The "Record replay" checkbox should be more obvious / Enable Record on/off at any Time in Game

Alphys_Hedge · Post by **Alphys_Hedge** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:31 pm

TL;DR

The "Record replay" checkbox should be in a more obvious spot.

What ?

The "Record replay" option should be placed either somewhere on the left of the New Game screen, somewhere in the map generation settings, or even as an additional Yes/No prompt when hitting play, like "Would you like to record a replay for this save?".

Why ?

Due to its placement, players are likely to either never realize it's there or never remember it's there. Sometimes I start playing and realize I forgot to change a setting in the map generations, so even If I did remember to turn it on the first time, I might just skip it when I go through the prompts again.
Maybe it's just a me problem, but I almost always forget about this feature, and it's always too late by the time I realize I forgot to turn it on when making the map.

Post by **ssilk** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 5:35 am

The right way to implement it would be to be able to turn it on/off at any time.

coppercoil · Post by **coppercoil** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:37 am

Alphys_Hedge wrote: ↑Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:31 pm [..] or even as an additional Yes/No prompt...

...with warning "your gamesave will be X times larger". Really, does anybody know how many MB/GB it takes to record all moves? What if I decide to continue to a megabase after the first rocket?

FuryoftheStars · Post by **FuryoftheStars** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:14 pm

Alphys_Hedge wrote: ↑Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:31 pm or even as an additional Yes/No prompt when hitting play, like "Would you like to record a replay for this save?".

I’m gonna say I’m against this piece. I never record a replay, so having to click through yet another screen is going to be annoying as F to me.

Post by **ssilk** » Sat Jul 16, 2022 8:24 am

@Fury you’re right, it will never be implemented like so. But I admit this is too easy forgettable, so I keep it yet here, because it points to a problem worth improving.

Can someone make a new suggestion around this. Maybe just

ssilk wrote: ↑Thu Jul 14, 2022 5:35 am The right way to implement it would be to be able to turn it on/off at any time.

So I can move this to won’t implement.

Silari · Post by **Silari** » Sat Jul 16, 2022 3:38 pm

ssilk wrote: ↑Sat Jul 16, 2022 8:24 am Can someone make a new suggestion around this. Maybe just
ssilk wrote: ↑Thu Jul 14, 2022 5:35 am The right way to implement it would be to be able to turn it on/off at any time.
So I can move this to won’t implement.

That should actually be doable and potentially useful for bug reports, with the understanding that replays start from the moment it's enabled, instead of assuming it's always the beginning of the game. It'd just need to keep a full save from the moment the feature is enabled, and then the same user input logging it already does. This is kinda similar to how volume snapshots work in several VMs.

It'd increase the save size in order to have the starting state saved on top of the current map state, but only if it's enabled after game start - there'd be no difference when having it always enabled from how it is now.

If a user encounters a bug (that doesn't crash the game), they can take a save, enable replays, reproduce the bug, save, and then send it in. Now the save has the repro built in - no need for steps, just hit Start Replay and bug should happen.

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