Campaign sorted based on the timeline

[ubr]

Is this have been suggested?
i'm newbie

The list of campaign installed in game sorted based on the timeline/year/ chronologically from the founding of Wesnoth till the fall of Wesnoth so we can grasp the course of history event clearly.

For example from up to down on the list:

1. Green Isle (forgot which campaign)
2. Rise of Wesnoth
3. Scepter of Fire
4. Heir to The Throne
5. Under The Burning Sun

And new campaign downloaded added automatically sorted in it.

But maybe it can't because not all campaign have hint when it happen like South Guard, Two brother etc. Sorry if i'm wrong.

Playing 1.2.6

[zookeeper]

They're now (in 1.3.x) sorted by difficulty, approximately (TB and TSG on the top, then HttT and so on).

I'd say this is much more useful for newbies than putting them in chronological order, because the chronological order doesn't really matter any. You don't need to play any campaign to be able to understand what goes on in another, so understanding how every campaign ties in to the main timeline is just a little added bonus, whereas playing them in the difficulty order is a good idea for a newbie. Chronologically, TRoW is the first campaign, but it's really not a good first campaign to try, as it's pretty hard. Also, I don't personally see why it'd be any more fun to play campaigns in chronological order (even if they were suitable to play in that order gameplay-wise) than in some other order.

[HaJo]

The list of campaign installed in game sorted based on the timeline/year

For this to work, all the campaign-maintainers would have
to include a field with the year (and fill it with some value) .

I think, it would be much more useful to have an extra field
in the campaign-data to clearly identify the type of file/addon,
as in 'singleplayer', 'multiplayer', 'era', 'map-set', etc.

Also, some players might want to know if campaigns are
translated into their favorite language - see
https://gna.org/bugs/index.php?5327
It would need another column to display that data.

[Aethaeryn]

They're now (in 1.3.x) sorted by difficulty, approximately (TB and TSG on the top, then HttT and so on).

I'd say this is much more useful for newbies than putting them in chronological order, because the chronological order doesn't really matter any. You don't need to play any campaign to be able to understand what goes on in another, so understanding how every campaign ties in to the main timeline is just a little added bonus, whereas playing them in the difficulty order is a good idea for a newbie. Chronologically, TRoW is the first campaign, but it's really not a good first campaign to try, as it's pretty hard. Also, I don't personally see why it'd be any more fun to play campaigns in chronological order (even if they were suitable to play in that order gameplay-wise) than in some other order.

I agree, but would it hurt to have at least the mainline campaigns be able to be sorted by chronological with a check box for those who aren't newbies? It could be a challenge to play Wesnoth in order on the hardest difficulty level, and UtBS is one of the hardest campaigns anyway.

[irrevenant]

I think it would be handy to be able to sort by a few different headers:
* Alphabetical
* Difficulty
* Chronological
* Completeness
* etc.

[Noyga]

Having multiple ways to sort the campaigns might be a nice things, but it would need both interface changes and campaign format changes (since we'll have to put those information in the campaign file).

Btw a chronogical sorting might not always make sense, especially if you have campaigns with different settings

[peet]

The chronological thing would definitely help would-be campaign designers. It is also nice if the players are interested in backstory, which I know I am.

But it makes no difference when playing them.

Peet

[Viliam]

I think for new players the difficulty is most important thing. Starting with difficult campaign would bring frustration. Also, it is nice to play Two Brothers first, and this campaign is not a part of Wesnoth history.

That said, it would be nice to somehow display the position of the campaign in Wesnoth universe timeline. Maybe by displaying it in campaign description.

[irrevenant]

I think for new players the difficulty is most important thing. Starting with difficult campaign would bring frustration.

Very much agreed. I believe it should default to ordered by difficulty, then be sortable from there.

[scienceguy8]

Of course, if you sort it by time, what happens when you have two or more senarios that take place at more or less the same time? Or, what if you have two usermade senarios that not only take place at the same time, but also offer completely different Wesnoth histories? For instance, I have heard there are a couple people who are working on their own senarios that tell how Wesnoth is destroyed and becomes a desert (often accidentally mispelled dessert, invoking the joking wrath of others on the board, saying how it rained whipped cream and other sweets).

[Ken_Oh]

Viliam's got the right idea. Just have the date information there. Forget about sorting it by anything other than what it is now. If we had 100 mainline campaigns, then sorting by 10 different ways (by faction, by number of scenarios, by timeline, etc.) might be useful, but, until we get that many, I don't see the use.

[Aethaeryn]

Of course, if you sort it by time, what happens when you have two or more senarios that take place at more or less the same time? Or, what if you have two usermade senarios that not only take place at the same time, but also offer completely different Wesnoth histories? For instance, I have heard there are a couple people who are working on their own senarios that tell how Wesnoth is destroyed and becomes a desert (often accidentally mispelled dessert, invoking the joking wrath of others on the board, saying how it rained whipped cream and other sweets).

I'd say either alphabetical or difficulty would be a good secondary sort order (or difficulty then alphabetical), but I'd only see this useful if, as Ken Oh said, we had more mainline campaigns (or even good campaigns that everyone installs as add-ons).

[littlebeast]

Of course, if you sort it by time, what happens when you have two or more scenarios that take place at more or less the same time? Or, what if you have two usermade scenarios that not only take place at the same time, but also offer completely different Wesnoth histories?

To the first - Have an exact, YW start and/or end date, to reduce the chances, and have a secondary sort method. To the second - that's not the issue, is it?

And I agree with irrevenant, it should definitely default to sorted by difficulty. But it would be nice, especially for campaign makers, to have a chronological sort option.

And I disagree with Ken Oh - while there aren't enough campaigns yet to need other sorting options, there are certainly enough that it would be nice. There are thirteen campaigns now, and it seems as though they'll keep adding. I'd think it better to add extra sort methods now than to wait until it'd be a big hassle.

Edit: Also, as things stand, there's really not much reason not to do it. All it takes is a single variable on each of thirteen campaigns and a Bubble Sort.

[St Stux]

to quote Aethaeryn "I agree, but would it hurt to have at least the mainline campaigns be able to be sorted by chronological with a check box for those who aren't newbies? It could be a challenge to play Wesnoth in order on the hardest difficulty level, and UtBS is one of the hardest campaigns anyway."


I suppose if tis goes ahead then we'd be best off making one huge campain called something like "The Wesnothian Saga" Where one can play through all campains joined toghether in chronological order. Make it as if its being told by a bard so if two happen at the same time he cansay something like " Do you wish to hear what happens to X or shall we see whats happend to the brave Sir X first?

[turin]

Not all campaigns are set in the Wesnoth world. How would they be sorted under such a system?