UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

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Starionx
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UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#1 Post by Starionx »

Using version 'FreeOrion_2016-07-05.eaa37e2'

I haven't really played the game much (I've only got to turn 9 :roll: ) as I'm trying to work out how to get the best out of the UI (RSI limits my ability to use the mouse :cry: ). One thing I would really like is to be able to move around the Research Treeview with the arrow keys. Any chance of this being implemented?

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but for the life of me I can't seem to be able to switch to the next/prev System with the keyboard, no matter what keys I use for shortcuts (clicking on the arrows, top right, works fine).

Having played/enjoyed MOO2 for years (and then being subjected to the nightmare that was MOO3), this project looks brilliant. Congrats! :D

AndrewW
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#2 Post by AndrewW »

Starionx wrote:I haven't really played the game much (I've only got to turn 9 :roll: ) as I'm trying to work out how to get the best out of the UI (RSI limits my ability to use the mouse :cry: ). One thing I would really like is to be able to move around the Research Treeview with the arrow keys. Any chance of this being implemented?
Tried the list view? You can use Home/End along with Page Up and Page Down with it.

Starionx
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#3 Post by Starionx »

That's what I'm using at the moment. I like the Treeview as it gives you an idea of what you've done, and where you're going.

In the Production view, it would be great to be able to 'hide' ships that you won't use. You could have an option in the right click menu, and you could also add another column that shows/removes 'hidden' items. Just a thought.

I've edited together a number of ambient tracks using Audacity and now have a nearly 2 hour track that I use for the game music. :)

I've got to say, I have NO idea of what I'm doing in the game, but it's all good. :lol:

AndrewW
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#4 Post by AndrewW »

Starionx wrote:In the Production view, it would be great to be able to 'hide' ships that you won't use. You could have an option in the right click menu, and you could also add another column that shows/removes 'hidden' items. Just a thought.
You can remove ships from the Design screen that you aren't using. Go to Finished, right click on the design you want to remove and select Obsolete Design. Though does require the use of the mouse.

Starionx
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#5 Post by Starionx »

AndrewW wrote: You can remove ships from the Design screen that you aren't using. Go to Finished, right click on the design you want to remove and select Obsolete Design. Though does require the use of the mouse.
Great. Cheers for that. :)

Starionx
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#6 Post by Starionx »

A tech has been researched this turn, and I then bring up the Research page (which is in listview). That tech item still shows in the list, even though I have Completed 'unchecked' (greyed out). I have to check/uncheck it for the list to update.
Is this normal?

AndrewW
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#7 Post by AndrewW »

Starionx wrote:A tech has been researched this turn, and I then bring up the Research page (which is in listview). That tech item still shows in the list, even though I have Completed 'unchecked' (greyed out). I have to check/uncheck it for the list to update.
Is this normal?
Yup, that's normal. Doesn't update the list till you start changing the status of the buttons.

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Geoff the Medio
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#8 Post by Geoff the Medio »

Make a github issue if there isn't one already...

Starionx
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#9 Post by Starionx »

Started a new game, turn 1. Average cpu usage is about 6%. Bring up the Pedia, click on Species. No change in cpu usage. Click on any species, cpu usage nearly triples, and stays like that until I exit the race info and go back to the index. Cpu usage back to normal.
Why would this be the case? As far as I can see, all that happens is information is displayed in a window. :?

There is no change in cpu usage when other windows are displayed (production, research, ships etc).

Starionx
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#10 Post by Starionx »

In Research (listview), it would be great if the text of the techs were coloured depending on it's status. Right now I keep having to look left & right to see if a tech is already in the queue.
e.g. change the text to yellow if it's in the queue. You could also do the same for techs that have prerequisites.

Being able to sort the columns would also be welcome. :wink:

In the Objects field, it would be great if one of the current empty columns could show what is currently being produced on that planet.
I am truly struggling with the 'global' production system, and I find I'm spending way too much time trying to work out what is being produced where. It really doesn't help that there are so many systems with the same name and a greek letter symbol suffix. Looking at the production screen, all the planet names start to look the same. I got so frustrated that I changed the en.txt file and replaced all the symbols with random 3 letter suffixes. It looks dodgy, but it works for me. :mrgreen:

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MatGB
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#11 Post by MatGB »

In the Universe Generation area of Default (default/python/universe_generation/options.py) there's a file called options.py in which you can turn off characters and instead use full names, or you can do as you've done and hack the stringtable. Alternatively, just below that is the option to increase the proportion of star systems given unique names—I personally like the clustering approach, and it was partially implemented to allow really big galaxies without duplication and without the need for us to invent several thousand starnames (we would eventually run out of SF shows to steal character names from).

The production queue should be colouring everything being built at your planet.

If you click an individual item in the queue, it should center the screen on that system, which should help you find things. One of the big features of the game differentiating it from other 4X games is the shared production and micromanagement reduction, that's basically staying, but there remains scope to improve the UI to make what's going on where clearer. Most of which is way above my ability, the Objects list receives regularl improvements and extra abilities, it's gone from a fairly basic "find this" list to a fairly powerful empire management window over the last few years, but it needs further improvements and UI tweaks, which are going to happen over time.
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Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

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Geoff the Medio
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#12 Post by Geoff the Medio »

Starionx wrote:Bring up the Pedia, click on Species. No change in cpu usage. Click on any species, cpu usage nearly triples, and stays like that until I exit the race info and go back to the index. Cpu usage back to normal.
Why would this be the case? As far as I can see, all that happens is information is displayed in a window. :?
I'm unable to replicate that result. If you're able to run a profiler that shows how much time the program spends within various functions, that might help explain it.
Starionx wrote:In the Objects field, it would be great if one of the current empty columns could show what is currently being produced on that planet.
A single planet can have many things being produced on it. Which would be shown on the objects list? This is a similar issue to showing what specials are located on a planet / ship... there can be multiples, so how to pick which to show?

Starionx
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#13 Post by Starionx »

MatGB wrote:In the Universe Generation area of Default (default/python/universe_generation/options.py) there's a file called options.py in which you can turn off characters and instead use full names, or you can do as you've done and hack the stringtable. Alternatively, just below that is the option to increase the proportion of star systems given unique names—I personally like the clustering approach, and it was partially implemented to allow really big galaxies without duplication and without the need for us to invent several thousand starnames (we would eventually run out of SF shows to steal character names from).
Oh that's a much better approach. Thanks.
MatGB wrote: The production queue should be colouring everything being built at your planet.
I was actually talking about the Research window. With many techs queued, it's nigh impossible to work out what is on the queue when looking at the main list.
MatGB wrote: If you click an individual item in the queue, it should center the screen on that system, which should help you find things. One of the big features of the game differentiating it from other 4X games is the shared production and micromanagement reduction, that's basically staying, but there remains scope to improve the UI to make what's going on where clearer. Most of which is way above my ability, the Objects list receives regular improvements and extra abilities, it's gone from a fairly basic "find this" list to a fairly powerful empire management window over the last few years, but it needs further improvements and UI tweaks, which are going to happen over time.
I thought I understood how this system works, but I realise I didn't.
So,if I have 100PP, I can create 4 ships of 25PP on the same planet and all will be completed at the same time (unlike MOO2). Now that I know that, the production queue is a lot simpler. :D
Geoff the Medio wrote:A single planet can have many things being produced on it. Which would be shown on the objects list? This is a similar issue to showing what specials are located on a planet / ship... there can be multiples, so how to pick which to show?
It was more a case of 'something' being listed so that I knew that the planet production wasn't idle, but since I now know how production works :roll: , it's not really necessary.
Geoff the Medio wrote:
Starionx wrote:Bring up the Pedia, click on Species. No change in cpu usage. Click on any species, cpu usage nearly triples, and stays like that until I exit the race info and go back to the index. Cpu usage back to normal.
Why would this be the case? As far as I can see, all that happens is information is displayed in a window. :?
... If you're able to run a profiler that shows how much time the program spends within various functions, that might help explain it.
I think you overestimate my ability to understand what you mean by this. :lol:

I'm using Windows 10, running the game in windowed mode. If it helps (probably not), I notice that if I give focus to something else on my desktop, the cpu usage goes back down to normal. Click on the game window and it shoots back up (again, it only happens when you display the species info in the Pedia).

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MatGB
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#14 Post by MatGB »

Starionx wrote: I was actually talking about the Research window. With many techs queued, it's nigh impossible to work out what is on the queue when looking at the main list.
Fair enough, I never use the ListView myself and UX design, let alone coding, is beyond me, I just give feedback when something annoys me and normally someone fixes it, which is nice.
MatGB wrote: If you click an individual item in the queue, it should center the screen on that system, which should help you find things. One of the big features of the game differentiating it from other 4X games is the shared production and micromanagement reduction, that's basically staying, but there remains scope to improve the UI to make what's going on where clearer. Most of which is way above my ability, the Objects list receives regular improvements and extra abilities, it's gone from a fairly basic "find this" list to a fairly powerful empire management window over the last few years, but it needs further improvements and UI tweaks, which are going to happen over time.
I thought I understood how this system works, but I realise I didn't.
So,if I have 100PP, I can create 4 ships of 25PP on the same planet and all will be completed at the same time (unlike MOO2). Now that I know that, the production queue is a lot simpler. :D
Correct, you can even use the multipliers between the ship icon and the name, 1st is the 'repeat' option, when it's done then it'll go back to the beginning, 2nd is 'number of' option, so if you want to build a fleet of ships together you can order, say, 3 Robocruisers and they'll all complete at the same time.

An intentional design goal is that shipyards should be rare, at some point we hope to increase their build cost fairly significantly to reflect this, but the AI isn't good enough for that currently (but is getting there fairly fast these days).
I think you overestimate my ability to understand what you mean by this. :lol:
I didn't understand either, there are Devs and p/ters who know enough about the backend to work out and measure exactly what's happening your comment gave the impression you'd run something beyond task manager but it matters not
I'm using Windows 10, running the game in windowed mode. If it helps (probably not), I notice that if I give focus to something else on my desktop, the cpu usage goes back down to normal. Click on the game window and it shoots back up (again, it only happens when you display the species info in the Pedia).
I can't see why the Species entry specifically would cause drain, the planet suitability report does so on generation as it has to take into account so many variables (we're working on fixing that at the moment), but the species entries merely list the planets that species has been spotted on. I've never noticed it, and will now look out for it, I mostly play on Linux but have a Win10 laptop.

If anyone else notices weird resource drains when the Pedia is open, especially on the Species entries, please do comment, I've never heard it before but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. I don't suppose there's some weird font/glyph rendering issue potentially? Beyond me anyway.
Mat Bowles

Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

Starionx
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Re: UI - Keyboard Shortcuts

#15 Post by Starionx »

MatGB wrote: Correct, you can even use the multipliers between the ship icon and the name, 1st is the 'repeat' option, when it's done then it'll go back to the beginning, 2nd is 'number of' option, so if you want to build a fleet of ships together you can order, say, 3 Robocruisers and they'll all complete at the same time.
So that's what they do. :lol: Useful, and good to know.
MatGB wrote:I can't see why the Species entry specifically would cause drain, the planet suitability report does so on generation as it has to take into account so many variables (we're working on fixing that at the moment), but the species entries merely list the planets that species has been spotted on. I've never noticed it, and will now look out for it, I mostly play on Linux but have a Win10 laptop.
The only reason I noticed it, was the sudden change in pitch as the fan speed increased. :wink:

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