default controls graphic

[sinewav]

Last weekend I saw a friend of mine at a party. He told me he downloaded ArmagetronAd (on my recommendation), but had a hard time "getting it to work". Apparently, it took him quite a while just to figure out how to control the bike, and by the time he did, he was rather frustrated. He's a bright guy, but Arma's controls weren't totally obvious to him. He mentioned trying the typical FPS "wasd" and some arrow keys and the number-pad - and he eventually found it, but he said it felt awkward.

I admit, I had the same problem when I first started. The first thing I do with any game I get is make the controls like another game I'm already good at (usually Descent hahaha).

So, this inspired me to act on an idea I had several weeks ago. My idea is to make a splash-screen listing the controls and where to change them so people can play immediately. I thought it could follow "title.jpg" or perhaps immediately before entering a game. Of course, the user should be able to call it up from a menu and turn it off too.

I haven't seen this idea posted yet, so I'd like your opinions. The only downside I can think of is 1) makes the package slightly bigger because of the file, 2) it needs a little bit of extra code, and 3) we need to make it with different layouts and languages.

Here is a rough draft. Is it a good idea? How can we improve on it? I can think of several games that have something like this already (for instance FLTron).

[kyle]

heh, I remember when i first tried the game, back on Mandriva 2006 using the 0.2.7 version of tron. I couldn't find a point of the game not knowing how to turn. my natural instinct was to use the arrow keys. after starting it up 3 or 4 times playing local games just guessing keys i found a few of them. Then I eventually found where to bind them and blinded my own (arrow keys control most of the stuff) up:chat, down brake ,left: left, right: right. But yes I could see that being a problem from my experience.

maybe the default controls shown as a splash screen for the first X amount of starting it, where X is an element of the integer

[DDMJ]

v is default brake not b

but I like the idea

[sinewav]

v is default brake not b

but I like the idea

Oh yeah, duh. "B" is brake on my machine. I'll fix that if this gets more positive feedback. Oh, and feel free to make your own variant or add/delete copy.

[Concord]

couldn't we just make the default keys more natural?

left arrow left
right arrow right
down arrow brake
enter is chat
tab is score
p is screenshot

[fingerbib]

I think either idea would be for the good. My natural instinct when I first opened it up was to go for the arrow keys. I've also had similar experiences of introducing people to the game, who then can't figure out how it works, thus losing potential players from our little community.

[XzL.Smart]

I figured out how to change the keys before I actually played in a game, so I wasn't really confused on that part..

[Z-Man]

Bratty new age gamers too lazy to read the docs, all of you. Default keys are covered on the very first page of em.

couldn't we just make the default keys more natural?

left arrow left
right arrow right
down arrow brake
enter is chat
tab is score
p is screenshot

I'm for that, rather than the splash screen. It's nice, but we're no flight sim with a million keys, and SDL gives us no way to query the keyboard layout, so we wouldn't have a good way to display the correct graphics.

Glances are rather important, though. Suggestions for a new home for them welcome. Is there a place where they don't give doublebind trouble?
(What I'm talking about here is this: a) it needs to be anatomically possible to glance while pressing two direction keys at once and b) common keyboards need to be able to register the keypresses correctly. Mine, for example, will not register "left+a+z" as that, only as "left+a", which is quite deadly.)

[Jonathan]

All recent keyboards I've used tend to use some sort of grid of switches. You can't press a key if it results in some held key being on both a row and a column which have any other held keys. Say, SDC or 17M in normal qwerty. But the grid can be split at points depending on the keyboard, and the number of keys that can be pressed if the grid isn't violated also varies (we're talking 5, 8, 10, though, not necessarily including modifiers yet).

[2020]

brilliant idea sine
wrt splashscreen
best hack i've heard for a long time

and concs
wrt key configuration

if we can have one splash screen
can we have others?
like a slide show which explains how the game works as well as key bindings...?

[Z-Man]

Jonathan: Yeah, that's what I mean Problem is, there's different possibilities for the layout of that grid (qaz vs. esz, for example) and the cursor block, if on the same grid as the main keyboard, can come in at different rows. Actually, in two of the three samples available right now, the cursor block is independent of the main part, which makes it quite optimal for the glance keys (you often hold them down while doing stuff with your other keys).

Hmm. Let's modify the suggestion, then. Keep the glancing with the cursor keys, but extend the turn keys thusly:
q, w, a, z, y all turn left
e, r, d, x all turn right
(US layout in mind, obviously. But it also works the same way with azerty and quertz.) We can have a generic splash screen where we blur the actual letters on the keyboard out.
Obvious disadvantage in some peoples' eyes: this setup encourages multibind gameplay. Hell, I even imagine myself building little bridges across QW and ER as I write this to make it possible to hit both with one finger.
And it's left handed. I simply imagine that shooters have conditioned players' brains to 'left hand moves' so it's not a problem.

Brake shares the same 'you need to be able to hold it while doing other stuff' requirement as the glance keys. So:
s and cursor up (the only cursor key left) brake.

And yeah, enter is definitely the chat key.

[Cosmic Dolphin]

I have to admit that is a really cool idea. The only reason I ever caught on to the controls (which I had to change myself, never figured out why the main controls would be on the LEFT side when most people are right-handed) was because an experienced Armagetron player was standing over my shoulder telling me everything I was doing wrong. I now have the control setup hard-wired into my brain in a way most people don't think is good anyway.

[madmax]

I don't see that much reason we need to have a default setup with double binding... But then again, I'm biased I guess. Anyway, I think the default keys should include either Left Arrow/Right Arrow or A/D as turn left/turn right. IMHO it's the two most obvious tries.

As for sine's idea, I like it!
Although changing the default is best, having that *plus* a help screen sounds good

[Z-Man]

It's not about double binding, it's about having a choice which key to actually use, and to increase the chances you get the right one when mashing the keyboard semi-randomly.

[2020]

am i missing the point?

even the simplest flash games have simple intro pages
OR EVEN
the keys needed on the splash screen...

hehhe
are we deliberatively making this game as hard to play as it seems?
taking my friend through the procedure to start was...
like sumo