Feature Request for Opinions : Gear Changer Frame

D

Darzil

Developer
In looking at Limitmode (Spelunky) support, I'm trying to handle appropriately items you can or cannot use.

It appears (though I've been wrong before) that currently the Gear Changer handles different slots differently. So the dropdowns in Hat, Weapon, Offhand, and Pants show all current equipment in those categories that you can use, and the ones in Back, Shirt (if Torso aware), Accessories and Familiar Item (and Stickers and Folders) show all current equipment, greying out those you cannot use.

I'm tempted to look at making all of them just those you can currently use, to avoid situations where there is too much grey, but what are opinions ?

Show only selectable equipment, or show all equipment with unusable greyed out ? (though it's still currently selectable, just not usable)

My preference is only show usable items in the dropdown.
 
I think your observation is correct; recently I've been getting, for example, the Mohawk wig or antique machete with my Muscle not quite high enough to equip them, and have been surprised to not find them in the Gear Changer. I then go look at the item description and go "duh". Given that I am surprised to not find them in the dropdowns, I would prefer to see them there, but greyed out. Which is the opposite of your preference.

However, in the case of Spelunky, if I understand correctly, you effectively do not have non-Spelunky stuff in your inventory. (Can you go to the Inventory and see everything? Can you move non-Spelunky things around? Closet/uncloset/mall? If so, my impression is wrong.) I think it would be fine if while you are in a limitmode the Gear Changer showed you ONLY usable things.

I.e., the Gear Changer changes its filtering depending on whether you are in a limitmode or are unlimited.

Can you equip Spelunky gear when you are not in Spelunky?
 
Limitmode is a little flaky in some ways at the moment, I don't know how much will change.

For example, in KoL you can't see the Character Sheet, but Mafia can still see it and all the skills are there.
API reports inventory, but KoL doesn't.
You can make things, that don't require restricted skills, from inventory and to inventory.
You cannot access Mall, NPC stores, etc
You cannot use items successfully.
You cannot access zones other than Spelunky.
Api status currently reports intrinsic effects, but probably shouldn't (reported), no idea if they affect it.
I guess star sign shouldn't affect the character, but can't tell as mine is +20% spell damage, and you don't do that in Spelunky.

I'm working on a fairly generic handler for checking to make limitmode easier to support going forward, basically a "Limitmode" module that you can query to find out if a skill or item or store or zone is restricted by Limitmode. I can then just tie into that rather than have Spelunky code all over the place. If the character sheet and api stop reporting skills and items as available that aren't, we'll be able to lose some code. The main trick so far was to move checking the Character Pane before checking inventory or Character Sheet, so that Limitmode was known when parsing them, and pointing api status requests at Character Pane instead in limitmode. Now it's a matter of finding the best place to insert code. EquipmentManager.canEquip() seemed a decent place to check for usable equipment, but it turned out only some bit of Gear Changer check that, hence this thread. For skills I'm doing it at the stage skills are added, and refreshing after limitmode ends. I have also so far limited items in Maximizer, but there is plenty more to look at, for example stopping adventuring in non limited zones. My gut feeling is that this may be justified when more content like this appears !
 
I feel like api reporting intrinsics doesn't have to matter, if mafia first checks limitmode and skips parsing everything else there if it's active. Maybe do some calls to clear effects/intrinsics/whatever if needed.
 
Well, as KoL doesn't report effects when under limitmode, instrincs still being reported looks like a bug.
 
I think I am with Veracity on this. Suppose I am trying to equip a particular item that I know is useful in the current context. If it is listed and grayed out because I cannot equip it that tells something immediately useful. If it is not listed then I can assume I don't have one.

Whereas if it is not listed (when it can't be equipped) I don't know whether I need to acquire the item or level up which I then have to answer by checking inventory.
 
I will see what I can do. I have it working on the same rules as Weapons etc pretty trivially (just used the same rules and included considering Limitmode in EquipmentManager.canEquip).

Getting the old style replicated will push the launch of the limitmode changes to tomorrow or Friday I think, but I'll get there.

Edit - Think I've got it worked out, but will do some more testing tomorrow. Got to make sure getting into and out of limitmode is as smooth as being in or being out (which is getting reasonably smooth). Think I'll put it live before adding all the stuff I plan to (eg denying Mall, NPC stores, Coinmasters, Zones etc based on limitmode). Hmm, thinking aloud, maybe I should just limit inventory parsing from api to items allowed by limitmode, and not parse meat. That'd sort a lot of issues, but players might be concerned with almost everything they own vanishing!
 
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Think I have that bit working. Logged onto an alt not in limitmode, and he has everything, and has two accordions greyed out!

Regarding inventory and limitmode. Seems to me that it would make sense to have only unrestricted by limitmode stuff in inventory. Maybe I should add a new list, unlimitedInventory which will contain the inventory, and display that in a new tab in ItemManager. It couldn't be manipulated, but would at least be there. I can then get rid of quite a lot of the item checks in my version.
 
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