Arcen Games

General Category => Bionic Dues => Topic started by: Penumbra on October 04, 2013, 11:41:38 am

Title: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 04, 2013, 11:41:38 am
This whole topic should be for after 1.0.

With the addition of Linux support, I have found myself able to play much more than I could (and, probably, should  ;D ) before. However, the computer I am using has a really poor keyboard yet a fine mouse. Would I be the only one interested in being able to move with the mouse? I wouldn't want to write a ticket if I were the only one.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: x4000 on October 04, 2013, 11:43:24 am
Already there, just enable it in the settings under general tab. :)
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 04, 2013, 11:45:50 am
Well... that was fast! I should pay more attention....  :-[

Thanks!
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 04, 2013, 11:48:16 am
Let's see if this works again  ;)

I find myself with my android phone, and would like to play it there........
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: x4000 on October 04, 2013, 11:49:24 am
Hahaha.  Sorry on that one! :)
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 04, 2013, 11:53:15 am
Can't blame me for trying! Well, you could, but please don't.

This game would rock on my phone, and I would play it with ASCII graphics. You know, if you ever had a test build sitting somewhere....

Ok, I'm done bothering you finishing up 1.0
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: x4000 on October 04, 2013, 11:54:50 am
 ;D
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: chemical_art on October 04, 2013, 11:54:55 am
I will say, out of all the possible arcen titles, this would be the only one that would have a semblence of playability.

Of course the same could have been said for tidulus tidalis...(shows how much I know about that game)


theory doesn't work in practice
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: x4000 on October 04, 2013, 11:57:08 am
I have a pretty good model for how tidalis could work on tablets, but for most of our others it could get pretty painful.  Skyward Collapse also could do pretty well, I expect.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: chemical_art on October 04, 2013, 12:02:00 pm
I have a pretty good model for how tidalis could work on tablets, but for most of our others it could get pretty painful.  Skyward Collapse also could do pretty well, I expect.

shows how little I know!

Yes, skyward I'd expect. On paper I don't see why BD would be bad. Then again, on paper is hardly useful for anything electric above a diagram.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: x4000 on October 04, 2013, 12:03:57 pm
Heh.  Yeah, in a lot of respects bionic could work.  But I'd worry big-time about mis-swipes in particular.  Also doing tooltips is notoriously difficult on tablets.  I think it would slow the game down quite a bit unless we had the dreaded virtual controls.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 04, 2013, 01:20:43 pm
I said I would leave it alone, but.....

Tooltips could change to a question mark button that toggles touches from activation to tooltip information?
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: x4000 on October 04, 2013, 01:23:15 pm
As an FYI, if we did to porting it would be to iOS, not Android.  Piracy is rampant on android, the market of people who buy is tiny, and the hardware variance is enormous to the point of insanity.  And the stores are not well organized and do not support blocking unsupported hardware properly.  As some other devs have put it, they get 10% of the revenue from Android, and 90% of the support.

So... chances of a port to android, specifically, are next to nil.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 04, 2013, 05:09:45 pm
Ok, how many copies do I need to buy to make it worth it? ;)

Back on topic, is there a way to ground target with the mouse only?
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: keith.lamothe on October 04, 2013, 05:12:27 pm
Ok, how many copies do I need to buy to make it worth it? ;)
Probably several thousand up front and a few dozen every time we get yet another inexplicable hardware-specific android bug report ;)
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 04, 2013, 05:16:57 pm
Ok, how many copies do I need to buy to make it worth it? ;)
Probably several thousand up front and a few dozen every time we get yet another inexplicable hardware-specific android bug report ;)

Well, if I'm buying all the several thousand, you would only have to support my phone ;)
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: x4000 on October 04, 2013, 05:24:14 pm
Back on topic, is there a way to ground target with the mouse only?

Not by default, but there's nothing stopping you from rebinding that function to something like a fifth mouse button if you have one.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 04, 2013, 05:40:38 pm
That works, thanks!

I also put esc/menu to a button so I can access that, and replaced all instances of "Left Shift" with "Mouse 4".  Seems to be working OK now.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: x4000 on October 04, 2013, 07:26:08 pm
Great!
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Misery on October 05, 2013, 09:39:55 am
Ya know, if you were to port something like this to iOS, you dont need swipe controls.   A simple dpad in the corner would do.  I've alot of roguelikes on iOS, and most of them use such a system for movement;  after all, missteps in a roguelike are all sorts of bad.  Targeting and other things would be done via simple touching.  You could even have a simple pair of plus/minus buttons under the weapon/ability/stuff bar to handle zooming, to avoid having to do the stupid "pinch" zoom.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: x4000 on October 05, 2013, 08:46:37 pm
Generally speaking a virtual dpad is cause for rage amongst ios gamers, myself included.  There are a few examples where that is not the case, but those are comparably spare.  That's considered generally a "poor port" in the sense that some console games that don't have keyboard bindings (or other similar issues) when they are ported to PC are poor ports.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 05, 2013, 09:26:29 pm
Swipe/hold to move, tap to fire. The icons along the left side already supply the needed extra interface. Just add a menu and tooltip button, and we're golden!
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Misery on October 05, 2013, 09:43:29 pm
Swiping though really does get obnoxious;  personally I find it's *really* inaccurate in a great many games.  I cant think of even one game I have that uses it without it being all messed up and annoying.  Dpads I have no problem with at all if the developer in question is capable of doing it right (and a good number of them arent...).   Dunno about ports;  I dont think I have any games that are ports from PC/console except Brogue.   Generally I dont really buy ports as I probably already have the original on the PC.  That and most things that get ported arent within my interests.  I can see though how a dpad being stuck into a lazier sort of port probably does get obnoxious.... I can think of plenty of devs (usually the bigger ones) that would indeed qualify as "lazy".   You guys on the other hand could probably do it right.

But if not that, you could always go with a double-tap to move, and firing could simply be "poke weapon icon, poke target" each time.

I love the part where my browser almost exploded from me typing all that.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 05, 2013, 09:51:46 pm
From what I read in iOS forums on complaints, you would have to implement all the control options. Including swiping, taping, fixed dpad, floating dpad, inertial dpad, tilting and facial recognition.




 ;D
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: keith.lamothe on October 05, 2013, 10:49:05 pm
facial recognition.
"Smug exoression detected, spawning MurderBot adjacent to player."

"Shocked expression detected, offering insincere condolences."
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Misery on October 06, 2013, 06:22:57 am
facial recognition.
"Smug exoression detected, spawning MurderBot adjacent to player."

"Shocked expression detected, offering insincere condolences."


I'm guessing that "insincere condolences" actually means 2 MurderBots instead of just 1.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Cyborg on October 06, 2013, 10:11:59 am
http://www.arcengames.com/mantisbt/view.php?id=12612

This open defect is preventing it from being completely mouse only.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 10, 2013, 11:42:30 pm
And... this is what I have been using today.

This is running off my PC at home, and redirecting the input/display to my phone. Works great!!
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: keith.lamothe on October 10, 2013, 11:59:59 pm
And... this is what I have been using today.

This is running off my PC at home, and redirecting the input/display to my phone. Works great!!
Oh my.

Didn't expect that :)
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Oralordos on October 11, 2013, 12:08:30 am
Oh my. Now I want to know what software you are using (on both ends) that lets that work.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 11, 2013, 12:29:51 am
Pretty much just Splashtop 2 (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.splashtop.remote.pad.v2) which is free to use over WiFi. To use it from the outside, it has a monthly or yearly fee of about a dollar.

It has either a direct touch to click interface that isn't always accurate, but fun. Otherwise, it just turns the whole screen into a touchpad. You can pop up the extra keys when you need them, for ground targeting.

Actually, you can get a few weeks worth of free "anywhere" access by referring a friend. Then, you both get 1 week of free access. I won't be spamming a referral link, but if anyone is interested in a free week, I can PM them a link.
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: zespri on October 11, 2013, 01:08:35 am
Googled splashtop and came across this article http://www.pocketables.com/2013/02/5-reasons-i-want-to-move-away-from-splashtop-as-my-remote-computer-app-for-the-ipad.html  :)
Title: Re: Mouse only
Post by: Penumbra on October 11, 2013, 02:02:13 am
Yep, read that. If you can find something that works this well for 3D graphics, I'm all ears.

I was just playing Borderlands 2 from my phone (using a 360 controller, of course ;) ) while in my living room. Almost no lag. I think I will pick up one of those USB to micro "on the go" cables and see if that works through.

I will be interested to see what the latency is like in a WAN setting.