[Scummvm-tracker] [ScummVM] #10134: SCUMMVM: Please add a 'Prompt to Save' feature to games.

macca8 trac at scummvm.org
Tue Aug 15 09:27:33 CEST 2017


#10134: SCUMMVM: Please add a 'Prompt to Save' feature to games.
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Reporter:  macca8       |      Owner:  (none)
    Type:  enhancement  |     Status:  new
Priority:  normal       |  Component:  --Other--
Keywords:               |       Game:
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 Currently, whenever the player exits the game in progress for any reason
 (Quit, Return to Launcher, Load), any unsaved changes will be lost without
 warning. This puts the onus back on the player to remember to save before
 exiting the game. In my opinion, this is really poor form.

 Where a save mechanism is available, it makes sense to prompt the player
 to save any unsaved changes when it's most needed.

 If the feature already exists or is pending, then that's great, but if
 not, here's the basic concept as I see it:
 - monitoring of unsaved changes.
 - an appropriate dialog to alert the player & initiate the save (if
 required).
 - identify the player actions to activate the feature.

 **1. Unsaved changes.**
 A property (**_saveChanges**) should be established & initialised/set to
 **false** in these situations:
 - starting a new game.
 - loading a saved game.
 - after completing a save.
 This property is set to **true** by the first valid mouse, or keyboard
 navigation, event (something changes) that follows any of these
 situations. Supporting this with an appropriate conditional statement
 avoids unnecessary resets (for example, if !_saveChanges then set
 _saveChanges to true).

 **2. Dialog.**
 The dialog should contain a simple message & three buttons:
 *Message: **Save changes?**
 *Buttons (left to right):
 - **Cancel**: return to game.
 - **Don't Save**: continue player exit call.
 - **Save**: open usual Save screen, then, if save completed: continue
 player exit call.
 Cancelling in either the Save or Load screen should always return to the
 game.
 This guarantees that the player can only exit a game without saving
 unsaved changes by clicking **Don't Save**, the desired result.

 **3. Trigger actions.**
 Dialog should only appear **if _saveChanges is true**.
 If true, then any of these player initiated exit calls:
 - **Global Main Menu (Ctrl-F5):** Quit, Load, Return to Launcher.
 - **Keyboard:** Cmd-Q (Quit on Mac OS X) & its equivalent on other
 platforms.
 If a game has its own unique menu, then:
 - **Game Options Menu:** Quit, Load.

 No doubt, implementing this feature is probably more complex than it
 appears here, but then, this isn't a trivial request, so I hope it's
 viewed favourably.

 As an end user, I'd expect this as a standard feature for ''any'' game
 with save support. As such, there's an expectation of built-in protection
 against ''any'' predictable loss of unsaved changes.

 Please don't leave games vulnerable to what is basically an avoidable
 error.

 Thanks for your consideration.

 This replaces #10133.

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Ticket URL: <https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/10134>
ScummVM <https://bugs.scummvm.org>
ScummVM


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