Enhanced Toolbar
The current toolbar in the game isn't very user friendly as users are left to guess as to what button does what and even hovering over the toolbar buttons doesn't help much in many cases.
If you make your own ship, setup your own toolbar and use that ship regularly you probably won't have too many issues remembering what button does what but if you are using a ship someone else made it is often a guessing game of how to use it.
The problem is especially bad when using certain blocks like for instance the Program Block. A program block that is set to run with a string or that is set to run with default arguments displays exactly the same with the same icons. The user has no clue which is which.
I would like to suggest a new toolbar in which the user can add a short text description of what that button does that is displayed underneath it and also choose from a bunch of icons to better represent it.
Current Toolbar:
Enhanced Toolbar:
I like this feedback
I had this idea too, but I was thinking of making the text limited in length to like 6 characters and displaying it over the center of the icon in the same font and size as CTRL + Number, maybe with dark semi-transparent background to make it more readable. Also, I wasn't thinking the text wouldn't be a property of the bar itself. I thought of it as a property of a block and also of block groups. So whichever bar you drag that block/group into, it will have the same tag. However this doesn't cover your use-cases of the same programming block with different commands, unless you could have multiple tags defined on one thing and choose which one to display on this slot of toolbar. Icons are more tricky, I don't know if setting up custom ones would be helpful or confusing. But looking at your image, maybe the default icons could use some colours, to make it easier to tell one set which increases/decreases some value from another setting with different value (wheel friction vs strength).
I had this idea too, but I was thinking of making the text limited in length to like 6 characters and displaying it over the center of the icon in the same font and size as CTRL + Number, maybe with dark semi-transparent background to make it more readable. Also, I wasn't thinking the text wouldn't be a property of the bar itself. I thought of it as a property of a block and also of block groups. So whichever bar you drag that block/group into, it will have the same tag. However this doesn't cover your use-cases of the same programming block with different commands, unless you could have multiple tags defined on one thing and choose which one to display on this slot of toolbar. Icons are more tricky, I don't know if setting up custom ones would be helpful or confusing. But looking at your image, maybe the default icons could use some colours, to make it easier to tell one set which increases/decreases some value from another setting with different value (wheel friction vs strength).
+1.
Having no way to add labels (or symbols or even colours) to the toolbar / hotbar is very annoying, especially when using programmable blocks, timer blocks and some block groups. When piloting a ship, often the only way to know which button is which is to mash them randomly and see what happens, or open the G menu to enable the mouse so you can hover over the names.
We shouldn't need to have a printed cheat sheet or a big LCD next to the cockpit saying "1 does x, 2 does y, ..." when using somebody else's ship or any other ship where we haven't memorised the controls. The toolbar is part of the HUD so should impart some information beyond "this key has something bound to it; this other key doesn't".
+1.
Having no way to add labels (or symbols or even colours) to the toolbar / hotbar is very annoying, especially when using programmable blocks, timer blocks and some block groups. When piloting a ship, often the only way to know which button is which is to mash them randomly and see what happens, or open the G menu to enable the mouse so you can hover over the names.
We shouldn't need to have a printed cheat sheet or a big LCD next to the cockpit saying "1 does x, 2 does y, ..." when using somebody else's ship or any other ship where we haven't memorised the controls. The toolbar is part of the HUD so should impart some information beyond "this key has something bound to it; this other key doesn't".
Absolutely yes! And for sanity's sake, make that 0 available, too!!
Absolutely yes! And for sanity's sake, make that 0 available, too!!
I’m still hoping this could be done. To be able to set a label of one or two lines of text over the button would be a game changer for me.
As a further suggestion, it would be even better if scripts could access and change the configuration of these buttons.
I’m still hoping this could be done. To be able to set a label of one or two lines of text over the button would be a game changer for me.
As a further suggestion, it would be even better if scripts could access and change the configuration of these buttons.
UX wise, that would be a super addtion...
UX wise, that would be a super addtion...
Turns out there is already a existing fork from Malware for at least renaming each PB Icon to your liking.
It just has to be merged.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ajxc87l8ig7a1h4/pbaction.mp4?dl=0
Please do this.
Turns out there is already a existing fork from Malware for at least renaming each PB Icon to your liking.
It just has to be merged.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ajxc87l8ig7a1h4/pbaction.mp4?dl=0
Please do this.
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