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[HackedPotato]

Hello there!
Although this is my first post in the forum, I've been into the game for quite some granites. The topic I'm about to present is perhaps somewhat on a peculiar level, yet I believe many of my comrades have fallen ill to a similar course of events. This illness, is none other than mourning the old UI (Hear me out before you go "Ugh, not again!")

Like others in my culture, I hold craftsdwarfship to be of the highest ideals, and celebrate the goodness of the new UI, which boasts extensive support for mouse-play. However, the new UI poses a few challenges for me to continue playing the game in the fancy way of the wizards, a peculiar sorcery of sorts known as Windows gaming on an Android Device.

Since the earliest of my fortresses, that stand tall and great (a lie, indeed, since most are left in ruins thanks to dwarven alcoholism) from the version 0.47.05, I have played the game waiting for my doctor's appointment, traded quivers crafted out of human-leather in a metro station, and had the luxury of sitting in a tavern full of humans, sipping through the coffee and magmafying the goblins. All this had been made possible via means of Linux emulation on android (using Termux), although it broke at some point. I was later saved by the likes of an app called Winlator, which allowed me to play the game with customized controls, and it has been stuck with me ever since.

I also have the steam version in my computer which I play from time to time. But the real deal for me is being able to play the game wherever I want, and whenever I want. This was all good and possible till 0.47.05, with the classical, magical UI that some of our dwarven brothers loathe (probably the newer folks). I believe there indeed were flaws, but long-term players have found ways to overcome them. Perhaps, there could be some changes to the original UI that can potentially make major differences.

For example, instead of having to place farm plots, walls and floors, etc, via the UMKH keys, it would be of much ease to follow a similar method, such as that of designation for mines, stockpile placements, by using the yellow-cross and spanning across the screen using arrow keys. Also, perhaps there could be a dedicated tab for assigning labor to the dwarves, instead of following the long route of "view > profession > labour > task".

I am no person to suggest how the great, Toady One would like to go about this, but perhaps, perhaps and perhaps, there could be a way to bring back the old UI for at least the classic, free version, for those of us folks who play the game in bizarre ways like in an SSH server, a mobile device with miniscule screen sizes (I tried running the latest classic version 50.12 as of writing the post, in winlator, but the game UI is too big and the buttons appear too small, while using a mouse on the phone is like dumping a bunch of stones in a garbage dump and trying to bring the right stone out from the stack).

While making the new UI adapt to Keyboard-only methods wouldn't be so bad, I believe the old UI would still beat the new one in various means, if, modified to some extent. It'd be of great craft to have the old UI back for the Classic version, while using the new UI for steam version only, which, probably and definitely feels good the way it does.

I still play the game at version 0.47.05 in my phone with winlator (the attachments stand proof of my dwarven shenanigans), and the steam version in my computer. However, I really wish to continue getting updates like Magic, with the old UI, so as to continue playing the game anywhere, and everywhere. Fairy Tale.



Please, if possible, Mr. Toady One, I garner your attention to listen to this fellow, bearded bastard.

[Carefulrogue]

I played 0.50.x for only a handful of hours, when typically a relapse takes up a good 10-15.  I like this game a lot.  It's fantastic, it forces me to think, I encounter cool and unique stuff I've found nowhere else.  It truly is a treasure.

But the new interface is bad, painfully constraining veteran overseers.  I complained about it when the Steam version came out, and I'll continue to complain until full hotkeys are restored.  The mouse control should have integrated with the existing system, instead of tossing the old to the wind.  The old system was fast.  The new isn't. 

[Salmeuk]

yes to all of the above.

previously, the game had a certain simplicity or ruggedness that provided some rather efficient methods of interaction.

<dcv> is easier to perform than <d *mouse shuffling* c *shuffling some more* v *ah i miscliked* v *alright I think thats good* x *shit i canceled the designation! better redo the whole process*>

however, here is the harsh reality, as I have come to understand it over the course of the past 1.5 years since premium:

1. there is no going back. the previous versions alacrity is lost to time (or just go play 47.05......)
2. the new UI is a aesthetic overlay, becomes almost impossible to use in low fps, and is inseparable from the product. maybe some fool may come along and provide generous modifications or re-interpretations of this layer
3. DFhack exists. use it. it helps in most ways.
4. The dev team will likely fail to prioritize this element for many years

I basically had to step away for a month, have a serious discussion with myself, then re-invest a handful of hours to not only re-learn the interface, but entirely rebind it into a new form, something half akin to a reanimated corpse of the old interface, such that keyboard presses make up a more significant percentage of UI interactions. So yeah with some patience you can definitely bring up the speed of interaction, but it remains clunky in many areas.