[MOD 0.16] Map Ping 1.0.4

[Supercheese]

Map Ping

Ping.gif (966.29 KiB) Viewed 9320 times

Screenshots

Minimap.gif (27.79 KiB) Viewed 9320 times

PingTool.jpg (370.86 KiB) Viewed 9307 times

SelectionDisplay.gif (688.23 KiB) Viewed 9320 times

Admin.png (44.21 KiB) Viewed 9320 times

Info / Long Description:

• Name: Map Ping
• Latest Release: v1.0.4, March 13, 2018
• Factorio Version: 0.16.29
• License: MIT License
• Author: Supercheese
• Github: https://github.com/Suprcheese/Map-Ping

This mod adds a Map Ping Tool that is free to craft and available immediately at the beginning of a game, and also available via hotkey.
This tool allows you to highlight a location on the map that will be visible to other players. Clicking with the tool will "ping" the selected location to players of your force.
A distinctive sound will play and a swirling graphic will be visible on the field and a custom marker, complete with blinking pointer, will be visible on the minimap.
A custom alert will also be shown next to your toolbelt, similar to the alerts for destroyed structures.

You can also Shift+Click with the ping tool to enter Selection Display Mode. This will draw an arrow pointing towards any entity you hover your cursor over, and this arrow will be visible to all players on your team.
You exit Selection Display Mode simply by changing your held item (e.g. pressing Q by default). Only one player can be in Selection Display Mode at a time.

In order to prevent abuse in an MP environment, whenever an admin selects the Map Ping Tool, an admin GUI will open that allows them to toggle permissions for all players in the game.
If players are abusing the ping tool, they can be easily banned from using it. The default permission for new players that join follows the state of the "Toggle All" checkbox; if the box is unchecked, new players will be banned by default.

Suggestions & Feedback:

Naturally, this is a multiplayer-oriented mod, and while functional in singleplayer, is of essentially no benefit there.

If you know of any other cool "ping" sounds or graphics out there with an open license, I welcome suggestions. Currently, the mod randomly chooses between three ping sounds each time the ping tool is used, and there is only one spinning ping-graphic used (as seen at the top of the thread).

Version history

Code: Select all

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 1.0.4
Date: 13. 3. 2018
  Minor Features:
    - New setting to toggle the Admin Panel on/off altogether, if you'd rather not be bothered by it popping up all the time (thanks to meslem12 for the contribution).
    - German localization (also thanks to meslem12).
  Bugfixes:
    - Fixed blinking arrow on map no longer being visible in v0.16.29.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 1.0.3
Date: 6. 3. 2018
  Bugfixes:
    - Fixed shift+clicking with the ping tool would not properly enter Selection Display Mode.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 1.0.2
Date: 8. 2. 2018
  Major Features:
    - Added a hotkey to quickly access the Map Ping Tool (Shift+P by default).
    - Added a per-player setting to keep your inventory/quickbar clean of ping tools, allowing you to rely entirely on the hotkey to ping the map rather than consuming an quickbar/inventory slot with the ping tool.
  Bugfixes:
    - Fixed compatibility with certain niche reach-distance mods.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 1.0.1
Date: 24. 1. 2018
  Changes:
    - Switch to new play_sound() function rather than spawning "explosion"-type entities to play sounds.
    - Behind-the-scenes performance optimizations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 1.0.0
Date: 17. 1. 2018
  Changes:
    - Updated for Factorio 0.16.
  Minor Features:
    - Map pings will now show a custom alert, like the alerts for destroyed structures et al.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 0.2.0
Date: 27. 6. 2017
  Changes:
    - Updated for Factorio 0.15.
    - Moved options from config.lua to the in-game mod settings.
    - Switched from using a train stop to show the ping location on the map to 0.15's new custom map marker feature.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 0.1.0 - First public release
Date: 21. 10. 2016
  Major Features:
    - Initial release, featuring a Ping Tool that can highlight areas or entities on the map for your teammates.

[aubergine18]

fantastic mod!! this is full of awesome win!

EDIT: 9.9 meg? Those 2048x2048 sprite sheets really need to be that huge?

EDIT 2: Btw, you can ditch the null graphic and use 1x1 pixel __core__/graphics/empty.png

[Supercheese]

EDIT: 9.9 meg? Those 2048x2048 sprite sheets really need to be that huge?

EDIT 2: Btw, you can ditch the null graphic and use 1x1 pixel __core__/graphics/empty.png

Yeah, I know, it's part of the the WIP-ness of this mod.

[aubergine18]

It's still awesome, I'm even enjoying messing around with it in SP.

The admin settings panel - maybe a custom-input to trigger that rather than auto appearing when admin uses the tool?

I'm still trying to work out how you got the force-only display working, where only members of same force can see it. I assume it's one of the prototype properties, but didn't see any that looked like they would have that effect...?

You could potentially halve the sprite sheets by providing only 180º of animation (as the other 180º would look the same). With further tweakage maybe even get it down to just needing 45º of animation that can loop?

[Supercheese]

You could potentially halve the sprite sheets by providing only 180º of animation (as the other 180º would look the same). With further tweakage maybe even get it down to just needing 45º of animation that can loop?

You'd think that'd be the case, but that graphic as I grabbed from this page isn't quite symmetrical!

I will investigate reducing the frame count though, as 128 anim-steps might be indistinguishable from 64 anim-steps.

[aubergine18]

Could potentially use something like this, sort of mirror the lit segments in all quadrants so the animation only covers 90º of the frames:

gif

[aubergine18]

Could you add a remote interface to the mod? It would be extremely useful if other mods could request pings, etc. For example, I might need to highlight an entity or mark a place on map, etc.

Would be cool if other mods could somehow provide their own sounds.

[nuhll]

Good idea, but as item is shit, so low inventory... make it like left click on map..^^

[Supercheese]

Updated for Factorio 0.15!

Mainly just compatibility fixes and moving config.lua settings over to the in-game mod options.

Of note, however: With 0.15's new zoom-to-map feature, you can remotely ping any location on the map without your Factoriodude having to be physically present!

[Supercheese]

Updated for Factorio 0.16. I believe things are stable enough now to tag this as 1.0.0.

One new minor feature, a custom alert akin to the ones for destroyed structures, ion cannon firing, etc.

EDIT:

1.0.1 also released, with some performance improvements.

[Supercheese]

Version 1.0.2 released, adding a hotkey to directly access the ping tool (Shift+P by default). Also comes with a setting to effectively enable "hotkey-only" mode, so you no longer need to have a ping tool lying around in your inventory/quickbar.

EDIT: 1.0.3 released, just a bugfix and some optimization.

[Supercheese]

Version 1.0.4 released, with some contributions from meslem12 from GitHub!

Also a bugfix related to the new Factorio v0.16.29; check the Changelog for full details.

[Supercheese]

Since Factorio 0.17 now includes native Map Ping functionality, this mod is now redundant!

[Anton_K]

Since Factorio 0.17 now includes native Map Ping functionality, this mod is now redundant!

I've recently switched from 0.16.51 to 0.17.79, and ... where is the built-in map ping? Can you give a hint how to discover it?