Changing the default user interface options

[Dan Gerous]

I am trying to update the default user interface options (solid_walls from no to yes for example) so that I don't have to change them every time after my many many many....many deaths.

The "option.txt" file says that the internal name (solid_walls) can be used in user pref files and to see "customize.txt" for more info. Customize.txt finishes with stating:

User Pref Files (Options)
=========================

The "Interact with options" command allows you to turn options on or off.
You may turn options off or on using the user pref commands of the form
'X:<option>' or 'Y:<option>' respectively.

I tried inserting Y:solid_walls and Y:[solid_walls] into both pref.pref and user.pref but keep getting a parsing error (and no solid walls by default).

What am I missing here?

(This is with 4.1.2 on Windows)

[Nick]

Sorry, that help file is out of date - you can't save options to a pref file any more. The way to keep the same option is to re-open your dead character save file when you start a new game.

[Dan Gerous]

Nick, thank you! I also just learned I can recreate my recently deceased character too!

[smbhax]

Originally Posted by Nick

Sorry, that help file is out of date - you can't save options to a pref file any more. The way to keep the same option is to re-open your dead character save file when you start a new game.

The Birth Options screen now lets you save to some kind of default that persists automatically between characters, which is great! Would be handy to have something like that for the interface options as well. As a new player, I was pretty confused that they reset with each character (unless you make a new character by loading a dead one as you say--which I never would have thought to do on my own, and which is ever-so-slightly inconvenient).

[smbhax]

Oh hey, in the Nightly version on angband.live you can now save the User interface options! = D

(Can't save Subwindow setup yet though, that's the one I have a hard time remembering. ; )

[backwardsEric]

Originally Posted by smbhax

Oh hey, in the Nightly version on angband.live you can now save the User interface options! = D

(Can't save Subwindow setup yet though, that's the one I have a hard time remembering. ; )

The subwindow setup can be configured through the preference files, unlike the options which are tied to the save file in Vanilla. I don't know what's available on angband.live for managing the preference files, but you could try saving the subwindow preferences ('=' then 's') as user.prf which should cause them to be loaded for all your characters in Vanilla (if you already have a user.prf, you probably would want to merge the subwindow settings into it; you also might want to merge the system-wide default preferences, the stock version is here, into that user.prf as well, if only to pick up the option to use per-class or per-race preferences).

[smbhax]

Thanks for the tip! angband.live can show you the files it has saved for you, and no user.prf was shown, so I've saved out my subwindow settings to that. : )