Discuss!
An open hand that turns into a finger when it's active?
Actually, no. No, that leads to ambiguity as to which finger you use.
I'd say open hand all the way, it could mean more things. And it can go into a bunched up little fist when it's not over a hotspot, I love that. Why is it so angry? Aggressively not interacting with all that grass and shit. Priceless!
in case we're talking about a domino simulator a finger would be better, but otherwise, yeah I'm for an open hand too.
But then, when using one item with another the hand should hold the selected item...
And now I'm going to propose a brilliant alternative concept that nobody came up with yet... A fist!
How about an elbow? For bookcase shunting!
I don't like the open hand cursor that e.g. comes with AGS by default, partly because it's so hard to tell where the hotspot is, but also because the hand is just there, it isn't doing anything. I like a reaching hand better than a pointing finger for Interact, though.
If you have pick-up, then you shouldn't use the open hand. Otherwise, I guess it works.
However, you should clearly mark (with a red pixel?) which part of the hand you have to click over the object.
If you choose the centre of the palm, it could get annoying, especially for small objects, because it hides what the object is.
You could have the active area of the mouse cursor the index finger, but then in that case.....you might as well be using the pointed hand in the first place.
It's a vicious circle :P.
a pointed finger that becomes an open hand when it's over something that you can interact with
Why not something like this?
(http://i.imgur.com/HW808.png)
With the entirety of human language at your disposal, why bother with the symbolistics of pretty pictures? This is why children don't read anymore! :=
I like a swiss army knife for an "all purpose" interact icon. A grasping hand icon makes sense if the character should be grabbing an object.
(http://s3d4.turboimagehost.com/t/9375521_SwissKnife.png)
Quote from: ShiverMeSideways on Mon 10/10/2011 04:50:04
Why not something like this?
(http://i.imgur.com/HW808.png)
With the entirety of human language at your disposal, why bother with the symbolistics of pretty pictures? This is why children don't read anymore! :=
I'm totally going to use this cursor in my next game!
Quote from: kconan on Mon 10/10/2011 06:51:43
(http://s3d4.turboimagehost.com/t/9375521_SwissKnife.png)
And its hotspot would be where, exactly? :P
Perhaps it would vary according to what of the swiss army knife tools you would like to use while interacting?
Now THAT'S a game idea.. The Swiss Army dude does adventuring
I propose this one, to make it really clear to the player what it's for:
(http://home.arcor.de/tith-ags/interact_cursor.png)
But in all seriousness, this problem is just one more reason to use an interface with only two verbs, assigned to left and right click, you don't need any cursors other than one standard cursor (and maybe one "over hotspot"-variation)
I'd go for the open hand, but with the back of the hand towards the screen. I feel it's the most natural position for the hand as it is to pick something up or touch a button or whatever. Other then that, I could see shivers cursor working. :=
I`d say: CHUCK NORRIS's beautiful mug.
Quote from: TomatosInTheHead on Mon 10/10/2011 12:56:09
(http://home.arcor.de/tith-ags/interact_cursor.png)
Haha, nice. That would be awesome in an adventure parody. 8)
I'd say (for me) gears are a very clearly sign for "interact" :)
really, when I see gears I'm thinking hourglass -> working...
... most of the times when I see the hourglass in games, I can't do anything, but wait ;)
I meant it like this:
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh220/Theracles/Engineers-gears.gif)but two of the gears would be enough in a game of course,
like in these examples:
(http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/krisdog/krisdog0712/krisdog071200055/2241752-several-versions-of-an-icon-symbol-of-stylised-cog-gears.jpg)
Hi Tabata.
I Totaly agree.
Gears are the way to go. :)
In the game I am making I have my inventory screen.
Within this screen I have two buttons. One is an eye (examine item) and the second is Gears (use item).
You select the 'Gears' icon and then the item you intend to use.
Jay.
If you only have two modes, why do you need buttons at all? Why can't you use the standard "left-click=use, right-click=look" control scheme?
As AGS now runs on other platforms without mouse, it might be a necessary not to depend on the existance of a right mouse button (just think tablets, smart phones,...)
Quote from: cat on Thu 13/10/2011 11:59:29
As AGS now runs on other platforms without mouse, it might be a necessary not to depend on the existance of a right mouse button (just think tablets, smart phones,...)
I think tablets and smart phones will adapt to the two button scheme after a while. Even Mac computers did - it's just a much more flexible control scheme.
Touch with left hand <-> touch with right hand ???
More likely recognizing which finger you are tapping with. :)
Maybe that's even already out there - I haven't been following the newest releases in this kind of tech.
Quote from: Snarky on Thu 13/10/2011 11:56:36
If you only have two modes, why do you need buttons at all? Why can't you use the standard "left-click=use, right-click=look" control scheme?
You are quite right I could do that.
Personally, though, I prefer 'Look' and 'Use' buttons.
I find that having buttons on an inventory screen makes what you are doing feel more 'hands on'. :-\
Or it could be that i'm just a sucker for buttons. :P
Here is my Inventory window
(http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z464/retrojay1/Inv_Window.png)
On a serious note.
My inventory window is just a slightly modified version of the default and I decided to keep the buttons.
I spoke with my Bro about this issue, who has played every adventure game going, and he said "This is good"... So there. ;)
Jay.
This design is a pet peeve of mine. I think it's pretty terrible, particularly in games that otherwise use left-click/right-click. It makes it so much more work to play around with the inventory. For example if you're trying different item combinations, you usually have to do two or three point-click interactions for each combination instead of just one.
Quote from: Snarky on Fri 14/10/2011 09:04:00
For example if you're trying different item combinations, you usually have to do two or three point-click interactions for each combination instead of just one.
I say that's a deserved punishment for trying everything on everything strategy. ;)