[done] Next/new hint button on loading screen

[tomreyn]

It would be nice if the game would allow you to shuffle through game hints on the "loading game" screen. This may only be possible after the local computer has finished loading all assets, but once that's done, the following seconds are the most boring ones in everyones' life (waiting for the server and other players computers to get ready). so it would be nice if you could do some more reading there while waiting for the game to start.

[-Archmage-]

Or better yet, optimize the loading code..? I don't know how good or bad it is, but the fact that black ops 2 loads a multiplayer match faster than Glest is kinda sad. Black ops 2 also has a lot more to load than Glest.

[tomreyn]

I assume you're referring to MegaGlest, not Glest. MegaGlest actually loads fast on Linux, my "atibox" (see below for specs) system is now 4 years old, and the video card was always a light one, but it loads in no more than a maimum of 10 or 15 seconds (so I usually wait for other players, and sometimes for the servers to finish loading). It loads way slower on many Windows systems, my (very limited) understanding is that's due to the often less than ideal OpenGL implementation there, and the limited interface the operating system provides for it (possibly to ensure the single platform "DirectX" technology can compete with the multi-platform OpenGL standard).

Another aspect you need to put into the equation is the network links of people you play with. Inj addition to the slowest hardware, the slowest network link (or the one with most packet loss) between server and player decides on how long it will take for the game to start.

That said, I don't know Black ops 2. It doesn't seem to be compatible with OS X and Linux (but with vendor-controlled gaming platforms) which may mean that there may be more native code involved due to a larger common denominator and less need for abstraction / compatibility code.

[Coldfusionstorm]

What the .... does the network have to do with loading content from the harddisk, and i agree, it is sad that Blackops 2 loads faster.

If it could be done without too much hazzle it would be nice to have increased loading speed.(this is mostly a windows issue). Since ive played MG on linux a long time ago and it was def faster on nix than on dozer.

[tomreyn]

What the .... does the network have to do with loading content from the harddisk

Nothing. But it's part of the game initialization which (besides loading data into memory) takes place while the loading screen displays. Maybe the term "initialization screen" would be less ambigious. The network initialization overhead is, however, minimal, and single player games also take a while to start on Windows, so network initialization is most likely not a major cause for game initialization taking notably longer on Windows than on other platforms.

Anyway, back to the original topic, please (if there's anything else to be said about it).

[Coldfusionstorm]

What the .... does the network have to do with loading content from the harddisk

Nothing. But it's part of the game initialization which (besides loading data into memory) takes place while the loading screen displays. Maybe the term "initialization screen" would be less ambigious. The network initialization overhead is, however, minimal, and single player games also take a while to start on Windows, so network initialization is most likely not a major cause for game initialization taking notably longer on Windows than on other platforms.

Anyway, back to the original topic, please (if there's anything else to be said about it).

Yes, yes your right,

A next tip button would be really cool!, especially if you have read some them allready and want some more, (ie the current one you allready read from a previous game)

A next buttton suported.

[Omega]

To be honest, I don't really like the idea of a next button. Buttons on the loading screen just seem out of place. I'd rather we autocycled through the tips ever five seconds (or perhaps each tip could have a set time).

[Coldfusionstorm]

Button's on loading screens are a great idea, hust two descrete buttons in 30% apart from a corner, it makes the loadscreen feel less of a pain, and it makes it feel like your PC are actually doing something.

[titi_son]

Added in svn rev#4440

You just have to click to see the next hint

[filux]

It is already finished?
In my opinion are missing translations and a "button background".

[titi_son]

1. There is no button you just have to click.

2. I dont  how to add a translation in transifex... I cant do it.  Maybe tomreyn will teach me

[filux]

1. I know it, but in my opinion this string "as link" really doesn't match to the rest of the game where buttons are everywhere.

[tomreyn]

I'm with Filux there, really think it takes a button. You just don't click on text, since you don't expect text to be functional. This is not done anywhere else in the game (with the exception of text input boxes) , nor is this a common concept on any other common UI. So it both deviates from handling anywhere else in the game and thus users just won't become aware of it, so 'm afraid the code you crafted there just won't be usable to anyone else but you and the few people reading this thread.

I'm stressing this so much because I think our UI quality is already not that great and introducing new elements which deviate just makes it worse. I would definitely like to see the feature implemented (with proper GUI), though, and appreciate the work you spent on it.

Regarding ???ShowNextHint???, whenever you add a reference to a new language key to the code you also need to add it to the corresponding English language file. In this case this should be the main language file. Transifex pulls updates from language files every European night, but Transifex project admins (currently softcoder, titi, I) can also use the 'tx' (transifex-client) utility to push files to Transifex.

[softcoder]

Changed this to a button and added missing english text label in rev 4470

[tomreyn]

Thanks so much!