Handheld button mapping

Make suggestions for improving one of the best games on the net!
Post Reply
User avatar
macsforme
General
General
Posts: 2069
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:43 am

Handheld button mapping

Post by macsforme »

Image

Thoughts on the layout? This is for a GCW Zero. BZFlag has a lot of (what I would consider) critical functions, and there are relatively a lot fewer buttons on most gaming handhelds than on PCs, so one has to be very selective when choosing the functions to map. The "Pause Menu" button would be equivalent to pressing escape. The "Messaging Menu" button would bring up a menu showing the chat console and options for sending messages. You could drive with either the D-pad or the analog stick. The "Radar Zoom Level" button would toggle between three levels.
Attachments
bindings_scaled.png
(30.82 KiB) Not downloaded yet
User avatar
Gollum
Private First Class
Private First Class
Posts: 204
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2004 12:00 am

Re: Handheld button mapping

Post by Gollum »

It looks great, only thought would be to swap Jump & Slow movement. As "B" is the lower button, and jump would be most used. :) That is all I have as far as techy-things-to-say.
User avatar
macsforme
General
General
Posts: 2069
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:43 am

Re: Handheld button mapping

Post by macsforme »

The one critical function I forgot is binoculars... the limited number of buttons might require the mapping to have combinations of buttons for certain features. Here's an updated schematic with the B button set as "Alt" (to activate a secondary button function), Slow Movement moved to the X button, ID/Lock moved to the secondary function of the right trigger, and Binoculars added as the secondary function of the left trigger.

Image
Gollum wrote:It looks great, only thought would be to swap Jump & Slow movement. As "B" is the lower button, and jump would be most used. :)
When you're holding this particular device, your right thumb usually hovers over A, and most other games use A as a primary selection key (or some other primary function), so I believe having Jump mapped to A would actually be most natural for a function that is used a lot.

And just a teaser so people can see how BZFlag might fit in on such a device...

Image
Attachments
IMG_1376.jpg
(43.31 KiB) Not downloaded yet
bindings.png
(33.1 KiB) Not downloaded yet
User avatar
Gollum
Private First Class
Private First Class
Posts: 204
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2004 12:00 am

Re: Handheld button mapping

Post by Gollum »

Ah, now that I see it, I concur... I would be hitting "select" quite often otherwise. :P
User avatar
macsforme
General
General
Posts: 2069
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:43 am

Re: Handheld button mapping

Post by macsforme »

Here's an updated version with pause and self kill functions added.

Image

Another interesting discussion would be how to make BZFlag playable on mobile device touchscreens (cell phones and tablets). There are a lot of issues that arise. The big one is how to steer the tank. A lot of devices have gyroscopes, but steering by tilt doesn't seem suited to sudden direction changes. Some devices have game control cases/add-ons, which are probably a lot more useful, but you won't always have them with you. Same with bluetooth controllers. As far as touch controls, you could define a circle on the screen, and treat it like a joystick, steering based on the finger position within that area. However, that is a bit of an awkward angle for your thumb (the way most people hold the device), and it remains to be seen if that kind of control would have too much sensitivity. Alternatively, the steering value could be clamped to eight directions at full speed.

Here's a layout concept I came up with.

Image

The bottom left illustrates what amounts to an eight-direction control. The button on the bottom second from the right side would have a tap function and three swipe functions. The button at the top right would toggle the grayed-out four-button menu. Obviously the radar would have to be moved so it's not under your thumb. Maybe to the upper left, or to the bottom center.

If you want an image you can download on your iPhone so you can feel what it would be like, try this.
Attachments
touchscreen bindings noalpha.png
(84.73 KiB) Not downloaded yet
gcw bindings.png
(34.99 KiB) Not downloaded yet
touchscreen bindings.png
(68.04 KiB) Not downloaded yet
User avatar
Sniper752
Private First Class
Private First Class
Posts: 192
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:43 pm
Location: TRAVL Headquarters, Orbiting Mars in the year 2236

Re: Handheld button mapping

Post by Sniper752 »

Looks good. I was going to suggest moving the ID/Lock button to a trigger, but then I read your update with the alt key which I like.
So when are we going to get BZ for iOS? :P
[center]::|:|::|Sniper752|::|:|::
Map Maker
Avid Airsofter
Owner: Hosting.BZAddict.net ports 5242 and 5243
Admin: bzsupreme.webarts.bc.ca[/center]
Post Reply