Set open_dominant_script_on_scene_change to off by default

[the-sink]

Super tiny change - just changes the default for the text_editor/behavior/files/open_dominant_script_on_scene_change editor settings option to false.

This behavior is super unintuitive imo. When a user tabs into a scene, they may not necessarily want to edit the dominant script in that scene, but this functionality seems to assume they always do. This has the side effect (in my experience) of making the list of open scripts super messy as scripts I never intended to edit are opened in the background, requiring me to "Close All" on the list often if I want to maintain any clarity on what I am actually working on.

From godotengine/godot-proposals#7434 it seems like others have the same feeling that this behavior is odd, however I think it makes sense to leave the option there for those who do find it useful.

• Bugsquad edit, closes: Make "Open Dominant Script on Scene Change" disabled by default godot-proposals#8372

[AThousandShips]

Note that this will make it so that everyone who has actively wanted this to be turned on will have to enable it manually

[the-sink]

I deleted my editor_settings_-4.tres file and let 4.1 re-build it from scratch, and it explicitly defines

text_editor/behavior/files/open_dominant_script_on_scene_change = true

in the file immediately on launch, so wouldn't the new version just leave that value as-is? Re-launching the editor in a custom build w/ this change applied doesn't touch it and just shows in the editor settings window as the value being different than the (new) default.

[AThousandShips]

You're right! Didn't remember that this behaved differently than all other storage (including project settings)

On the flip side this won't affect any current users

[Mickeon]

That comment is true. Editor Settings don't behave the same as Project Settings in that regard. They're all saved regardless of what the default value is.

That also leads to settings that are moved or removed between versions to be kept, but that's outside of this PR.

Regardless, this is an enhancement. I turned it off, all of my colleagues ask me how to turn this off. I have seen people in the Proposals repository requesting this to be turned off (only example I can easily find). And I cannot blame them, because the name of the setting and where it is located is annoyingly ambiguous. I'd struggle to find it if I didn't know any better.

So, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.

[Mickeon]

Please let's just do this for the time being. This setting always comes up in casual conversations and I have to remind friends how to disable it even now.

[Calinou]

I don't have a strong opinion on this personally, but I agree it makes sense to avoid changing the current script behind the user's back.

[Geometror]

I remember that I encountered this while working on #72277 and found it very confusing/unexpected. In my opinion, it's much better to have the last script that I worked on opened or restored when switching scenes or restarting the editor.

[akien-mga]

So I asked on social media to see how users feel about this feature and the proposed change of defaults.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Akien/status/1755159026864730119

Mastodon: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@akien/111889452540887927

Overall people seem to be in favor of changing the default, but it's really not that clear cut.

Most users in the comment express how annoying they find this feature and that they never realized they could disable it, so there's definitely a usability improvement needed here, if anything to make it more discoverable.

Several mentioned that they found this useful/intuitive as beginners, but that it starts getting in the way when being more experienced and working on more complex projects.

Changing this default will basically mean that we'll go from "A significant proportion of users dislike the feature and don't know they can disable it" to "Nobody knows this feature exists nor will ever enable it manually, since they don't know about it". So this is pretty much a death sentence for this feature, with a grace period for users who grew to rely on it and would still be able to toggle it if/when they notice the behavior changed and ask on community platforms how to restore it.

[Mickeon]

I see a very, very notable "Thank you Lord for helping me see the light I can finally disable this ****" in the replies, so there has definitely been a huge issue for years.

In short, looking at the whole picture, it is clear this setting is loathed by the community. Reactions here, on the surveys, on the Proposal (with literally no comments contesting it) are pretty telling.

Keep in mind that unless you entirely reset your editor settings the behavior will NOT change for existing users. Returning users will not have this feature. I think it's worth nuking this "feature" for something better later down the line.

Also worth noting that the suggestion to merge Scene and Script tabs also popped up in the survey, even if seemingly unrelated.

[reduz]

I think its a mistake to do this as-is, because for many people this is useful depending on their workflow. This feature was added because it was requested by users at its time.

I am not against changing the default but I would do it together with making it a more visible editor option like this:

[Mickeon]

The question for later is still "Is this feature good as is?". Because very few individuals (and none I have ever known) find this to be pleasing. Even in the survey (albeit very small sample size), only a few would argue in favour of it, but not that they would actively strive to keep it as is.

In my opinion inspiration from Visual Studio Code could be taken, where a single tab can just be temporary be open, and will be replaced by another temporary tab the next time (unless you right-click on "Keep open", pin it, or double-click on it).

The tab in italics is temporary.

But this is all for later.

[akien-mga]

Let's give this a try in beta 1 and see what feedback we get.

[akien-mga]

Thanks!