Allow using the "scroll up" and "scroll down" action (typically mapped to the mouse wheel) on closed drop down fields to switch between entries.
What?
When the mouse is placed on a closed drop down field, allow using the mouse wheel to switch the currently selected item.
Scroll up to select the previous item in the list, scroll down to select the next item in the list.
Why?
Because it is convenient to just use the scroll wheel on the mouse to get a quick overview over the effects of the possible choices.
For example: In the New Game GUI, you could scroll over the map generator preset drop down menu to switch between presets. You can see at a glance, how each preset affects the currently opened tab.
Currently:
- Move the mouse to the drop down field
- Click it
- Possibly scroll the large list of choices
- Move the mouse down to the next item
- Click the desired item
- Repeat from 1.
- Move the mouse over the drop down field
- Slowly scroll down/up using the mouse wheel. Each scroll event selects the previous/next item in the list.
I’ve recorded a small screencast video, using 0ad RTS as an open source reference game implementing the described logic.
The recording below is from the New Game screen. I want to find a map I like layout-wise or visually.
In the first seconds I use the map selector drop down menu to switch between maps. This is the same procedure as currently required in Factorio.
Then I start using the mouse wheel on the same drop-down. I can keep the cursor at it’s position and just scroll and watch the preview image change.
Video hidden here
Edit: If the video does not play nicely, you can download the webm video and use a local player, or directly open the URL using VLC player.
