I started thinking.
It started with me saying to myself:
"Hmm. Seems weird/illogical for the teleport ‘+’ shaped button to be placed in the Character Info panel rather than the panel meant for controlling where you are in the universe.
I would move that to that panel…perhaps above the header? So it can be accessed both in Room, Area, and Realm views?"
But then another thought came to me.
On the first day, total newb to the interface, it was my first instinct, upon seeing the “Locations” sub-section in the top-most “Area Info” view, that each location listed is right there. Clicking does nothing but show a brief description of that place.
I thought, there’s lots more potential.
Since they are public areas, they should have a teleport button directly located on that area’s description…
But then I thought… well. wait… that would recreate the problem every other MUCK has. People teleport everywhere rather than roaming everywhere.
FurryMUCK has a taxi service, yet few use it because they’re just popping in and out of places with teleports! This ain’t Star Trek!
The thing about being in a virtual world is… you want to move through it, experience it…
So that has me thinking now… what if the map could somehow be tied in with this. What if either by clicking on a dot in the map, it could bring up information about that area in the Locations sub-section below… and then it tells you how to get there.
Not only tells you, but creates a step-by-step guide of which exits to take from your current location to your destination… like a Google Maps driving guide!
That way characters are still encouraged to walk about, rather than being zapped about.
If there’s a train station, it could recommend that route. Or if you want to walk there it could offer an alternative route, if possible.
The teleport button could still be useful for quick teleports to places already learned, if that’s what people really want/need. But I’d still move that to the location/world panel (I don’t know the proper name for it)
THEN… I could imagine, what if people create vehicles… they could program their vehicle to move from place to place on auto-pilot, using that guide as a programmed route. That would be neat…
Riding around on a horse, or being on a skateboard, or flying with a ‘flock of birds’ who know the way. The vehicle’s speed could be set to match the type of thing it is. A jet aircraft would be faster than a skateboard, for instance. Could give peeps a chance to stop at any room along the way if there’s conversation going on.