Bottle of disinfectant (UI improvement)

Game Talk The Drawing Board
1

Not sure if the title is accurate, I can’t think of a decent name for this topic.
This is something I noticed why talking on IRC today. The game has some inconsistencies in UI regarding disinfectant and similar, non-edible liquid.

A bottle of disinfectant is listed under the Food/Drinks category, this is simply untrue. When 'a’ctivate it, the game will ask you where do you want to use it (cure your bite wound), this is normal but the weird thing is when you choose to 'E’at it, the game will also ask you the same thing as if you 'a’ctivate it (aka not let you drink your disinfectant).
The consistency arises when we have bottle of ammonia, since apparently there are no direct use of ammonia, both 'a’ctivate and 'E’at will result in you drinking the liquid and throw up heavily.
For comparison sake, vinegar is edible (although not exactly enjoyable) and 'a’ctivate/'E’at it also result in you drinking.

Another problem I see is the inconsistency in the color, what does the red color in 'a’ctivate for bottle of disinfectant mean? Does it mean “not recommended”? I think the color should be green, while 'E’at should change to red. This is the same situation with the first air kit.
On the other hand, vinegar does not have a direct use and yet you can 'a’ctivate it. (But you will drink it instead)

Ok, so what I’m proposing here is we rework this particular UI element a bit. Making the interaction menu in your inventory more consistent and logical.

  1. Stuffs should be categorized correctly, bottle of disinfectant should be moved to “drug&medicine”. Ammonia should be moved to “other”. I’m not sure if only these two are the offender, there could be other liquid like this.
  2. Either allow players to 'E’at disinfectant or just outright disable the 'E’at option.
  3. More logical color: For disinfectant, “activate” should be green while “Eat” should be red or gray (if we disable the option). Considering that red color means “not recommend” I think it’s logical to do so.
    It’s necessary that point 2 and 3 go together. The game should recommend 'a’ctivate disinfectant and warn against 'E’at it (or outright disallow it), while for vinegar for example the game should recommend you to 'E’at while disallow/advise against 'a’ctivate. “activate” and “Eat” should be separated in all cases.

Edit: activate/apply mixup.

2

I made disinfectant, but the problem is that the game automatically thinks any thing that you use that is a liquid is a drink. I think its hardcoded in and honestly its not that high on the list to fix IIRC

3

I’m pretty sure the (a) is (a)ctivate not (a)pply, in which case it’s not unreasonable to make the connection between activating your bottle of liquids and drinking it.

4

That was my bad, I mixed up “activate” and “apply”, in other RLs “apply” is more common I think.
Edited the original post.

5

I attribute the (a) to “apply” as in my limited experience with MUDs, “apply” meant use, which could be anything from puling a lever to eating a cake.