RFE: Spell sorting options
issueid=3118 07-11-2014 11:41 PM
Junior Member
Number of reported issues by rkaid: 5
RFE: Spell sorting options
Allow different ways to sort your spells

I'm fairly new to ADOM, but one thing that bugs me is that spells are sorted alphabetically. A quick google shows that this was at least discussed on usenet in 2001. It might not be a problem for experienced players, but as a "newbie" I've found it quite annoying.

Let's say I'm playing an elementalist. After a levelup or reading a tome I might learn a new spell, e.g. Fireball, which will shift all spells alphabetically after Fireball one letter. At that point I'm probably used to e.g Frost bolt being on the letter f, but after learning the Fireball spell, Fireball is now on f and frost bolt on g! So if I don't pay attention I'm suddenly casting fireballs when I mean to cast frost bolts. It could potentially have devastating results, I imagine. It hasn't caused huge troubles for any of my characters so far, except I've lost quite a few castings by casting spells I didn't intend to cast. It's mainly annoying after levelup as an elementalist because you can get new spells and not even notice until you accidentally cast the wrong one. (I don't remember if you get a message saying that you've learned a new spell; if you do then I haven't noticed that message. If there is no such message then I think it would be a good idea to add one.)

My suggestion for enhancement: add an option for sorting spells by the order in which you learn them, not just alphabetically.
Issue Details
Issue Number 3118
Issue Type Feature
Project ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
Category All
Status Suggested
Priority Unknown
Suggested Version ADOM 1.2.0 pre 23
Implemented Version (none)
Milestone (none)
Votes for this feature 6
Votes against this feature 1
Assigned Users (none)
Tags (none)




07-11-2014 11:45 PM
Member
Or perhaps sorted by skill/power level of the spell? That way the most frequently used end up near the top. There would still be some shifting, but not that much.

07-12-2014 12:35 AM
Ancient Member
As a workaround, you can quick-mark spells. The binding stays static even if you learn (or forget) some.

07-12-2014 02:32 AM
Senior Member
That can still be somewhat time consuming, since once you quickmark spells, the game always asks you which quick marked spells you want before showing the rest. I usually cast enough of a variety to make this pointless.

I recommend just making a dynamic spell menu, that you can just click and drag spells up or down the list in. It should also have a few options: sort by name, sort by order learned, sort by type (i.e, healing spells, combat spells, elemental spells (a subsection of combat), utility spells), sort by power consumption, etc. This would be a lot easier and more intuitive than just having them listed alphabetically.

And speaking of sorting by type, you should have the option of expanding/minimizing different "categories" to make mouse navigation a bit easier. This seems like more of an ADOM Deluxe feature, but it's one of many necessary to modernize the game.

07-14-2014 08:27 AM
Junior Member
A thousand times yes. Any new spells should be added to the bottom of the list, and you should be able to redefine their order.

07-14-2014 05:33 PM
Senior Member
I would recommend adding a configuration variable, similar to Sorted_Skills.

07-14-2014 09:12 PM
Ancient Member
Yeah, while I recognize the problem (and I have cast the wrong spell more than once due to it) I'd rather this change be implemented as a configuration option. I actually think alphabetical order is the lesser evil, at least for me. It does have this problem, but it allows one to find spells quickly, which any other order wouldn't do.

07-15-2014 12:15 AM
Junior Member
I like the current way it's done (alphabetical) .. but I can see why others would prefer to have it different (chronological.) So I'll vote for it .. maybe nice as a configuration variable, as psy_wombats suggests.

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