I love the Q button because it saves me another second or two as I don't need to reach for the mouse. But I can see how it could be a problem on a keyboard without a numpad.
Posted 20th Jul 2020 at 12:13
Elisabeth Daily subscriber Rated puzzle: Easy Completion time: 5:52 Used 'check puzzle' when incorrect
Agree Pseudo, but I still play on a laptop so 1 and Q are very near!!
Let's have a vote on what we should have instead of Q then.
A to G are used for 16x16 puzzles. S is for save. Z is for undo. X is for redo. Arrow keys move. TAB moves. SHIFT+TAB moves backward. SPACE toggles pencil marks.
SHIFT+Q or CTRL+Q isn't really a help since it's a pain to do. Nor is picking an obscure key like 'END' - would take longer to find than press probably!
Bottom row is too near space. Top row is too near numbers.
Options are on the middle row, not near any of the above: H, J, K or L.
I was going to suggest "enter" but there is also an enter key on the numpad so that would also be easy to press accidentally. H might be too close to G for those 16x16 puzzles. Is K unavailable?
Posted 21st Jul 2020 at 06:23 Last edited by winterer 21st Jul 2020 at 06:27
Big button, easy to find, but far from the keys needed in sudoku, especially 1 and A. Also, makes sense semantically.
Q is a problem even with a numpad for the sudokus > 9x9.
EDIT: in reply to Pseudo's comment regarding <ENTER> on the numpad: There used to be a difference between <RETURN> and <ENTER>. In JavaScript, both return "13", so extra effort is required. See: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5418313/how-to-differentiate-between-enter-and-return-keys-in-javascript
Posted 21st Jul 2020 at 10:20
Elisabeth Daily subscriber Rated puzzle: Easy Completion time: 5:52 Used 'check puzzle' when incorrect
None of the options are as good as Q, so I would prefer to keep it and try to be more careful!!:)
I omitted to mention above that you can also use / * - on the numeric keypad for A B and C. But that doesn’t affect this.
Return is a nice idea in principle but has some issues I think: * Some users will inevitably be hitting return after typing numbers when they first use the player * People will confuse Enter and Return, and Enter has similar proximity issues * It makes the keyboard shortcut text on the player a bit long * The key labelling may differ in other languages
Posted 21st Jul 2020 at 13:40
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Completion time: 0:47
Did anyone mention the Escape Key? What about Shift+Return? What about the period . ? I guess that this is at the same spot on most keyboards as well as the komma. Everything else is probably language related anywhere in the layout...
That leads somehow to user choice... is it possible to introduce a setting so everyone can pick their own hot-key?
Or we need a USB-puzzlemix-controller.... plug and play...
Another idea would be to have it automatically detect when the puzzle is complete so that you don't need to press any key at all. But I imagine that could introduce a whole lot of other issues.
Posted 22nd Jul 2020 at 11:27
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Completion time: 0:47
Automatic completion would be bad if you just mistype that very last number (happened to me recently and I noticed right away and was able to change the number).... then you have to stay in the "unaided" category if the checker tells you "you have 1 wrong number", because you might not have intented to activate the finish button - I'm in favor of this proceeding anyway.... but we had that discussion already.
I presume Pseudo meant auto-complete once correct, not just once the grid was full. This would work to an extent, although it would encourage rapid cycling through options at the end of the puzzle rather than thinking about them - and I think could confuse people who didn't realise they had finished. I also sometimes like to take a moment to check I'm right before submitting, which this would deny me. :)
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A yellow/light blue highlight in the time distribution charts highlights your time, where relevant.
Rating scores out of 10.0 show the average difficulty rating chosen by users, where 1.0 is "Easy" and 10.0 is "Hard".
If a puzzle is opened more than once, including by loading from a saved position, then this is potentially a significant aid so it is listed as being completed with 'multiple sessions' for the purpose of the best time/average rating displays above.
Minor aid is defined as no more than one use of 'Check solution' when incomplete and/or no more than one use of 'Check solution' when wrong; and/or using highlighting aids (show repeated digits, show broken inequalities and show valid/invalid placements [slitherlink] only). Major aid is any and all other use of the solving aids except for 'show wrong'.
A to G are used for 16x16 puzzles. S is for save. Z is for undo. X is for redo. Arrow keys move. TAB moves. SHIFT+TAB moves backward. SPACE toggles pencil marks.
SHIFT+Q or CTRL+Q isn't really a help since it's a pain to do. Nor is picking an obscure key like 'END' - would take longer to find than press probably!
Bottom row is too near space. Top row is too near numbers.
Options are on the middle row, not near any of the above: H, J, K or L.
Maybe 'H' for 'cHeck'?
Last edited by winterer 21st Jul 2020 at 06:27
Big button, easy to find, but far from the keys needed in sudoku, especially 1 and A. Also, makes sense semantically.
Q is a problem even with a numpad for the sudokus > 9x9.
EDIT: in reply to Pseudo's comment regarding <ENTER> on the numpad: There used to be a difference between <RETURN> and <ENTER>. In JavaScript, both return "13", so extra effort is required. See: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5418313/how-to-differentiate-between-enter-and-return-keys-in-javascript
Return is a nice idea in principle but has some issues I think:
* Some users will inevitably be hitting return after typing numbers when they first use the player
* People will confuse Enter and Return, and Enter has similar proximity issues
* It makes the keyboard shortcut text on the player a bit long
* The key labelling may differ in other languages
What about the period . ? I guess that this is at the same spot on most keyboards as well as the komma. Everything else is probably language related anywhere in the layout...
That leads somehow to user choice... is it possible to introduce a setting so everyone can pick their own hot-key?
Or we need a USB-puzzlemix-controller.... plug and play...
You can however view other players' statistics and comments in the tables above.