Display a quote in the loading screen

[michalove]

This is just a little touch to make everything more ninja-like.

I suggest we replace the word "loading" in the loading screen by some clever quotation. Maybe something said by Konfuzius or a Japanese proverb: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_proverbs

Or maybe we implement a couple of them and one is randomly chosen on start up.

[Germanunkol]

Good idea. I always liked how they used this in games like "Rome: Total War" - it really sets the mood.

[michalove]

I did it. Unfortunately, the player has barely time to read it, because loading is so fast. I don't want to stretch the waiting time artificially, so my only idea is to add a fade in and fade out for the loading screen, so that the proverb can always be read.

Or I implement a simple timer, such that the text is shown for at least two seconds. But if loading is done, then the player can skip the waiting by pressing a button (display "press any key to continue"). In other words: After loading, it waits for the player to press a key or for at most 2 seconds.

[Germanunkol]

I think the "press button to continue" would be the "cleanest" way (fading often doesn't look that great). For some of the longer texts, 2 seconds might not be enough, maybe we should make it 5. I kind of dislike that this introduces another step to take before actually getting into the game (especially annoying for developing/debugging), but it will probably look best.

[michalove]

I dislike this aspect, too. If this loading time is that short, maybe the best solution is to remove this feature altogether. After all, it is only a "gimmick" and has absolute no priority over any other aspect of the game.

[Germanunkol]

True, but it looks very good and does help to set the mood. So if at all "possible", I think we should keep it.

We can always add a "RELEASE" global variable which, when set to true, enables these kind of features. We just have to remember to set it to true before releasing any demos.

[Germanunkol]

I added a "press any key to continue" message to the loading screen. I don't think it's too obstrusive, and doesn't take much longer to load. What do you think?

(Feel free to change the text, of course.)

[michalove]

Thats fine.

[Germanunkol]

I think the screen transition is another issue (should probably also happen when loading a new level), so this is done, imho.

[Germanunkol]

I had this in a "Glückskeks" the other day:

"Der Frosch im Brunnen ahnt nichts von der Weite des Meeres."

• Japanische Weisheit

I thought I'd put it here, it somewhat fits the theme (but not perfectly). So if you were still looking for quotes, feel free to use this. Otherwise, please ignore this post.

For example as: "The frog in the well has no clue about the vastness of the sea."

[michalove]

I found this translation: "A frog in a well does not know the great sea" and added it to the proverbs. Also I added some more and removed some. The new ones tend more towards funny.