BUG: Using the hotkey allows sending flares when not intended

[Vantha]

After winning a game, the flare button deactivates, but by using the assigned hotkey (by default "k") sending flares remains possible, despite the cursor (correctly) not switching to the flare icon:

Edit: Does the video play correctly? It only works every other time for me.

Edited May 16, 2024 by Vantha

[Gurken Khan]

  On 16/05/2024 at 12:52 PM, Vantha said:

Does the video play correctly?

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Nope.

[Vantha]

Ok. This one should work:

 

 

[Stan`]

Sounds like a bug. Not sure the command is sent in MP though ? I think we ignore observer commands

[Vantha]

Sorry for the delayed reply.

Yes, it also "works" in multiplayer. I think that's because winning players are not made observers at the end of the game. Actually, they should probably indeed be able to do it. Maybe the real bug here is that the button is deactivated.

 

[Stan`]

  On 21/05/2024 at 8:58 PM, Vantha said:

Sorry for the delayed reply.

Yes, it also "works" in multiplayer. I think that's because winning players are not made observers at the end of the game. Actually, they should probably indeed be able to do it. Maybe the real bug here is that the button is deactivated.

 

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By it works do you mean other player see them, other observer see them or only you see them.

See https://trac.wildfiregames.com/changeset/25761

[Vantha]

By it works I mean it's possible to send flares and the team mates (the winning players) can see them. And considering these players aren't observers at this point, I think that's the intended behaviour. So the question is then why is the button disabled and why doesn't the cursor change when pressing the hotkey? That might be the actual bug here.

[Stan`]

You shouldn't be able to interact with the game once you've lost is my understanding of why the button is disabled.

The icon is disabled because it checks for whether the unit is an observer but the actual action doesn't check for that but rather whether you control the player which is probably broken somehow. You can check the changes in D1751 and input.js

[Vantha]

  On 22/05/2024 at 1:22 PM, Stan` said:

You shouldn't be able to interact with the game once you've lost is my understanding of why the button is disabled.

The icon is disabled because it checks for whether the unit is an observer but the actual action doesn't check for that but rather whether you control the player which is probably broken somehow. You can check the changes in D1751 and input.js

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The bug occurs (not when you've lost but) when you've won, at which point you're still a player (not an observer). And in that case, you should be able to still send flares and the button should not be disabled, right?

[Stan`]

Ah sorry, yeah we could probably make an exception for winners, although I'm not sure what the point would be to still be able to flare

[Vantha]

  On 22/05/2024 at 8:59 PM, Stan` said:

Ah sorry, yeah we could probably make an exception for winners, although I'm not sure what the point would be to still be able to flare

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If we cut off the ability for winning players to flare, then we should do the same for players without any teammates to see the flares.

[Vantha]

  On 23/05/2024 at 10:59 AM, Vantha said:

If we cut off the ability for winning players to flare, then we should do the same for players without any teammates to see the flares.

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Is that the desired behaviour?

I want to open a ticket and maybe make a patch for it.

[Stan`]

Maybe @chrstgtr @borg- and @real_tabasco_sauce have some strong opinions on that.

Also the wanted behaviour might differ between SP and MP.

[chrstgtr]

  On 29/05/2024 at 7:36 AM, Stan` said:

Maybe @chrstgtr @borg- and @real_tabasco_sauce have some strong opinions on that.

Also the wanted behaviour might differ between SP and MP.

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Don't care. Also, don't think it matters outside of people wanting to debrief a game to someone else. 

Edited May 29, 2024 by chrstgtr

[alre]

just enable flares to winners. viewing flares should always be allowed as flares could be triggered by a script.

[Stan`]

Might be interesting to document their function in detail (ideally in the design document but a trac page might be enough) Basically intended usage (when and how to use it (hotkeys,buttons)), restrictions, and any other things relevant

[real_tabasco_sauce]

  On 23/05/2024 at 10:59 AM, Vantha said:

If we cut off the ability for winning players to flare, then we should do the same for players without any teammates to see the flares.

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I am not sure what you mean by the second half here, but I would be fine with either disallowing winning players to flare or re-activating the button and UI icon.

[Norse_Harold]

  On 29/05/2024 at 8:53 AM, chrstgtr said:

Don't care. Also, don't think it matters outside of people wanting to debrief a game to someone else. 

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I agree. I can see use of map flares after a game ends in order to discuss what happened and mark exact positions instead of trying to communicate them verbally. Another use case is to mark where to pose armies for post-battle screenshots.

Edited May 29, 2024 by Norse_Harold

[Vantha]

Ok, considering the mentioned use cases, stopping the button from getting disabled when the game ends seems like the way to go. Here is the ticket: https://trac.wildfiregames.com/ticket/6926#ticket

[Vantha]

I just uploaded a patch: https://code.wildfiregames.com/D5297