3 Ideas for the in-game replay selection interface:
1: Custom Folders
Would it be possible at this stage to implement a "small" change into the in-game replay folder structure?
Currently the folder structure only lists the default folders (recent, multiplayer, skirmish, challenge, campaign) whether these folders actually exists or not.
Only these folders are monitored and adding a random custom folder next to the base ones won't show up on the in-game menu.
My suggestion would be to dynamically search the replay directory for folders, then add the 5 default ones, whether they exist or not. Then a simple divider under "campaign" followed by any other folders found in the replays map.
Reasoning for this change:
You can then for example order your own replays and the replays of other people as you would see fit yourself. I for example would like a map "Downloaded" for any replays I downloaded. Another use would be to create a custom map for your separate team(s) or basically anything else the user might not want to order under the 5 base folders.
2: Replay versioning
Show the version of the replay next to the date.
Additionally color code, or put a separator between all replays of the latest build and all older replays.
This allows for easier identifying of the replays version(obviously..) and can help identify why a certain player might win in version 1.01 with a tactic that would not fly in 1.02 due to balance changes etc.
3: Allow arrow-scrolling through the replay list / turn off double-click load
Currently you are forced to click through the list and an accidental double-click will immediately load that replay (unless its a replay from a previous version).
Would it not be better to either allow for the up/down key to be used to check out the bit of replay information that is shown below the list, and/or dis-allow a double-click to load a replay. Users will then just have to click on the load button.