On Angband usability issues

[fph]

I've been pondering for some time on the usability of Angband. In short, it sucks. The game has improved much in the recent years, but it is still very difficult for a newcomer to grasp all the keys and concepts at once, and the confusing interface does not help. Angband is currently mainly a game for command-line-users/power-users, with a steep learning curve. I think we can still improve much in the direction of intuitiveness of the interface and user-friendliness.
I suspect that many of you will think "this is heresy", "this is not how we've done things up to now", or "I am not used to this, it would be annoying" when they read the following list, but if you're used to something else, you can always enable it back in the options screen. We should focus on first-time users and provide sensible defaults for them.

==Commands==
1) Mouse movement on by default. No one is going to play that way for long, but it helps to keep the two moments "learn the game basics" and "learn to play with the keyboard" separate.
2) We need a unified keyboard "use" (zap wand/rod/staff, equip weapon/armor, throw arrow, read scroll, quaff potion) command. This is how people are used to interact with computers nowadays. You click on it, it does the right thing. We should have a primary mouse "click" mapped to it and a secondary "right click" action to open a context menu for everything else.
3) easy_alter and easy_open should be on by default -- this is a no brainer IMHO.
4) hide_squelchable and squelch_worthless should be on by default. On the "squelch setting" (=s) screen, we should have a label warning that squelched items are not destroyed, just hidden: if you mess with the settings and squelch the wrong thing, you can always have it back by changing them -- as long as you don't leave the level.
5) the game is currently unplayable on a laptop, as you need the numeric keypad for diagonal movement (don't tell me "you can press 1379"). Unless you use the roguelike keymap. So, I think it should be on by default. Desktop users can move with the numeric keypad and just ignore those crazy VI-like keys. What is the drawback of the roguelike keymap, apart from "we're just not used to that"?
6) the mess with inscriptions + roguelike keymap should go away (I throw my arrows with "t", so why do I have to inscribe them "@f1"?)

==interface==
1) multiple terms with useful stuff such as the visible monster list (really, who plays without that?) should be on by default
2) in fact, multiple windows are currently deprecated in term of usability. We should have a single window with several sidebars/statusbar/top-bars/bottom-bars containing most useful stuff (message recall, monster list, and inventory should be enough). At least on Windows, X, and Mac OS.
3) Tooltips. Waving my mouse on a monster/object should open a tooltip balloon window with the monster/object recall.
4) "Your 'sex' does not have any significant gameplay effects". So why do you ask for it? Remove.
5) Let's think about tiles on by default. I don't like tiles, and I'd like to encourage newbie not to use them, but let's discuss it.
6) total damage/turn display -- not damage/blow. With the caveat "assuming all blows hit the target".
7) race/class descriptions on the "choose race/class" screen, describing their abilities

Some of this stuff is not easy to implement, or may raise problems on some "exotic" platform. But I think newbie usability is an area in which Angband could still be improved much, and I just wanted to raise the problem and give some suggestions.

Just my two cents

[tummychow]

That's the point of the first level of the game. You play for an hour, thirty minutes maybe, and you'll feel most of the commands. A universal use command would be appreciated just for the convenience but not necessary. I agree that gender is kind of useless (although it adds to the flavor of the game, if that's what you're into).
Mouse movement is OK but people might never get accustomed to keyboard movement, and I find mouse movement to cause a lot of accidents. (Maybe that's just me.)
And if you're suggesting that you remove inscriptions, I must spiritedly disagree with you. They greatly improve the interface of the game and really help if you streamline any commands with macros.

[d_m]

I think this post raises a lot of interesting points.

However, I pretty much only play Angband in GCU mode (which might be what you meant by an exotic platform). That platform can't use the mouse at all, nor tiles. So... I will await what others have to say on this point.

But I do think that expanding the player-base of Angband is a worthy goal!

[SilverD]

I should note that I'm a noob.

==Commands==
1) Mouse movement on by default. No one is going to play that way for long, but it helps to keep the two moments "learn the game basics" and "learn to play with the keyboard" separate.

Not unless mouse support is overhauled. Wait, wait.. there is mouse support? It's unplayable.

2) We need a unified keyboard "use" (zap wand/rod/staff, equip weapon/armor, throw arrow, read scroll, quaff potion) command. This is how people are used to interact with computers nowadays. You click on it, it does the right thing. We should have a primary mouse "click" mapped to it and a secondary "right click" action to open a context menu for everything else.

I don't want to use the mouse; I don't even see how using it can be feasible, but.. shrug. I agree on the unified command, though. Although the list of usable items could be quite large.

3) easy_alter and easy_open should be on by default -- this is a no brainer IMHO.
4) hide_squelchable and squelch_worthless should be on by default. On the "squelch setting" (=s) screen, we should have a label warning that squelched items are not destroyed, just hidden: if you mess with the settings and squelch the wrong thing, you can always have it back by changing them -- as long as you don't leave the level.

Agreed.

5) the game is currently unplayable on a laptop, as you need the numeric keypad for diagonal movement (don't tell me "you can press 1379"). Unless you use the roguelike keymap. So, I think it should be on by default. Desktop users can move with the numeric keypad and just ignore those crazy VI-like keys. What is the drawback of the roguelike keymap, apart from "we're just not used to that"?
6) the mess with inscriptions + roguelike keymap should go away (I throw my arrows with "t", so why do I have to inscribe them "@f1"?)

I play on a macbook. It's very playable and I like the default keymap. Yes, I do have to use 1379 sometimes, so maybe those could have alternate keys.

My thing with inscriptions is that it's really messy without it. For example, I have ID scroll in slot F. I use it quite frequently, until I find another scroll that goes into slot F. Without inscriptions it's really a pain to keep track of stuff like this. Maybe there should be an interface that's easier to understand for everyone, like "map this key to this kind of item". Maybe it would help if some things that make the game tedious without inscriptions be grouped into some sort of easy to understand UI.

==interface==
1) multiple terms with useful stuff such as the visible monster list (really, who plays without that?) should be on by default
2) in fact, multiple windows are currently deprecated in term of usability. We should have a single window with several sidebars/statusbar/top-bars/bottom-bars containing most useful stuff (message recall, monster list, and inventory should be enough). At least on Windows, X, and Mac OS.
3) Tooltips. Waving my mouse on a monster/object should open a tooltip balloon window with the monster/object recall.

I just want a 9th term support... : puppy eyes :

4) "Your 'sex' does not have any significant gameplay effects". So why do you ask for it? Remove.

No. This is a role-playing game. If anything, I would opt for different history and/or character descriptions based on chosen sex.

[Whelk]

A universal use would be great. I've always thought it a little silly that there are different commands for using a staff, wand or rod, for instance. The only nice thing about that, I suppose, is that 'u' only brings up staves in the list, 'z' only brings up rods, etc.

[konijn_]

I've been pondering for some time on the usability of Angband. In short, it sucks.

<snip>

Just my two cents

So, according to Wikipedia and me, this is the definition of usability:
Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal.

Your definition seems to be:

Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which new people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal and an absence of stuff that I find stupid.

I would say you create a variant where you make first mouse movement and then roguelike keyset default, I will be grinning in my corner while you get all the newbies fuming

Other than that, I like the following suggestions: 3,I5,I6,I7

PS : I won several times on a laptop, C5 is bogus
PPS : I seriously hate Sangband with its default terms, I1 is bogus

T.

[Hariolor]

1379 is surprisingly easy once you get used to it. I have a 10-key for my macbook, but as often as not I'd rather just use the built-in keypad. It works fine.

I disagree about starting with easy-alter and easy-open. I like needing an extra keystroke to open doors, especially in situations where it is tactically critical that a door remain closed. I also often use pits to escape to the next level when in a bad situation. Having them automatically be disarmed on move is upsetting. No need to teach bad habits to newbies before they can learn whether they value having doors harder to open and traps harder to disarm.

Adding a separate key that is a unified "use" option may be useful, but I don't think the list of uses is that bad. I'm up in the air on this one because I can see the value of a single key, but I can also see loooong lists once the items start piling up.

I totally can get behind a suggestion to make standard windows/subwindows with, at the very least, monster recall and visible monsters.

I do not think tiles should be standard.

Damage should remain damage/blow. This makes more sense than damage/turn. If you want to compare weapons, it is not hard to multiply by blows.

I have never used mouse movement, but I have to imagine it's a bad idea.

I do like the concept of a mouse-based interface with dropdown-menus, mouse-over tooltips, and the like. That being said, it's a pretty dramatic change to the gui to do so, and may not really be necessary.

[tummychow]

I dislike the idea of a mouse based interface. Part of Angband (for me at least) is using the keyboard and no mouse. In addition, the sheer mass of programming in a mouse interface would be quite a serious delay when there are important gameplay issues to focus the effort on (ie missiles being overpowered). I also don't think tiles should be standard; they are a looks option and nothing else.

[Nick]

FAangband is already playable by mouse only (no tooltips, though). It is not bad, although I prefer keyboard.

[buzzkill]

Even I don't think that tiles should be on by default. But for God's sake, when some noob does decide to turn them on, then make them usable immediately, without having to alter the tile width/height multiple times and without editing the .ini. What I mean is, set the default tile size to match the tile set chosen, 32x32 for DVG, 16x16 or 8x8 for the others (and don't reset the tile size every time the font is changed).

Easy open and easy alter IMO should be on. They should also produce a message letting you know how many turns it took you to accomplish your task (without having to check the previous messages), otherwise many noobs won't realize just how long it's takes to tunnel or pick a pesky lock.

[TJS]

I agree with the usability problems for new users. It was a real struggle to get into the game and anyone I've asked to try have given up after a couple of minutes. Of course once you're used to the interface then there's no looking back.

The Windows version of Nethack is a pretty good compromise between keyboard and mouse (you can use either and the keyboard controls are similar to Angband). Still didn't like the game all that much though.

[fph]

Your definition seems to be:

Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which new people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal and an absence of stuff that I find stupid.

The Wikipedia definition seems quite abstract, usually "usability" has a different meaning when talking about software. I think I am using the same definition as these guys (which are the first Google result for "software usability") and these guys.

Anyway sorry if I used the wrong word, I am not a mother-tongue English speaker. Replace it with "newbie-friendliness" if you prefer. I also recognize that my point of view might be biased by stuff that I personally find stupid.

About inscriptions: maybe my first message wasn't clear. I am not advocating that they should go away. I was just complaining that they interact very badly with the roguelike keyset. Example: the idea of inscriptions is: if I write "@f1" on an arrow and then I press "f1", that arrow gets shot. On the roguelike keyset, though, you shoot arrows with "t1". So I'd expect to have to inscribe arrows with "@t1". Wrong: the inscriptions get processed *after* the keymap conversion, so you always have to use the command in the traditional keyset ("@f1"). This is terribly counterintuitive in my point of view.

Thanks to everyone who answered.

[konijn_]

The Wikipedia definition seems quite abstract, usually "usability" has a different meaning when talking about software. I think I am using the same definition as these guys (which are the first Google result for "software usability") and these guys.

Anyway sorry if I used the wrong word, I am not a mother-tongue English speaker. Replace it with "newbie-friendliness" if you prefer. I also recognize that my point of view might be biased by stuff that I personally find stupid.

About inscriptions: maybe my first message wasn't clear. I am not advocating that they should go away. I was just complaining that they interact very badly with the roguelike keyset. Example: the idea of inscriptions is: if I write "@f1" on an arrow and then I press "f1", that arrow gets shot. On the roguelike keyset, though, you shoot arrows with "t1". So I'd expect to have to inscribe arrows with "@t1". Wrong: the inscriptions get processed *after* the keymap conversion, so you always have to use the command in the traditional keyset ("@f1"). This is terribly counterintuitive in my point of view.

Thanks to everyone who answered.

Dude, I was mostly trolling, I commend your devotion to politeness !!
With regards to macro processing you are obviously right.

T.

[ChodTheWacko]

Adding a separate key that is a unified "use" option may be useful, but I don't think the list of uses is that bad. I'm up in the air on this one because I can see the value of a single key, but I can also see loooong lists once the items start piling up.

Not as big of a problem since different types are color coded anyway.

- Frank

[bio_hazard]

I'd be up for an all encompassing 'use' command...

I'd also be up for increased default term windows. I'd rather see Monster List and Item List. Monster Recall would be fine, although it seems more useful for intermediate players.

I'll just throw this out there as a thought...

now the menus are more or less set up as
1)command (e.g. read scroll)
2)pick a scroll (identify)
3) pick target of scroll (unidentified item)

what if it went
1) Pick Item
2) Pick from list of possible actions (identify)
3) Pick from source of identify (scroll, staff, rod, spell, etc)

Possible actions could include Use, Activate, Wield, Take-off, Drop, Throw, Identify, Destroy Inscribe, (with a sub menu for common inscriptions)

I don't think this would have to replace the current commands, but would add some flexibility to the interface.