is what the system is primarily aimed at - tab complete is natural for people who've used mud clients (or CLIs) that support tab completion, so I can definitely see where you're coming from.

In graphical mmos, tab only targets enemys though, never allies.

Or in other words, in graphical mmos, tab targets what you should attack.

I don't think the command bleed over is so high that it needs to be tab to feel natural. Playing a mud feels so different from a graphical mmo, that I don't think command bleedover is a huge thing.

Tecton

Unad said:

Sorry for the double post, but I got a screen cap of a problem. I used "ST wildcat" earlier, then chat with Vellis. Using tab, and alt-tab to swap between butterflies.  You can clearly see a red butterfly is targeted. For fun, I tried to KILL the butterfly, but the game tells me "You are currently targeting wildcat". ???

They're two independent systems, you'll want to clear your in-game target with ST NONE - I'll work on something here so that the HTML5 client overrides the in-game one today!

Unad

Ok, well that explains why I am having so much trouble with it then.

Tecton

Unad said:

Ok, well that explains why I am having so much trouble with it then.

Yep, we're working on getting them to play a little nicer, in the meantime though you can do a couple of things:

1. You can keep using ST <thing>, then KILL - that'll work as it always did, but won't take the client-side targeting into the equation.
2. Use solely the client-side targeting - if you want to use KILL rather than the default attack for your class, you can change up what each button does in the settings menu (there's a tab called "Buttons) - So to make F1 use KILL on your client-side target, just change it from SMITE @tar to KILL @tar (or whatever you have it set to currently, if not smite).

Nim

Please make some crazy GMCP interface for target setting, so that not only HTML5 but other clients can control it locally (without going through the ST command, that is, which is a completely valid interim solution, but you know).