Re: [Wesnoth-dev] What to do with the Advanced Tab

[Andreas Grosse]

Richard Kettering <address@hidden> [02:08:05 05:00] wrote:
>    Likewise - it is very useful to a number of "non-hacker" campaign
>    developers, who probably have no idea how to set such a preference
>    otherwise.  I'd preface this by saying that I have never, myself, used the
>    advanced preference tab, but I understand full well how useful it is.
Since I have already been quoted on this topic I won't repeat the
points I already made months ago. But what strikes me in this thread is that 
we seem to agree that the tab has it's uses, but that it might be a god idea 
to change the way it is accessed.

I am still bothered by the fact that the actual _users_ of wesnoth (or, 
better, 'gamers') won't need the advanced tab, regardless how beautiful or 
complex the interface is. With the advance to version 1.0 the amount of
users will steadily increase faster than the amount of developers. With 
every day this tab is useless for an increasing amount of people.
The point I am having here is that I think that it would be best to have 
the interface as easy and understandable as possible for the vast 
majority. This (obviously) makes it a bit harder for the developers, but 
I agree that "harder" should neither require a fundamental understanding 
of the operating system nor require knowledge about compile options.

Therefore I would suggest the compromise: create a special command line
options to start wesnoth in "developer mode", showing the "Advanced"
tab (optionally renamed to "Developer Options" or similar) and maybe
using some useful default settings. Maybe it would be possible to
deliver a special "developer start" script to ease the startup for the
not-so-technically-inclined?
This would help us making the interface easier for the users who only
want to play the game AND lowering the initial burden for new 
developers / artists. I know that this implies quite some changes to the
code, but if you don't agree, heck - there is a life after 1.0 :-)

Cheers,
  majestyk