W should not cycle select tool modes

Hi,

I’ve just noticed that in latest 2.8 builds, W key actually cycles selection mode instead of just activating select tool. This is a big issue and needs to be addressed. This behavior is never ever helpful, and is just a source of constant confusion and errors.

3ds Max has this behavior by default, and pretty much EVERYONE disables it straight away. It’s kind of 3ds Max’s equivalent of right click select. That one thing most people disable at the very first encounter. So please do not repeat the same horrible mistake 3ds Max has been doing for years.

Many people will at least once a day hit W key while they already are in select mode, just to be sure, and at that point, as soon as they click, something very unexpected will happen, resulting in frustration.

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C4D’s approach for dropping the tool is the best imo. With the space bar (can be anything ofc) you toggle between the selection tool and the last used tool. Perfect.

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See Keyboard shortcut consistency (w) and independence on select style - left or right (forwarded from developer ticket)

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BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP!

This issue is still present in latest build, and consistently causes user error (pretty much randomly switches which selection mode you get if you press W key).

It’s really poor decision to expect user to always anxiously check if he’s already in the selection tool, since most people have a habit of pressing they key anyway, just to be sure. It’s a lot faster than visually checking.

This should be fixed ASAP. Really poor default.

Yes, I would probably agree that we should just make it always go back to box select. Originally it was like that, but we made it cycle based on user suggestions to do so. But it does make it very easy to accidentally go to an unexpected selection tool.

Whew… good :slight_smile:

The cycle mode is default in 3ds Max. I’ve been 3ds Max user for 8 years and during that time met many fellow 3ds Max users. I don’t know of a single one who would not complain about that default and changed it as soon as they encountered any fresh 3ds Max installation :slight_smile:

Literally everyone I’ve met just complained about how error prone it makes the select tool to be.

By the way, in case someone really fights for the behavior to be preserved, how about making it cycle on double-W? Double tapping the W in double click time threshold is something that would rarely happen by accident.

@LudvikKoutny It’s already there:

BUT what is really needed besides the Cycle, is an additional Toggle option, so we could toggle back and forth between the last used tool and the selection tool. That would be an improvement. :slight_smile:

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I know it’s there. My point was that it’s a really bad default :slight_smile:

i guess could be turned off by default if that’s what users want since we can turn it on and save the setting, to the rest of us who like this behaviour since it’s much faster to switch tools than holding and selecting the drop down menu each time but no double click, it’ll make it slower.

Should it go back to Box Select specifically, or to the last used select tool?

Last used select tool.
It’s more useful and makes more sense that way, imo. I personally like to jump to the circle select more than box select.

And as suggested above, an toggle option would be very welcome. :slight_smile:

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Yup, just respect user’s choice and go back to last select tool. W key should simply activate the select tool, and keep the mode intact.

Yes, I think it should go to whatever you set as the select tool, rather than the Box Select tool specifically.

But luckily this is how it already works, so that’s good :slight_smile:

The only thing is, once you already have the select tool selected, W then cycles through them. It’s smart in a way because W is a that point otherwise redundant. But I can see it also being error prone if you accidentally hit W twice, or hit W without being aware that you were already using the select tool.

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