Anyone want to point me to/teach me - simple (I hope) add on

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Hi,

It would be interesting to know how to make some adjustments to the right click menu.

As many would be aware I have been hankering for a DF counter ( please heard all the yada yada before) for 2 years and
although it might not seem "important" to have a right click available counter the "mess" of adjusting first fire counters
that latch on to the stack etc does drive me to distraction.

So, if someone can point me in the right direction I'll do it myself.

Many thanks
 

DougRim

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To edit a counter:

Start VASSAL. Click File - Edit Module. Navigate to your local version of VASL and select it.

This will open a window where you will see all the counters (and other stuff) arranged in a tree. Navigate to the counter you want to edit.

Edit the counter.

Save and close.

Run your module to test everything works as it should.

Let me know when you get that far and then we will go to step two which is added the change to the next version of VASL.

Two important points:

1. When you are selecting which counter to edit, you will need to learn a bit at prototypes. See the documents on prototypes on the wiki associated with the VASL repository on GitHub.com. It is important to (a) select the correct prototype to edit and (b) edit it in a fashion consistent with VASL counter design. This is neither simple, intuitive or easy (at least in my experience).

2. To learn about how to edit counters, go to the VASSAL website and find and view the design guide. For your purposes, you can focus on the section on counters.

Happy to answer any questions as you go through this.
 

General Mayhem

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Only thing is that the right click meu option on units already allows you to place First fire markers which can then be changed to Final fire or IFP or SW via right click menu on the first fire counter. So question is does the OP have the latest version of Vasl installed or is he asking for something different? Or is this the Yada Yada he has heard before?
 

General Mayhem

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Correct, he wants to right-click add Final Fire in one command to one or more counters at once.
Well in that case the answer to the OP is No, there is no easy way. It requires changes to the prototype definitions in Vasl. Existing prototypes cannot be changed in an extension. I believe that any Extension that wanted to incorporate this would have to create a new prototype and then add that prototype to every counter - not easy and not practical and not forwards compatible with new counters. The change to Vasl itself may or may not be that difficult but its then a question of whether it is desirable and worth the effort involved.
 

zgrose

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The change to Vasl itself may or may not be that difficult but its then a question of whether it is desirable and worth the effort involved.
More and more I find CTRL-F to be a universal flip shortcut leads to issues. I wonder if CTRL-F for breaking units and CTRL-SHIFT-F for flipping Info counters (or something like that) would nice. Being able to flip info counters on multiple stacks seems handy if one is a context-menu/hotkey junky (I'm not so just thinking out loud and slightly off-topic).
 

Sully

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To be fair adding the final fire counter to the menu is a reasonable request, but let me explain why it’s not worth doing.

First, absolutely everyone uses the piece menu every scenario. There are dozens of things we could add to it, each a little convenience for some specific situation. The problem is everyone has to deal with a menu that would quickly become unwieldy, and the signal-to-noise ratio in the selection list would start to decrease. So things that aren’t really really helpful should not be there.

Second, in the case of the final fire counter, we’re gaining very little. I, too, like to use the keyboard commands to add prep/first fire. I like it so much so I just use prep fire counters to mark advancing fire and use first fire counters instead of final fire counters. What’s the difference? I play mostly CG with high counter densities, and the only time I use a final fire counter is when there’s already a first fire counter, in which case I flip the existing counter, or when units are adjacent and the distinction is more important, which is not that often.

But lastly, and most importantly, as others have mentioned adding the option has to be done via prototype updates and then there’s a shit-ton of testing needed to make sure one isn’t missed. Getting it 98% right is easy; getting it 100% right is really hard. It’s a lot of grunt work. And none of the counters in the existing extensions would have it and then people are going to get confused why they don’t have the option in the menu when they click on a HoB or BFP counter so we have to track down those extension designers and get them to make the same updates in their extension. And all those extension updates are going to have to be communicated, and everyone has to download them again, Yada yada yada.
 
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OK one more time. when u click a stack with the first fire the WHOLE stack is selected.

THEN
you have to disengage the multiple elements (SW , leaders) BEFORE you can get back to the one counter you want.

OR maybe you don't have a FF .

So, in both cases what is needed is a CLEAN method of adding a DF counter.

It is as simple as that in principle.
 

zgrose

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OK one more time. when u click a stack with the first fire the WHOLE stack is selected.
Small tip since this comes up a lot when I'm teaching VASL:
Rather than selecting the stack and then right-clicking to put a counter on the top, if you just right-click on the stack, only the top counter is the target of the action.

Example: stack 3 squads in a hex. Select the stack (left-click) and then right-click and choose Break. You'll have 3 broken squads (since 3 counters were selected).

Stack another 3 squads in a hex. Right-click on the stack and choose Break. You'll have 1 broken squad and a DM above 2 unbroken squads.


Not going to solve the problem in your OP BUT may save you and others some grief.
 

Michael R

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I rarely use the piece menu; I usually drag a counter from the menu bar. My main uses of the keyboard shortcuts are Ctrl-X for CX, Ctrl-P for Pin and Ctrl-O for motion. I have noticed the Ctrl-X on a stack puts multiple CX counters on top of the stack, one for each MMC and SMC in the stack. So I just don't do that. For Hausser, I recommend to double click the stack (expand it) instead of single click; then select the unit you wish mark and do so.

Edit: Zgrose's tip addresses the CX annoyance that I mentioned.
 

DougRim

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Small tip since this comes up a lot when I'm teaching VASL:
Rather than selecting the stack and then right-clicking to put a counter on the top, if you just right-click on the stack, only the top counter is the target of the action.

Example: stack 3 squads in a hex. Select the stack (left-click) and then right-click and choose Break. You'll have 3 broken squads (since 3 counters were selected).

Stack another 3 squads in a hex. Right-click on the stack and choose Break. You'll have 1 broken squad and a DM above 2 unbroken squads.


Not going to solve the problem in your OP BUT may save you and others some grief.
And if you want to DFF the middle unit, double-click the stack to expand it, none of them will be selected. Right-click the unit that you want to mark and select from the menu.

As you describe it, your problem is not with menu choices but with unit selection. I don't see how adding another menu option helps you select particular units within a stack.

Unless of course, I misunderstand your issue.?
 
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I will explain this using counters as I remember that some actually have the effect I want ( might be acq counters)

Will do so in a few days and u can also see why it is different from jiggling what exists.

Thanks
 

hongkongwargamer

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OK one more time. when u click a stack with the first fire the WHOLE stack is selected.

THEN
you have to disengage the multiple elements (SW , leaders) BEFORE you can get back to the one counter you want.

OR maybe you don't have a FF .

So, in both cases what is needed is a CLEAN method of adding a DF counter.

It is as simple as that in principle.
One way this can be done cleaner :

I drag a FIRST FIRE counter off the QUICK COUNTER bar, CTRL F to flip it before putting it on the stack.

That might help minimize all the clicking
 

boylermaker

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Hotkeys work on counters while being dragged!? I had no idea, that's sweet.
 

Pacman Ghost

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I drag a FIRST FIRE counter off the QUICK COUNTER bar, CTRL F to flip it before putting it on the stack.
Or you can just put a Final Fire counter onto the toolbar. This is mine:
9850
So you just have to open up the stack, then drag the counter on top of the firing unit. But I travel a lot, and doing this on a 13" screen, sometimes using the laptop's touchpad, it's fiddly :-(
 

TopT

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Or you can just put a Final Fire counter onto the toolbar. This is mine:
View attachment 9850
So you just have to open up the stack, then drag the counter on top of the firing unit. But I travel a lot, and doing this on a 13" screen, sometimes using the laptop's touchpad, it's fiddly :-(
More power to you. I can't stand using the touch pad and always packed a mouse. I don't travel much anymore but when I did...
 
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