Random thoughts on the current version

[stefanstr]

After a gentle nudge from Stephanie, I have finally sequestered my wife's laptop to test OWM 0.8.4 (for those of you who don't know, I'm a Mac user, my wife has a Win 10 machine.)

I like the new version a lot, I have a few remarks, though:

1) my instinct is to try and zoom in/out with the scroll wheel. Would it be possible to add an option to use the scroll wheel for zooming (at least when no objects are selected.)?
2) deleting a preset from bookmarks crashes OWM for me (boo) but it mostly restored my unsaved map the first time it happened (only the very last change got lost (hooray!)
3) I wish I could dock the tutorial window below the minimap or something; it keeps getting in my way
4) I played with the presets some more (given that I suggested them in the first place), and one worry I had was messing with the standard categories. Question/suggestion: is there a way to copy a whole category under a new name? And also: is it possible to restore a standard category to the default settings? If not, it'd be great to have that option.
5) I also took a look at projections and my first thought was that the projection grid/overlay should cover the whole map by default - the way it is now, there is a border outside the projection for the labels. But I am open to arguments for labels being the default.
6) also, the bug with projections on the polar circle doesn't seem to have been completely fixed. Drawing anything in the polar circle throws your projection algorithms right off the cliff. In particular, drawing polar landmasses like Antarctica while in a view centered on a pole (like Mercator transverse) and then switching to something else leads to unusable results. This is sad because I mostly draw planetary maps and I won't be able to use OWM for any serious project as long as this is not 100% fixed.

[Kyete]

Hey,

Real quick reply on the bug you found. We found and fixed it, so it'll be working for the next version.

Thanks for catching it!
-Katie

[Kanchou]

After a gentle nudge from Stephanie, I have finally sequestered my wife's laptop to test OWM 0.8.4 (for those of you who don't know, I'm a Mac user, my wife has a Win 10 machine.)

Glad to have you around again!

1) my instinct is to try and zoom in/out with the scroll wheel. Would it be possible to add an option to use the scroll wheel for zooming (at least when no objects are selected.)?

Ctrl+scroll zooms in and out right now. So it follows the "standard" of browsers/open office etc.

3) I wish I could dock the tutorial window below the minimap or something; it keeps getting in my way

Heard loud and clear. Stephanie had argued that case already, then we got multiple requests. Meant to do it with Beta 4 but didn't get to on time.

4) I played with the presets some more (given that I suggested them in the first place), and one worry I had was messing with the standard categories. Question/suggestion: is there a way to copy a whole category under a new name? And also: is it possible to restore a standard category to the default settings? If not, it'd be great to have that option.

You would have to to a "repair install," so that's a good point. We'll try to think of a way to let you restore them in case of accidental deleting (kind of like Photoshop's reset brushes, etc). There isn't a way to duplicate a category via the UI, you would have to do it from your file system. We'll look into adding an option for it. Thank you!

5) I also took a look at projections and my first thought was that the projection grid/overlay should cover the whole map by default - the way it is now, there is a border outside the projection for the labels. But I am open to arguments for labels being the default.

I think since the projections is a more advanced function, most likely someone using it would be digging into the options right away. The way it's right now it's clear the labels are an option from the get go, if you want the map to touch the edges you can change the with of the projection.

6) also, the bug with projections on the polar circle doesn't seem to have been completely fixed. Drawing anything in the polar circle throws your projection algorithms right off the cliff. In particular, drawing polar landmasses like Antarctica while in a view centered on a pole (like Mercator transverse) and then switching to something else leads to unusable results. This is sad because I mostly draw planetary maps and I won't be able to use OWM for any serious project as long as this is not 100% fixed.

I got to partially fix it but I'm still not finished with it sadly. "Infinite" projections transformations have given us some trouble and since projection transformation was not part of the campaign (we added it along development) it was decided it should be put aside until we catch up with some of the other stuff.

Thank you!

- Alejandro

[stefanstr]

Ctrl+scroll zooms in and out right now. So it follows the "standard" of browsers/open office etc.

Fair enough. Here's proof that I'm not very smart for not trying the industry standard.

3) I wish I could dock the tutorial window below the minimap or something; it keeps getting in my way

Heard loud and clear. Stephanie had argued that case already, then we got multiple requests. Meant to do it with Beta 4 but didn't get to on time.

It's been established before that Stephanie and I think alike. Must be something to do with our names.

4) I played with the presets some more (given that I suggested them in the first place), and one worry I had was messing with the standard categories. Question/suggestion: is there a way to copy a whole category under a new name? And also: is it possible to restore a standard category to the default settings? If not, it'd be great to have that option.

You would have to to a "repair install," so that's a good point. We'll try to think of a way to let you restore them in case of accidental deleting (kind of like Photoshop's reset brushes, etc). There isn't a way to duplicate a category via the UI, you would have to do it from your file system. We'll look into adding an option for it. Thank you!

Thanks! There's nothing worse than permanently breaking an app because it has no reset functionality...

I think since the projections is a more advanced function, most likely someone using it would be digging into the options right away. The way it's right now it's clear the labels are an option from the get go, if you want the map to touch the edges you can change the with of the projection.

Fair enough.

I got to partially fix it but I'm still not finished with it sadly. "Infinite" projections transformations have given us some trouble and since projection transformation was not part of the campaign (we added it along development) it was decided it should be put aside until we catch up with some of the other stuff.

Understood. I'm aware it's not a core feature for a large part of the user base. Unfortunately, it is for me. So while I understand if you keep pushing back fixing it, I won't be able to fully dive into OWM before you do. Although Kyete's post seems to suggest he fixed it?

[Kanchou]

She fixed the delete bookmark crashes app bug

- Alejandro