Save / load UI suggestion (almost a bug but not really)

[Airpower]

Two times now, when I have tried to save my game, I click "Menu", then I click the "Save" button, then double click the name of an already-existing save file on the file-select pane, thinking that it would prompt me to overwrite the selected file.

Instead of saving the file I click, it loads the file I click, causing me to lose all progress.

When I do this, it brings me to a loading screen, which has an "Abort" button.  But when I click "Abort", it sends me back to the stage selection menu, not back to my (now lost) in-progress game.

This isn't a bug, but it's a counterintuitive UI behavior that leads to a lot of frutration.

Especially when you don't learn from your mistakes, like me, and do it twice.  On the same level.

[Ovalcircle]

Click the file then click save.

[Airpower]

I'm not saying the game has no save feature.  I already saved once.

I'm saying the game's save UI is counterintuitive and can reault in accidental loading and loss of progress.

[Ovalcircle]

Well, I think of it this way. When you click the file and then click save, it saves the file. By clicking save, you tell the game to save what you have selected. Clicking save by itself will make the save part happen, but without a file so it does nothing. Think of it this way. The file is food and the save button is making it. Would you get the food and make it, or make it and then get the food?

[Relli]

It's a good try, Oval, but Air is right, that's a common UI design choice, and anyone used to that would likely try it without thinking, resulting in at least one loss of data. In the worst case that could cause the player to quit the game in frustration, and just like that you lost a fan.

[knucracker]

This is a result of slippery slope feature addition.  Imagine there was no double click on the load/save menu...  The problem is suddenly 'solved', or at least made much better.

Right now there is a single load/save menu panel.  You get to it in a mission by clicking the menu button.  The game doesn't know if you mean to load or save. Either is a legit choice and both are used commonly during missions.  Before double clicking was added, you had to click either the save or the load button to indicate the action.

Double clicking was added late in development to make loading a mission quicker. This is mostly used when starting a mission, but can be used mid mission as well.  In any case, the double click feature is available on any of the load/save panes and it means "load".  When that pane is shown in a context where there is no "save" option, it makes total sense.

Mid mission, you can do either a load or save, but double click still means load.  So, what to do. Here are 4 options that come to mind.

0 - Nothing.
1 - Remove double click as a feature when showing the load/save menu in situation where saving is available (so mid-mission).
2 - Add a confirmation dialog when loading mid mission.  Note that there has to be some way to "never ask again", since a confirmation dialog negates the advantage of double clicking to load in the first place.
3 - Rework the mid mission load/save menu to force you to pick load or save first, then a list is shown.

1 or 2 is probably best.  1 is the easiest (aside from 0, but I wouldn't have typed all of this up if 0 was my intention :) )

[Karsten75]

Is there a:

4 - menu option to indicate load/save on double-click? Probably almost similar to the confirm.never ask.

[LintMan]

1 - Remove double click as a feature when showing the load/save menu in situation where saving is available (so mid-mission).
2 - Add a confirmation dialog when loading mid mission.  Note that there has to be some way to "never ask again", since a confirmation dialog negates the advantage of double clicking to load in the first place.
3 - Rework the mid mission load/save menu to force you to pick load or save first, then a list is shown.

I'd prefer 3, but failing that, how about:
2a - Only show the load confirmation dialog when saving is available.  There is no need for confirmation when saving isn't an option, and when saving IS an option, the possibility of losing a game due to a misfired load is too great to NOT have some sort of load confirmation.  There's already a quick-save/quick-load feature if you're really loading mid-mission a lot, and that's even less effort than bringing up the menu and double clicking.

[knucracker]

Yeah... 2a sounds about right I think.