Suggestions (right-click menu in cvs & mouse bindings)

[Momotaro]

It's a short list

The right-click menu (with the mouse) is rather clumsy and irritating in many ways:
-It used to be that you could [target] a monster with left-shift + right-click. Now, you either have to use crtl+left-shift, which is clumsy (I find), or use only right-click
-the menu is slow, and in many cases useless: why would I want to trade to myself? If target is the only thing right clicking does on a monster, why have the menu at all.
-If I move, then in many cases the pop-up should dissapear. (currenly the last pop-up menu will stay on screen until you close it (very tedious))

I would like this to be changed to : middle mouse button opens the menu, right click uses the 'default' action (ie speak to person, attack monster)
and I think the left-click should not initiate an action.

For mouse buttons there's also something as 'double-clicking'. Maybe the menu could then appear with right-click & hold (hold means that if you let go of the right button the menu dissapears, canceling the action). Double right-click would initiate talk (npc), combat (monster) or trace (pc)

Here's my suggestion for mouse controls

Left click: walk, look or search/open.

-Walk: Hold down left mouse button for running, click once for walking with pathfinding. Holding down left-click on an obstacle tries to move you there, on objects tries to move you to the square and pick the thing up. (no holding means you just move to the tile).
-Look: double left click on any object that's not right next to you or under you. Double left clicking during combat makes you flee (abort combat and make you run to that tile)
-Search: double left click on yourself or an adjacent tile to perform a more thoughrough look.
-Open: double left clicking on an object under or around you causes it to open: Ie to search a cupboard, you open it, and find anything that's inside.
It also works for open doors. (yeah, I know, I haven't seen any doors yet)
Open is stricly opening, and no other form of interaction, which are done with the right/middle mouse button.


Right Click: Interact, Attack, Fire Ranged, cast selected spell (hopefully, one day), Get item

Interact: single right click. Default is talk to npc,use objects (like locked doors, an oven and what-not), and evaluate monsters.

Attack/Get item/Fire ranged & spell: double right clicking on a monster attacks it and keeps attacking it (even if you move), with weapons, spells or ranged if selected.
(for spells it would probably be best to have double right-click fire only 1 spell, not continuously, ranged maybe too)
Mind you it doesn't walk to the monster. During combat, to walk away to break off combat, one use double left click (ie panic walk) to get away. Holding the left mouse butten down for more than 5 to 10 steps, without hitting an enemy, should also break off combat.
Double right clicking on objects tries to pick them up.

Casting continous spells/firing a semi-automatic: double-click + hold down button, will keep repeating the spell, making it continous or casting it over and over again (ie double-click+hold for heal, becomes 'healing aura', regenerating you and all those near you while the spell is in 'on'.




Middle Click: Menu opening.
I'd change the menu to iconic, and to 'circular' around your character. (different from secret of mana, but very similar too.)

In the menu should be present all the options that relate to that which was clicked upon. (it's the cvs right-click menu, but then in non-text format)

Pressing and holding down the middle button should open it (open it around your character, or around your mouse position (I'm not sure). Scrolling the middle mouse button up and down, cycles between the options.
Pressing left mouse button on an item while the menu is open uses it. (or opens the submenu)
Pressing double right mouse button on an item of the menu turns it into the default interaction used for single 'right' click.

Pressing and holding middle mouse button and the other two buttons simultaniously, while in the pop-up menu, opens the 'action menu manager', where you can decide how many layer that menu has, and what action lies in what layer.

(note: this mouse idea is somewhat inspired from the Ultima series, which had full mouse control in the 7th intallment)

Ok, this became lengthy, and I probably need to look through it again.
Let me know what you think about it so far.

Momotaro