I was just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to approach this.
I'm pretty close to a releasing a 3rd-person action-adventure demo I've been making; I just need to tie up controls and other loose ends. I used a Logitech Rumblepad to develop the game. But in order to reach as many people as possible it should be comfortable to play with keyboard and mouse, and be flexible to other gamepads.
I'm not much of a PC gamer (ok I don't play PC games at all) so I don't really know much about how PC games handle controls at all. I figure that's the main problem here, so I guess I'll just get hold of some PC games and do whatever they do (and I'm happy to accept suggestions for any PC games that do an exemplary job with controls). But I wanted to see if anyone who's faced this problem has some advice.
Does anyone know of a project to collect gamepad definitions?
Thanks.
PC controls for games originally designed for a PS/2-like gamepad
Well, for starters make sure you allow the player to remap the controls =P
So that leaves us to discuss what would be the default settings, in case the player doesn't use its own. It's hard to tell though if we can't know what are the exact controls of the game. A quick overview doesn't tell us much about how to perform each action.
This is being done in SDL2 right now, actually.
So that leaves us to discuss what would be the default settings, in case the player doesn't use its own. It's hard to tell though if we can't know what are the exact controls of the game. A quick overview doesn't tell us much about how to perform each action.
Does anyone know of a project to collect gamepad definitions?
This is being done in SDL2 right now, actually.
I think Playing a few PC games that closely resembles your game will help. As a PC gamer I know they all come with basic keyboard / mouse controls. If the game relies heavily on a joystick, the designers either list that as Joystick/Gamepad Reccommended or Required. Programming certain actions tied to a specified key could provide faster access.
For Eample : Charctors (I)nventory would be tied to the I key. A Visual Zoom in The Z-Key and Zoom out Shift + Z key.
Most game pads have 8 - 12 buttons and use a combination, there are a lot more keys on the KeyBoard & way less options on a mouse.
Hope This Helps
For Eample : Charctors (I)nventory would be tied to the I key. A Visual Zoom in The Z-Key and Zoom out Shift + Z key.
Most game pads have 8 - 12 buttons and use a combination, there are a lot more keys on the KeyBoard & way less options on a mouse.
Hope This Helps
What you might want to do is pick up some older PC games of varying genre's on the cheap and see how their controls work.
Playing other games and seeing how they tackle the issue of controls is one of the best things you can do.
However, here's some common key configurations I would expect to find in almost any third person action game (right handed):
Keyboard:
W - Forward
S - Back
A - Strafe Left
D - Strafe Right
C - Crouch
LShift - Sprint
E - Interact
F - Grenade/Thrown item/etc
Mouse:
Left Button - Primary Attack
Right Button - Alternate Attack / Precision Fire (such as iron-sights if gun-based)
Middle - Various / same as keyboard F
However, here's some common key configurations I would expect to find in almost any third person action game (right handed):
Keyboard:
W - Forward
S - Back
A - Strafe Left
D - Strafe Right
C - Crouch
LShift - Sprint
E - Interact
F - Grenade/Thrown item/etc
Mouse:
Left Button - Primary Attack
Right Button - Alternate Attack / Precision Fire (such as iron-sights if gun-based)
Middle - Various / same as keyboard F
adding to that, numbers along the top of the keyboard for selecting weapons or equipment, scroll wheel to switch to the next or previous weapon or equipment.
Well, for starters make sure you allow the player to remap the controls =P
What you might want to do is pick up some older PC games of varying genre's on the cheap and see how their controls work.
Agreed. Always allow your players a way to customize controls, even on a console you should, and much more so on PC.
Also, gamers tend to be "used to" a few general control schemes, which is why indeed it is a good idea to play a few games and see what they do. Most shooters(1st or 3rd person) use a combination of mouse and WASD with top row numbers for weapon selection and mouse buttons for attacking/shooting, which happens to be what the above posters mention.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
