Control Scheme Critique (UPDATE V1.0)

Started by Dualnames, Sat 13/07/2019 22:51:14

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Dualnames

Hello, everyone, I hope you're all having a good day!!

If you're on Windows and own a controller (preferably an XBOX360 kind of controller), we've been working on a control scheme for our upcoming game, Strangeland.
I have set up helpful overlays for it, but try out your buttons see what they do, tell me how intuitive it is.

Be aware that Strangeland is a two button point and click adventure game (Left mouse button Interacts, Right mouse button Examines).
The password for the rar archive is: slscontroller
and the file can be downloaded here: Download

For those not interested in looking things themselves:

  • A is interact/use item
  • B is examine/deselect item
  • Y is open inventory
  • A/B skips text
  • LB AND RB cycle through inventory items
  • X closes inventory and dialog too( dialog can be closed with B as well and inventory can be closed with BACK and Y as alternatives.)
  • Left Analog Stick either moves the character or through choices on a dialog or inventory
  • Right Analog Stick shows all the hotspots, and the cursor will snap to the closest hotspot if it's not over anything. It can also be used to cycle through choices.
  • Dpad works like Left Analog Stick
  • X on an EXIT hotspot will.

Will gladly accept any sort of feedback!
Worked on Strangeland, Primordia, Hob's Barrow, The Cat Lady, Mage's Initiation, Until I Have You, Downfall, Hunie Pop, and every game in the Wadjet Eye Games catalogue (porting)

Cassiebsg

I'd love to help, but I need more info than that.  :-[

Do I need to install my controller i a wondows enviroment? Or install the game on a xb360? How?
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lorenzo

Hi, Dualnames!

I've tried the game with an Xbox 360 controller and a Logitech one, and it works nicely with both.

If I plug the controller before starting the game, it works fine. However, if I plug it while the game is already running, it won't recognize it. I don't know if it's possible in AGS, but many games today recognize the controller "on the fly" while running.


In general, I found the controls to be intuitive.

I like the way you scroll through your inventory, but is there a way to "look at" your objects without opening the inventory window?
The inventory window itself is a bit flawed. I feel that "B" should close the window, instead of looking at the selected item.

Speaking of inventory, it's easy to "lose" the mouse cursor in the background when you have an item selected and you're moving through hotspots, especially with small items (such as the coin).

I don't really like the way you cycle through hotspots. It feels very imprecise. Sometimes it's hard to select what you want: e.g. going from "anvil" to "furnace" requires way too many steps, even if I incline the stick in the right direction. Ideally, I should be able to point the stick diagonally and go directly to the furnace. Instead, I have to cycle through all the vents.


Personally, I would prefer to use the Dpad to select hotspots, rather than moving the character.


A big annoyance with the interface: to play the game, you have to constantly switch between the right stick to select the hotspot and the "A" button. Which means constantly moving the thumb between the two. I expect it to become very tiring after a while.
An easy fix would be to make the right trigger also act as the "A" button -- and maybe the left trigger as the "B" button. This way you could play the game without having to constantly move the thumb.


By the way, when pressing RB to cycle through inventory on the anvil, I've got this error:

Quote
---------------------------
Adventure Game Studio
---------------------------
An error has occurred. Please contact the game author for support, as this is likely to be a scripting error and not a bug in AGS.
(ACI version 3.5.0.14)

in "UI Handling.asc", line 1295
from "UI Handling.asc", line 1640

Error: Error running function 'repeatedly_execute_always':
Error: Null pointer referenced

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to replicate it.


In short, my impressions are:

  • Controls are pretty intuitive;
  • Scrolling through inventory objects is great;
  • Maybe you could set "B" to close the inventory window;
  • Scrolling through hotspots could be better;
  • Constantly switching between the right stick and the "A" button is tiring; perhaps you could make use of the triggers as an alternative to "A"/"B".

Also, not related to the controller stuff... I love the blur effect when the game out of focus! It's a really cool detail.

eri0o


Dualnames

QuoteIf I plug the controller before starting the game, it works fine. However, if I plug it while the game is already running, it won't recognize it. I don't know if it's possible in AGS, but many games today recognize the controller "on the fly" while running.

Yes, of course, I just didn't put that code (literally one line, cause I wanna get feedback more before I go too much forward with this!)

I love all your ideas, working towards their direction!

@Cassie: You need a controller that has two analog sticks and a Windows operating system

Worked on Strangeland, Primordia, Hob's Barrow, The Cat Lady, Mage's Initiation, Until I Have You, Downfall, Hunie Pop, and every game in the Wadjet Eye Games catalogue (porting)

Cassiebsg

Do you mean that I can use a cord (usb?) controler on a windows system? Think all my 360 controlers are cordless.  :-\
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Dualnames

Alright, there's an update!!

Link
Password is the same: slscontroller

Changes:
-Improved the cycling algorithm
-The RT LT (back triggers) will now cycle between the EXIT Interactive Points
-LEFT Analog Stick Trigger(When u push in the analog stick) can now be used as A and RIGHT Analog Stick Trigger can now be used as B. (I assumed those were the buttons u referred to)
Worked on Strangeland, Primordia, Hob's Barrow, The Cat Lady, Mage's Initiation, Until I Have You, Downfall, Hunie Pop, and every game in the Wadjet Eye Games catalogue (porting)

lorenzo

Cycling through hotspots is way better now, it's a big improvement.

I found that Left Trigger and Right Trigger cycle through exits only if no inventory item is selected. If you have an item selected, it points at the player instead of the right exit.

Having both the Dpad and the left analog stick for walking feels a bit redundant (especially now that you have two triggers that point at the exits). Those controls are close to each and you use the same finger (the left thumb) to utilize them.
Personally, I would use the Dpad for something else.

The game crashed again when scrolling through inventory objects, pressing LB.

Khris

Quote from: Cassiebsg on Mon 15/07/2019 14:05:32
Do you mean that I can use a cord (usb?) controler on a windows system? Think all my 360 controlers are cordless.  :-\
There are hundreds of gamepads for PCs.
To connect a Xbox360 Controller to a PC, you need the XBox360 Wireless Receiver, a USB dongle that can talk to the wireless controller.

Cassiebsg

Yes, I found that out after googling. But I really don't want to invest on one.  ;)
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