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trippsc2 / OpenTracker

An open-source cross-platform tracking application for A Link to the Past Randomizer.
MIT License
35 stars 8 forks source link

Entrance Shuffle Location Auto-Tracking? #87

Open StrikerMan780 opened 1 year ago

StrikerMan780 commented 1 year ago

I know that this feature is currently unavailable, but will this ever be considered? Obviously it would be race-illegal (and thus hidden behind the option for it), but I'm just a casual player who likes to play ALTTPR now and then, and to keep myself from running in a million circles, would love to be able to track where the entrances/exits are, and what items have been found within.

trippsc2 commented 10 months ago

There isn't a way to implement this from a technical standpoint. I have no way of knowing what connects to what, etc.

StrikerMan780 commented 10 months ago

There isn't a way to implement this from a technical standpoint. I have no way of knowing what connects to what, etc.

Spoiler files. They are JSON data with all of the information you'd need. They are generated when you make a non-race ROM.

trippsc2 commented 10 months ago

I apologize. I think I misunderstood what you were asking for. I thought you were asking for the tracker to mark off entrances from the map when you enter them and/or draw the connecting lines when the connections are discovered.

When I consider whether to implement race illegal features, I try to consider if enough value (in the form of an enhanced experience or helpfulness to new players) is provided to offset the potential cheating applications, as well as the level of effort to develop the feature.

Spoiler file parsing has been mentioned in other issues on Github and I'm not opposed to the idea overall. My leaning is that ingesting and parsing spoiler files, while it does enhance the experience, may be too exploitable given that ALTTPR League features spoiler races prominently. If I were to go down that route, many limitations would need to be placed on it.

For instance, I think parsing dungeon prizes from the spoiler file is a relatively low risk addition, especially in non-Keysanity modes. In the worst case, a cheater gains a few seconds.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions on the best way to limit it and reduce the risk of cheating, I'm open to them.

Another lesser concern I have is having the map look like the Charlie Day meme when you turn the feature on from all the line draws.

StrikerMan780 commented 10 months ago

Nah, I was just thinking about having them linked from the get-go.

But, I wonder if USB2SNES might have a way to periodically poke the game memory to read which room/screen you're in (either by number or however it is stored in ALttP). That way in combination with the spoiler files, you can tell it to only reveal them then. (Like if you end up in the room # corresponding to say... the Hype Cave, it'll reveal the link in the spoiler file to Hype Cave) Would stop the Charlie Day situation. I've seen USB2SNES apps do things like track player position in realtime (Super Metroid VARIA Randomizer's own tracker does this, in fact, it also does randomized entrance linking like this suggestion), so I think it might be possible, if not maybe tricky.