default controls graphic

[Cosmic Dolphin]

Ty Sine.wav

All I can say is very good job on this idea and the way you are taking it. Do you think it would be possible to choose between several control options that could be used in the start up page? You could have several "default" controls, like style A, B, C, D or customize. It would appear the first time you play your new download of Armagetron and then not appear again unless you change it in a front and center menu called controls that is not under options. That is just an idea. (feel free to not agree)

[2020]

o
i thought we were making progress
and i thought it was sparked by your use of the splash screen idea...

just seemed like a simple solution to many of our problems

yes
back to the matter at hand:
default key bindings

[kyle]

not sure if someone said this here yet, but what if instead of taking them strait to the game can we take them through all the configuration pages before they play for the first time? or at least though the player setup menu?

[Concord]

in my opinion the game should open like this

first time opening
1.1 language menu
1.2 control config, name and global ID
1.3 local game (200x200 grid) with a winzone or easy-to-conquer fortress zone
1.4 color customization
1.5 local game (200x200) with a regular fortress zone
1.6 camera menu
1.7 local game (200x200) with a bad AI defender guarding the zone
1.8 system setup menu
1.9 local game with a decent AI defender
1.10 full menu

everytime after that
x full menu
x.1 multiplayer
x.2 single player
x.3 settings

first time in multiplayer
1.x.1 network setup
1.x.2 paragraph servers, master list, lag, ping
1.x.3 list of suggested servers
if selected.1.x.3.1test settings in single player for each suggested server, loads the cfg into a local game
if pass 1.x.4 full master list

additionally, suspend should be the default player police, and kick be the one we must type in. suspend would output a server-defined message (i.e. How to Grind).

[DDMJ]

How about detailed /help topics? For example, in the default fortress config, add a few help topics and a round_console_message so that all fortress servers will have the same detailed menu on how to play, etc.

[Tank Program]

another version

I like this. If we use a keyboard without the keys written on it, and then have the default bindings done in such a way that the layout doesn't matter, I think we'd be OK. Although dvorak might be a problem. Can we have a splash like...

Code: Select all

A - turn left
D - turn right
To change bindings, goto...

...and let the user read their own keyboard?

[Z-Man]

Ty Sine.wav

All I can say is very good job on this idea and the way you are taking it. Do you think it would be possible to choose between several control options that could be used in the start up page? You could have several "default" controls, like style A, B, C, D or customize. It would appear the first time you play your new download of Armagetron and then not appear again unless you change it in a front and center menu called controls that is not under options. That is just an idea. (feel free to not agree)

I like that. It has been bugging me for a bit that you can't easily switch between comfortable one player play with all the available keys bound to glancing and instachats and two player play where the second player at least gets turns, brakes and glances. Likewise, we may want several possibilities for gamepad layouts. While the current system is flexible and stuff, it doesn't allow the second player to jump in by just attaching another controller, he has to define all his bindings first. In short, modular input mappings are needed.

Tank: dvorak users are forked in the current system anyway. We could allow storing keybindings on a per-scancode basis, too. That way, they'd be in the same place regardless of the layout. Problem is, we can't display them properly in the exisiting keybindings, we'd have to display the guessed key.
Unless we switch to SDL 1.3, that is. That one has keyboard mapping query functions. Certainly an option on Windows and OS X.

[Lucifer]

You know what? I think we should just have a typical keyboard, and let users who have keyboards outside the typical range adapt. It's not that hard, the core layout for every keyboard is the same.

We *could* go so far as to have a separate graphic for Mac computers.

And other than that, I totally like the idea. We should go so far as to make shift-escape the default binding to show it.