Request please: Exit to desktop button on start/table menu

[Jambon Emmental]

Hi. Please can i suggest a potential improvement? Please can Zen add an 'Exit to desktop' button on the menu that pops up when you press 'Start' on the controller during a game? I think the current process for exiting to the desktop from a game with the controller involves a minimum of 10 button presses (Start, Up, A, Left, A, Start, Up, A, Left, A), plus additional loading to get to the table select screen.

In the meantime, I anyone knows of a quicker way of doing this with a controller then please let me know!

Imo one of the best features Zen has introduced (and something i think they should be applauded for) is enabling us to start a given table from the command line, which means you can easily set up desktop shortcuts to take you straight into a particular table. This is fantastic because it speeds things up and lets you bypass the home screen and the table select screen. If there was a similarly speedy option to exit back to desktop that would be much appreciated (and would nullify a lot of my tired and repetitive complaints about the table select screen).

[Pinballwiz45b]

Alt-F4. Simple.

Unless you're seeking to save the game in progress; that's a different story.

[Jambon Emmental]

Thanks Pinballwiz. That's definitely a big improvement on what i was doing so I'll give it a try. I don't think I'd ever intentionally save a pinball game (in fact I'd rather they didn't autosave in some ways) so that's fine. Still think an option to quit to desktop quicker with the controller could be a useful addition, e.g. If you're a lazy pig and can't be arsed to lean forward lol. Also, it's feels a bit neater (to me anyhow) if you can do everything quickly via the menus with the controller.

[MikeFulton]

I almost always just do Alt-F4, but I wouldn't hate the addition of an "Exit To Desktop" button at the bottom of the Pause Menu.

[Pinballwiz45b]

With the way load times are, you could accidentally close out the game and have to wait longer to get back in.

I'd rather resolve the load times first before implementing this.

[Jambon Emmental]

Originally posted by Pinballwiz45b:

With the way load times are, you could accidentally close out the game and have to wait longer to get back in.

I suppose an additional "Do you really want to quit?" stage wouldn't be unreasonable if that's something people are worried about.

Originally posted by Pinballwiz45b:

I'd rather resolve the load times first before implementing this.

Yep, if it was a choice between one or the other (is it?), i'd rather they improved the load times too. In fact the load times are one of the things that make it more time consuming to exit via the UI because getting from the bit where you're playing the table to the table select screen involves a separate loading screen in between iirc. And in terms of priority order, there are indeed many other things I'd prefer them to fix/improve before adding an 'Exit to desktop' button on the pause menu, e.g. sorting out the sound levels or making it so the fans on my pc aren't going bananas. Hopefully the next update will leave us all pleasantly surprised.

[Pinballwiz45b]

Originally posted by Jambon Emmental:

I suppose an additional "Do you really want to quit?" stage wouldn't be unreasonable if that's something people are worried about.

That pretty much comes with any form of "Exit" option these days, but the point I was trying to make was someone could mistake that for "Exit Table", either out of habit/muscle memory from previous versions or any other reason.

I agree it'd be a good option, but potential impact is another thing to consider.

[Jambon Emmental]

Originally posted by Pinballwiz45b:

someone could mistake that for "Exit Table", either out of habit/muscle memory from previous versions or any other reason.

Yep, that's true. Maybe the thing to do would be to put "Exit to desktop" as the option second from bottom? Currently "Support" is second from bottom and i'm guessing that's not one of the most frequently used of the options. So if people are used to having "Exit table" as the bottom option it would still be the bottom option (most quickly accessed by pressing up).

Now you mention it, i do wonder what the rationale is for the current order of options. I get having 'Resume game' and 'Restart game' as the top two options as they're probably the most frequently used, and in that order. My guess is 'Exit table' is possibly the next frequently used but that's at the bottom, maybe cos accidentally selecting it wouldn't be great. But neither would restarting the game. Who knows?

Also, i do wonder if some of the options are actually needed in the pause menu? Table guide and Manual Camera can already be accessed in the (possibly unecessary?) pre-game section where the camera pans around the table (does anyone know what that screen is called?). And if such a screen is needed, maybe that's where they could put the 'Credits' button instead of having it cluttering up the pause menu which you might (or might not) think should be as streamlined as possible? So many considerations when designing a UI - i bet there are books about it!

[Pinballwiz45b]

Originally posted by Jambon Emmental:

Also, i do wonder if some of the options are actually needed in the pause menu? Table guide and Manual Camera can already be accessed in the (possibly unecessary?) pre-game section where the camera pans around the table (does anyone know what that screen is called?).

Bad suggestion. You're asking to remove features from the pause menu that will be inaccessible during main play. Players would be forced to reset to get those options again.

Having them both available is preferable -- Attract Mode options for Table Guide and Manual Camera are meant for quick access, something that neither FX2 nor FX3 had. It saves the player from pausing and navigating to those options.