MArcomage

So chat has to be clicked to be seen now? Nothing on the game screen at all? Is there any visual indication when your opponent has said something?

I feel like this is a step back.

I agree, usually with chat online there is some indication that you are being chatted with. If real time chat is your goal I suggest trying to figure out what facebook did. Otherwise, a few hours between chats will gain no complaints from me with the old style. Maybe that's cause I'm used to it, but a giant black screen that blocks the entire play-field is not desireable.

I also agree. At the very least, inform us of incoming chat messages by highlighting the button.

The chat box can be dragged around the screen, so you can just pick it with your mouse and move it to the left corner of the screen if you wish. I can add the same notification as the forum and messages use to inform players about new posts and new messages.

Chat is an optional component, so I think it should be located in a separate window.

Mojko wrote:
The chat box can be dragged around the screen, so you can just pick it with your mouse and move it to the left corner of the screen if you wish. I can add the same notification as the forum and messages use to inform players about new posts and new messages.

Chat is an optional component, so I think it should be located in a separate window.

i kind of preferred the old chat layout too, but since it`s designated as "optional" it would also work this way

a visible notification of a new message in the chat box would be great though :D

I want the old in-game chat back, this is TERRIBLE, and absolutely impractical, especially with smaller screen resolution

Agreed. It feels unnecessarily large, especially compared to what we had before, and not suitable to have up along with the game.

It bothers me enough when players leave without some acknowledgement of the game's end. Now I feel like I should expect no one to see my greetings either. And new players I want to help through the match? There's no reason to think they have any idea at all I'm trying to communicate with them.

Couldn't we put the chat back onscreen with the option to pull it out into its own dragable interface? It should be visible, simply put.

Thanks for feedback, I made following changes:

- chatbox is now fully resizable
- if there are new messages in the chatbox the "open chat" button is highlighted, also the new messages themselves are highlighted (in the chatbox)

Please use the F5 to apply these changes as well.

Not bad, but could you make one more adjustment? Right now, if you reduce its width, the last buttons (such as Send) drop to their own inaccessible line. Could you adjust it so the vertical portion holding the buttons remains fully visible? Or, failing that, put the send button in front of the others? I'm trying to anchor chat in the empty margin for a widescreen monitor.

Edit: Oh, and is it possible to have it remember where you left the chat box? It defaults to opening large and in the center regardless of repositioning. Thanks!

I'll look into it.

Now, I would like to present some information about this new chat design.

The old chat system is one of the oldest components of MArcomage, who wasn't practically modified from the day it was added (2 years ago). During this time I have received numerous complaints about the old chat system such as:

- the design is contra-intuitive and difficult to use

- because the chat is located at the bottom, many players actually didn't realize that it is there and therefore never used it

- was difficult to read

Chat is an optional component which is not being used all the time when player is in game screen, therefore it's logical to have it separated into a more specialized chat tool. I'll be collecting feedback and I'll try to improve the new chat as much as I can. For some very conservative users I could add the option to keep the old chat, but as for now, I don't think it's necessary.

Sorry for that but I can't use another word for this than FUCKING! Could you tell me where I can place this fucking window?! [url]www.vault.cz/chat.JPG[/url]
With old chat I can just scroll few lines down... I really don't want to still open/close chat... As DPsycho said, I also always tried to help newbies and clarify them game mechanismes.. Now I don't care...

The idea is not to have the Chat open at all times. If you need to write a chat message to your opponent, you open the chat, write the message and the chat closes.

If you see that there are new messages in the chat via the highlighted button, you open the chat read the messages and possibly reply to them, then close the chat.

But what if you're actually, you know, chatting? Does it auto-refresh? I ask because all methods to refresh seem to close the chat and put it back to its default size and position.

Mojko, I get the feeling that you have certain assumptions for how all players use the chat feature and that those assumptions are directing these changes. Some of us use it a lot more extensively than I think you realize.

The refresh method for chat did not change. So the old chat did not auto-refresh and nor does the new one. So in both cases you need to refresh the game screen to refresh the chat.

DPsycho wrote:
Some of us use it a lot more extensively than I think you realize.

If that's the case there is still the possibility to add the "Old chat" option. The old chat interface is still present there and can be used when you turn off the JavaScript, so the implementation of such option shouldn't be too difficult.

I'll throw my voice behind the growing clamor, and say I don't really like the new chat. New users are going to take a long time to realize it's even there. People are going to be less likely to use it, because sending and reading messages now takes more effort. The old system wasn't really broken (the only changes I would suggest would be for it to use more economical use of screen space and to send and receive messages without a refresh).

Is the new chat related with tag game development? it could be a good idea for the team chat but for the standard one the previous system was better.
If you want to improove this new chat I suggest to put it in a different page; I mean something like msn or gmail chat that have their own windows indipendent from the rest.
But now that I think it better this could be quite messy with many chats ongoing.
(I hope the post is clear, tonight my english doesn't work well)

Well, yes the new chat is related to the tac team game, because having two subchats (public chat and team chat) would be a bit messy in the old chat interface. The new interface would be able to handle such requirements much better.

After some research I found out that implementing the setting to use the old chat interface would be much more simple than I expected, so I decided to implement it. If you want to use the old chat interface go to settings and activate the "Integrated chat" option (and don't forget to F5).

I don't know if it's just Chrome or what, but enabling Integrated Chat and refreshing with F5 gives me neither the old chat system nor the chat button.

Or perhaps this is only an issue with changing the setting when games are already in progress?

I have the same problem with Firefox.