Show other karts' held powerups

[M4r5]

Hello everyone,

I noticed that under Options -> Interface, there's a toggle disabled by default to "Show other karts' held powerups." I feel that if such a feature is present, it should be enabled by default. Being able to see if another player is holding a cupcake or switcher, for example, can be a game changer, especially in a battle. But, any player who hasn't opened the interface settings probably isn't aware of this feature, so the game is unfair by default when playing against someone who has it enabled. Furthermore, not knowing what powerups another player is holding makes the game less predictable and more fun. Could this feature either be removed or turned on by default?

Thank you for considering my suggestion.

[Alayan]

The trade-off to such a feature is that it adds in visual noise, and that in many situations it is difficult to spare the attention to properly make use of the extra information (this is especially true for less experienced players), so it isn't all positives.

But of course, it can be an extremely helpful feature.

But, any player who hasn't opened the interface settings probably isn't aware of this feature, so the game is unfair by default when playing against someone who has it enabled.

I would frankly argue that everyone that is about to spend time playing a new game should take a few minutes to check the menu options, as it often contains things that have a major effect on the entire game experience. It's true, of course, that most people will just use the defaults.

Furthermore, not knowing what powerups another player is holding makes the game less predictable and more fun. Could this feature either be removed or turned on by default?

Removing this option is out of question. It raises the skill involved in playing STK (even if you have the information, making the right choice with it isn't always easy), but the local clients already have information on which powerups other karts have (the taken powerup can be predicted based on conditions when the kart touched the gift box, which is important so that the player's own powerup is correctly predicted), so hiding it would only give an unfair advantage to people using a previous version or to cheaters.

However, good news for you, we were already planning on turning this option on by default for 1.5.1, precisely because too many people just stick with the default, and we think the average player would benefit more from having it activated. It would also help players understand what is going on when they are attacked by a cake, for example.

[M4r5]

I would frankly argue that everyone that is about to spend time playing a new game should take a few minutes to check the menu options, as it often contains things that have a major effect on the entire game experience. It's true, of course, that most people will just use the defaults.

I agree with you on this one. Especially with settings that affect the in-race experience, like showing or hiding other players' powerups.

Removing this option is out of question. It raises the skill involved in playing STK (even if you have the information, making the right choice with it isn't always easy), but the local clients already have information on which powerups other karts have (the taken powerup can be predicted based on conditions when the kart touched the gift box, which is important so that the player's own powerup is correctly predicted), so hiding it would only give an unfair advantage to people using a previous version or to cheaters.

That also makes sense. As an intermediate to advanced player myself, I find the feature to be very useful, but usually refrain from using it on LAN games where the other players haven't had a chance to explore the options menu yet.

However, good news for you, we were already planning on turning this option on by default for 1.5.1, precisely because too many people just stick with the default, and we think the average player would benefit more from having it activated. It would also help players understand what is going on when they are attacked by a cake, for example.

Nice! This is actually the first time I hear of a planned 1.5.1 release. And also, the visual clutter from this feature appears to be quite minimal, so I agree with you that enabling it by default will add an element of skill and make the game fairer for everyone without cluttering the screen too much for new players.