Contextual Ability Bar(s) - (option) - for Island Sanctuary

[Shougun]

We have a pretty cute menu, and it's handy and thematic, but I was hoping you might consider the option to have abilities on the bar, and also be ideally contextually operated. For example, in the Sanctuary UI that has the modes you click the settings gear at the top and turn on contextual hot-swapping which, like mounts, will switch abilities on bar 1.

You walk into the gardening space (cropland), bar one is auto-magically replaced with:

• 1. Gather, 2. Water, 3. Sow, and 4. Cull. (Where the number represents the slot on your skill bar)

Perhaps 'cancel' ability (akin to dismount ability on mount hotbars) at the end to drop the bar if you really needed to drop the bar and return to whatever it was underneath (alternatively just leave the space lol).

The mode graphic in the Sanctuary UI would have some sort of icon showing you're using contextual mode and then when necessary, like when in the garden, would have the slot for seeds showing and you can select which seeds you want to use.

The four skills when in the cropland:

• Gather: Will gather the target row, or alternatively if there is no target will gather the bed the player is tending (will gather what the player is standing on even if they didn't target the bed).
• Water: Similar to above, either by target or by the bed you're standing on.
• Sow: Again, the same but uses the Sanctuary UI seed slot to determine what you will plant when either targeting or standing on a bed.
• Cull: The above rules as well :3

The primary reason for this is to reduce repetitive clicks for menu diving. No longer having to switch modes, and also not having to target the beds if you choose (as it would be based on the bed space you're in currently). Space aware abilities (not requiring a target if there is close vicinity logical target, with bias to what's in front), where possible, proliferating the other skills below too (maybe 'capture' would be terrible, but I imagine 'gather' for both pasture and fields to be fine, etc).


Similar concepts for the other modes-

Within the pasture would now be:

• 1 Gather, 2 Feed, 3 Pet, 4 Beckon

With the feed selected from the Sanctuary UI and the UI showing you're currently using contextual mode.


Being out in the field:

• 1 Gather, 2 Capture

With the mode showing contextual and the slot allowing you to pick a capture tool. Another possibility rather than selecting the tool from UI is that each tool is it's own skill (grayed out when you don't have the item). So 1 gather, 2 small net, 3 medium, 4 large. For the field you might also add the ability to toggle animals and plants radar, so initially you see both but you could toggle a beast sense to hide / show animals (or plants).

Also each contextual bar (cropland, pasture, and field) could also have the sanctuary sprint and return, and add the ability to hide the sprint / return special action UI via the sanctuary UI gear (turn off the special HUD that shows up for unique situations in dungeons, like the sword and shield in the alliance raid, and is used to hold sprint / return in island sanctuary).

Some concerns for controller users if you cant move things around, which is why I said option, but personally I imagine this making the experience smoother as you'd not have to click mode anymore (and gardening would be easier, since you could just stand on the row of plants without a target).

With such a system could also have some emotes added to walking around your space that the mammets or minions might respond to (whether they be just emotes you already have or special actions). A fun gimmick action might be the player playing an instrument or something and minions follow you until you cancel it or leave their area. Not entirely intended for this thread, as I plan to make another later, but that flute idea (like Pied Piper) could be a nice upgrade for the pasture with songs for dinner and care (gathering leavings, play the tune that brings those 'ready' animals). The pet and beckon interaction in the pasture list above being another example of special (since it's function is specific to the sanctuary, yes I am aware beckon calls animals to you but it's target based- it would be neat to just play the dinner bell tune or time for your brushing/horn cleaning jam).

Thanks for reading