Stop the insanity!

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!

Ok, I'll take it, but it was fun saying that.

I just did the "drop phase" for an Assault.

I placed over 20 units. I then decided that I wanted to change one of the first units that I had purchased.

To do so I would need to click "rewind" about 20 times, purchase what I wanted, and then try to remember about 20 purchases and do them again.

On the other hand, the game could allow me to click a unit, click "undo", and have it "unpurchased".

It should be easy to code the change, assuming that the program is well written.

The program would need to keep track of which units had been purchased that turn (and not used in guerrilla combat), in other words the program would need a flag for each unit indicating whether that unit is "unpurchasable".

The program already maintains flags for units, such as whether the unit has fired (in the case of some units, this takes two flags).

I am assuming that a bit map (probably one byte) is used (rather than using a whole byte for each flag). In this case (there should be plenty of bits left), the code to maintain this "unpurchasable" flag and the code to perform an undo (unpurchase) should not be very involved.

If they'll give me access to the source code, I think I might be able to code the change faster than I can undo and redo my unit placement.

Wait a moment. I just realized that I forgot to pick up gatorade before starting on the ditch outside. I'd better cut this post short since the pile of dirt is blocking my car. I'm gonna have to dump the 20 wheelbarrows of dirt back in the ditch, get the gatorade, and then dig the dirt back out again.



** Ok, it's an excellent game, all the more glaring does it make these kinds of shortcomings **

Well...actually..there IS option to automatically undo the unit deployment but just clicking on them.To enable the option you should go to options menu the choose "game options" then clock on "automatic undo" button.After that deployed and purchased units will disappear after you click on them and you also can undo moves and shoot by just giving other order.This option was in MA from very beginning.
Of course you not know this (while any normal player is supposed to browse game options have some idea what they mean) but the way you wrote this post is just..ridiculous.The request to give you sourse code is just insane - no company will ever do this because the code costs a hell lot of time and money to develop and what do you think - they will just give it to you?
Quark - i seen several your posts but not cared enough to answer...But after THIS i come to final conclusion,backed by data and fact, that you,Quark, are an accomplished idiot.

Hi.... i dont see it in MA. I looked right through the options after you wrote this, all excited, but no, that option is not there. Do you mean its been in massive assault (as you said) or domination (as this forum is domination) from the start.

Or maybe i am still missing it? i dont see it under the options menu though.

Xcomcommander.

in MA this automatic undo possibility was always ON i.e. you can always un-deploy units by clicking on them.in MAPR this was made a turnable option.

Mrakobes, I do hope that English is not your primary language. Your grammar could stand improvement.

I should have checked through the game options. However, let me point out a couple of things regarding purchases.

1) The option to allow "unpurchasing" is called "Automatic Undo". However, there is nothing "automatic" about it.

Perhaps it could be called "Allow Undo", or "Quick Undo".

2) There are two possibilities:

A) There exists a valid reason that a player would want this option turned off.

B) There is no valid reason that a player would want this option turned off.

If B is true, then it should not be an option. It should simply always work.

If A is true, then selecting a unit, and clicking the Undo button to "unpurchase" it would still be more convenient than going to the options screen, changing the option, undoing the purchase, returning to the options screen, resetting the option, and then returning to the game.

Also, one would think this option would be on by default.

I suspect that quite a few people were unaware of this feature. If I recall, over 30 people viewed my post and no one replied until you did. Further, I have mentioned wanting this feature to a number of people who all simply agreed.

With regards to my comment about the source code, it is obvious to anyone above simian intelligence that I was not serious about being given access to the source code. I was making the suggestion that I could make the source code changes faster than I could rewind and repurchase (an obvious exaggeration). I was trying to make the point that it would not take a lot of code, and it would save a lot of time for a player. There was a minor intended element of humor, just as with the "ditch story". Maybe I layed it on a bit thick. I did mention in my post that MA is an excellent game.

With regards to my other posts, they were well considered. It's easy to make a general disparaging comment about them without giving any specifics.

Oh, i see what your meaning now.

well, wouldnt it be good if you could be in the combat phase (way into it on a large map) and could unpurchase a unit and purchase something else, if you made a mistake or changed your mind.

thats what i was thinging it was.

now, do you guys have a multiplayer demo, and if so, can i download it and where from?

Many thanks,
X com commander

Quark -
First - yes,english is not my native language and if you were around longer and participated in some MA international tourney you would know where i am from.Maybe i not so good about grammar but i never heard from any english speaker that he cant understand me.
Second - if you read my post more carefully you should understand that the option is called automatic undo because it affects not only deployment but also shooting.For example if you shoot at some target and then decide it was bad idea you dont need to press rewind or undo button you just choose another target and shoot at it and your previous shot is undone automatically.
meanwhile - does it really matter how a option is named? Devs just decided to write it this way and i think everybody will understand easlily what it means.

next question why the option is off by default.In basic MA this option was always on and there was some newbies who not understood how it works.I seen one such newb - he destroyed a tank with rocket launcher then moved it away when fired at other tank (undoing first shot) then said - wow!! it fires two times!! - then he looked at first tank gluelessly and said - why it is alive i think i destroyed it with first shot.

So devs decided to turn the option off to avoid misundertanding among newbies - and i think for more-or-less experienced player it does not matter how the options are set by default because it is easy to browse through them and change whatever you wish.

So I cant see any meaning in phraze

if you like this option just leave it on...you dont need to switch it off each time.
And it is way more convenient to switch on the option one time that press "rewind" multitude of times.

Quark i can understand you just cant' stop complaining but why dont you choose more...meaningful reasons to do that.

I think the easiest (but not the optimal) solution would be a "Undo Phase" button (or is there a keyboard shortcut for this?). You would still have to make all the moves again afterwards, but won't have to press rewind numerous times. Or, you could just go to the menu and back into the game again

I have seen in an other turn-based game a rewind/forward option. You could rewind to the position you want corrected, then move forward again as long as the change doesn't interfere with those previously rewinded moves. Think it was in Battle Isle: Andosia War, don't remember exactly..

If I remember correctly Shift+Backspace should do it.

Mrakobes,

Let's address your "Quark i can understand you just cant' stop complaining but why dont you choose more...meaningful reasons to do that".

You don't make clear what you're refering to. Perhaps you mean my complaint about (what I thought was) the failure of the game to allow undoing of purchases. Perhaps you mean a "complaint" about the wording of the option.

If the former, had it been true that the program did not support undoing of purchases, it would have been a legitimate complaint.

If the latter, I do think that wording is important. However, my purpose was not to complain about the wording. My purpose was to show that it was reasonable for me to have looked at the options, and yet not known their function without experimenting with them.

Your explanation does describe why "automatic unfiring" was turned off by default.

It does not explain why "unpurchase" is an option. The program could always have "unpurchase" enabled, but make "automatic unfiring" an option.

So, again, I see no point in making the "unpurchase" ability an option.

However, here is how I would have handled the shooting issue, as a developer (not a complaint, but an explanation of my thinking): if a player tried to fire at a second target (undoing the initial shot), I would have the program issue a warning that the first shot was being undone. I would allow this warning to be turned off (just as other messages can be disabled), so that experienced users would not be constantly pestered.

This way, there would be no need to search for options. A new player would quickly learn how the game worked, and just disable the warning message.

You said that you can't see any meaning in the phrase:

"then selecting a unit, and clicking the Undo button to "unpurchase" it would still be more convenient than going to the options screen, changing the option, undoing the purchase, returning to the options screen, resetting the option, and then returning to the game."

My point was this, assume there exists a legitimate reason for a player to want "unpurchase" disabled (I don't think there is a legitimate reason, but if not, I aruged that it should not be an option).

I said, assume that a player has unpurchase disabled and wants it disabled for some good reason (ok, I used the word "legitimate" instead of "good").

If that player wants to perform an unpurchase (but finish with unpurchase disabled), s/he must go through the steps I specified above. Allowing the "undo" button to undo a purchase would be preferable to that. Of course, the way that the program works is better than forcing a user to select a unit and then click the "undo" button.

As for my comment about your grammar, you called me an idiot.

As a sophomore in high school, I audited some upper division (and one graduate) math class, and tutored calculus. When I was a junior, I took first place in a state-wide mathematical analysis competition among all high school students.

I now have health problems that make focusing difficult (such as low oxygen to the brain, and a another problem that makes me feel very drowsy most of the time). Lately, I often must lay my head on a pillow, work for a few minutes, and lay my head down again. Due to such problems, my results on an IQ test has dropped dramatically. However, I can still qualify for Mensa with 20 points to spare (when at a health "peak").

Normally, I would not have commented about your grammar, but you initiated the insults.

It's true that I do complain more than I should. I am in high pain at all times, sometimes extreme pain. Not a good excuse, but perhaps an element of explanation. Try going for a very long period with never, ever one second in which you are not in pain, and see how it affects you. I sure as heck don't want pity, and I don't think this condition would excuse incessent complaining. However, it's quite reasonable to describe where one thinks a program could be improved. I do use a bit of sarcasm sometimes (usually with a humorous intent, but tone does not always carry in a text message).

As for my comments about how to code the feature (to allow unpurchase), obviously the developers don't need my help with that. The program handles far more challenging problems than that trivial one.

I don't know whether you noticed that I wrote a post in which I mentioned creating a simple utility for use with Domination.

I considered making the following modification to the program on the off chance that you might acquire a copy of the utility somehow:

1) Detect whether the computer on which my program was running was your computer (assuming that you play Domination). The registry specifies the location of the Domination program, and it's easy to check for the existance of the folder ".../Domination/save/Mrakobes".

2) If I determined that it was your computer, have my utility behave in a very annoying (but non destructive) way. Probably not force a reboot, as that could causes loss of data.

The text "Mrakobes" and other suspect text strings in the utility .exe file would have been encrypted so that a hex dump would show nothing suspicious.

However, I decided that it wasn't worth the bother, and perhaps a bit sophomoric (although funny to me). It wouldn't have taken much code, though.

let's be honest - have you examined the game options at all before my post? if you had (after getting familiar with game) i dont think you had problems guessing what it does.So it was not wording what caused you to make first post in this thread it was just fact you not seen options at all.



So far they are same option - either you have to use undo button always or you have not.



i also cant think of reason for acting this way....so you are protecting the right of somebody to do some silly thing which nobody really needs to do.

Maybe the minor changes you offer can be done but i dont think they are nesessary.I also can write a mile-long post about what developers could do.But i know how busy they are and i am not going to bother them with such minor complaints - i prefer them to concentrate on doing the really nessessary stuff like making the MAPR-based version of MAN.

About all other stuff you wrote...
i also can write the mile-long post about my health problems but i will not do that because that's my personal problems and nobody here in forum
interested in reading about it.So using this as an excuse is unappropriate.

You just cant install any harmful software on my computer because i am not going to download your utility in any case so you cant harm me unless you being a real hacker (and i am sure you arent. - real hacker never writes stuff like this on forum) If your post was serios it is actually a threat to make thing which is a crime by laws of majority civilised states.But i see this is some sort of sarcasm - but i think it is rather abusive that funny.

Now i am finishing my participation in discussion about this topic because i think it is meaningless.

Your post is such obvious irrational nonsense to any intelligent person that it hardly needs a response.

You're an exceptionally stupid person.

Oh, look... Mrak is multiplying. We have the original Mrak Sr(Mrakobes) and we have the new Mrak Jr(Quark).

Chris,

Ouch! Couldn't you have taken it easy on me and just called me maggot excrement?

obvious to anyone above simian intelligence that was not serious about being given access to the source code. I was making the suggestion that could make the source code changes faster than could rewind and repurchase . was trying to make the point that it would not take a lot of code, and it would save a lot of time for a player. There was a minor intended element of humor, just as with the "ditch story". Maybe I layed it on a bit thick. did mention in my post that MA is an excellent game. rewind to the position you want corrected, then move forward again as long as the change doesn't interfere with those previously rewinded moves. Think it was in Battle Isle: Andosia War, don't remember exactly..




IT Contractor accountants

You're an exceptionally stupid person.
viva9988