Questions on: bidding, size of text area

Module Design
1

Hi, two questions for anyone kind enough to answer.

1: In a game where player’s bid (each player chooses a number secretly, numbers are revealed simultaneously) I’m currently using the delayed tab in the notes window. I was wondering if anyone had figured out a less clumsy way to do this. Obvious problems with delayed notes are:
-unintuitive
-cannot edit notes window in module, so I cannot leave instructions or go straight to the ‘delayed’ tab by default
-players have to open/save/close the window multiple times each for one bidding event to occur

2: When the module is loaded about 1/4 of the screen is dominated by the text area where moves are reported. My current module uses this area very little and screen space is obviously at a premium. Is there any way to make this area smaller by default? I know you can click+drag it smaller with the mouse, but this isn’t obvious to new players and seems less elegant.

2

  1. Maybe a maskable piece for each player? Each player could enter a value on their Bid piece using a Text Label trait, or (if there were just a few possible bids) you could have them pick a Layer representing their bid. The whole piece would be Masked until the player decides to flip it and reveal his bid. For the Mask trait, pick a display style of Background so the owning player could see the ‘front’ of the piece privately without having to flip it.

  2. The only way I know to affect the area of the chat window (aside from dragging the divider to make it smaller) is under Preferences | General, uncheck “Use combined applications window.” This turns the main map and chat window into 2 separate windows. Maybe that’s easier for your players if the chat window is just being ignored. However, I think this is a runtime choice–each player would need to do this independently when running the module.

3

Great suggestion for the bidding. I wondered if something like that would be implementable. I eventually settled on a piece that can be masked as you suggested, and sends out a game message whenever the player modifies the bid (to prevent ‘accidents’).

Your point about separating the game windows is also very useful. I guess it makes sense to put that option in the hands of the players, as the size/number of modules being used is a factor in the decision.

Much thanks!