Hiya, I've been lurking around the forums and slowly learning more about game creation. Probably the hardest part for me would be the graphic design aspect. I'm workin' on it, though.
Is anyone out there left-handed? Do you use your mouse or a tablet? I'm having a hard time learning fine control with my right hand on my mouse, and I sketch with my left. I'm thinking of just buying an optical ambidextrous mouse and seeing if I have more control that way. Maybe this is completely silly. Just wondering. :) Thanks.
lizzle
I am left-handed ...
If I'm going to "paint" on the computer I use a tablet. However most art I do on the computer is pixel-art and it's actually easier for me to do that using the mouse (right-handed).
I totally know what you mean about "drawing" with the mouse ... I tried using a left-handed mouse a long time ago and drawing wasn't any easier. The mouse just doesn't, for me, lend itself to that. However I have seen some pretty impressive mouse work though ... so it's one of those "to each their own" situations I think.
I'm left handed.
I use my mousepad on my laptop for moust mousing, which is in the center, but years of conditioning have left me using my right hand anyway.
Of course, given most mouse construction, the main mouse button is pressed by the index finger (except my awesome USB port joystick-type mouse which uses the thumb). You'd probably find yourself using your left index finger all the time and getting the right-click menu. I know I would.
As for the artistic aspect, I'm a 3D kind of guy. =/
Not really anything to do with left handed mice, but...
All the mice I have are symmetrical.
Here's a little test. I'm right handed though and I think this test tells more about my lack of cirlce drawing skills.
I prefer working with the optical mouse because it feels most responsive. The cursor stays on the same spot when you touch of let go of the mouse too.
The pen is too sensitive for normal computer work, and works best on high res drawings only (which i never do). For this test I prefer the pen, though I would normally use the circle drawing tool that comes with every drawng program.
The ball mouse feels very unresponsive and non-coorperating. I had and older ball mouse that felt as if it had dead angles when moving in straight lines. The one I have now is better, but I only use it if the batteries of my optical mouse die in a critical moment.
The tablet mouse feels weird because the posision is calculated by the tablet, not the mouse itself. Therefor turning the mouse and then moving sideways doesn't make the cursor draw diagonal.
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/mousetest_optical.PNG)(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/mousetest_ball.PNG)
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/mousetest_tablet.PNG)(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/mousetest_pen.PNG)
The + is the center of the canvas which I drew with the line tool. Notice that it's very hard for me to draw a straight horizontal and vertical line with the tablet pen. When I have the cursor on a coordinate and then put down or release the pen I miss the original coordinate.
I am left-handed and use a laptop.
I draw with my right hand if it's on the computer. I had to learn how to do it.
Small pixel like sprites is ok, but going for hi-res is not good at all.
I'm left handed too, and I've always tried to use a normal right handed mouse. In some respects I've definitely improved over the years, but at one point I did get very frustrated and thought buying a tablet would easy the trouble. But even with the tablet I've got and using my left hand, I'm rubbish at drawing :p So, since then, I've just continued to try and use the mouse. Good luck!
Yep, another leftie here. First of all, welcome!
When I got my first mouse, I tried it with both hands to find out which suited me best, and I use it with my right hand (have a left-handed friend who uses it with his left though).
You could try switching the buttons in the mouse setup to see if that works better for you, before buying another mouse.
On drawing with the mouse I can't say very much, since I'm not a real artist, but I get the best results by sketching it first, then scanning my drawing and finishing it with the mouse.
I'm left-handed, too.
I've been using exclusively my right hand to handle the mouse since forever, but due to a recent wrist injury I had to switch to the left hand. It was a bit weird in the beginning but feels completely normal by now.
The fun thing is, I didn't notice until just now when reading this thread that I activate things using the middle finger and open the menus with the index finger. :)
Damn, so many lefties...
I, personally, always found ball-mice (mouses?) to be better for art. The newer ones are just as responsive as optical mouses (I think that's the correct plural term), but less random... optical mouses always seem to skip around and the cursor moves sometimes several seconds after the mouse itself comes to a rest...
I suppose it depends on the pattern beneath it. Also, they don't work at all on a red background...
As unrelated to the topic as this is, for some reason Photoshop has started 'cutting corners' when I try drawing a circle with the mouse at a reasonable speed (it works if I do it very slowly). It skips points so that my circles are not very circular. Any idea how to fix this?
Check brush settings->spacing. Set it to something smaller.
Hahaha...it works now, without even needing to change the brush size. Could not having enough memory be a reason why it wasn't working before?
Gley....sorry again for the off-topic. I am not left-handed, no matter how hard I try.
1. No.
2. Mouse.
The best thing to do is turn your mouse upside down...
Jeez, bloody left-handed freaks, ::)
Quote from: Stupot on Wed 14/05/2008 19:30:54
The best thing to do is turn your mouse upside down...
Jeez, bloody left-handed freaks, ::)
Yeah, you illogical, spatially-challenged, mathematically-retarded, hyper-creative bastards...
I'm a northpaw (by that I mean: righthanded), but still I thought I'd reply to your post, because:
I bought a tablet because I wanted to make a game, and drawing with a mouse just didn't do it for me, so I bought a pen tablet, so glad I did! The game is put on indefinite hold, but I still use the tablet for general mousing around. It works so much nicer than a mouse; a machanical one always would slip, and an optical one would sometimes jump instead of gracefully sliding as I did actually move it.
So bottom line is this: you probably can't go wrong with getting a pen tablet.
Oh wait the bottom line is this:
_________________________
I'm left-handed but find myself drawing a lot better with my mouse with my right hand. Strange.
Also, left-handed people are actually more creative than right-handed people ;)
Double score: left-handed and I use a tablet. ;D