Updates and Random Progress

[Marconelly]

Andy, i you can't implement settings screen, here's my suggestion for what I believe would be the best input mechanism.

- leave the left mouse button working as it is now, in the last public release. It would be unnecesairly awkward using an aditional button when you've already tapped the screen. It's really not a big deal that character walks towards the place on the screen where you've clicked.

- map the right mouse button to one of the hardware buttons, so you can press it once you've clicked on the screen. On Casio - map RMB to gamepad directions (all of them). That's where you hold your thumb finger, when you're in the landscape mode, anyways.

- map 'escape' key to one harware button. This would make switching to a portrait mode less necessary

- for the same reason, map 'F5' key to one of the hardware butons.

I think with these suggestions, usability of the interface would be much better.

[suchiaruzu]

I think the record button would be good for escape and either action or (imo better) the three action buttons for save and stuff

[andys]

Well, my brain isn't working well enough, but we have a concept for implementation - you won't all like it, but ahhh, such is life ;>

Tommorow at some stage I'll figure out how to actually make the current system configurable enough for all of you to use it, and then, until I can get eVT to do my bidding, you can all configure it using a text file ;> (and I'll try and go for some sane defaults).

Anyway, the idea is that you will be able to pick the system that annoys you least, with the exception of right clicking by just leaving the stylus on the screen, although I'll probably put it in at some point. There's no cursor yet, mostly because it's actually fiddly to do (it's not implemented in the Windows version, but it is in the SDL one, so I'll have to borrow this and adjust it). I'm also planning on some minor optimisations and completing Indiana Jones FOA. I want to get this done soon so that people can beta-test.

SH3 support I guess will happen soonish, I'll probably harass beta-testers for this.

[thirty3baboons]

The problem with tapping for left mouse is that you can't do what everyone used to do on scumm adventures and that's mouse-roam the room looking for interactive objects.

With the stylus causing left mouse actions, you actually have to click on every object to check its not just scenery......which makes for a slooow andventure.


Great project by the way. My ipaq has been dusted off because of it.

[suchiaruzu]

we talked about that. the current idea is:
holding pen down and moving: look
simple tap (onrelease): left click
after 2 seconds of looking the onrelease operation will not be performed. i think that's a pretty clever solution.
-Shape

[andys]

don't worry, I'm playing Indy, and I need to look around as well sometimes ;> It'll be supported.

Now, the question is, can I complete Indy before I release something new (or at least come close ;)

[thirty3baboons]

Sounds like an ideal solution.

What about a double tap for right mouse actions as 99% of the time the right mouse is the 'suggested verb' or would a double click be too inaccurate with a stylus?

[suchiaruzu]

Dex-plor uses double tap, so the accuracy would be no problem. I think it would be difficult to figure out how to do it though (andys doesnt have much windows programming experience...)
-Shape

[Guest]

The problem with double-clicking is that some of the items are just too small on a PPC screen. Even with the current operation, when you know an object is there (and have walked to it!), picking it up by clicking on 'pickup' and then tapping the object can be difficult.

Example [SPOILER] : The dime in the pay-phone in DOTT is only a few pixels big. Getting it with the current method is difficult (it took me a couple of tries) but clicking twice, quite fast to within a few very small pixels accuracy will be nigh on impossible.

My suggested method is, I believe, a slight variation on that already discussed:

Single tap - default 'walk to'.

Tap and hold becomes a virtual cursor - you can then sweep the screen to your heart's content. A button then acts as a left click, another as a right click. Taking the stylus off the screen does not act as a left-click. I have found it annoying that after sweeping for an item and pinpointing it, I have taken the stylus off the screen and the character has walked to the item - sometimes obscuring it - before I can click on the pick-up/use/whatever command

Superb job by the way. Don't suppose you can finish polishing it by this time next week so that I can play DOTT in all its glory on a plane trip to France?

Steve

[andys]

[MiBi]

[andys]

[thirty3baboons]

I don't have any trouble picking out items with the current system on my ipaq, and if you can sweep for objects first, you should know exactly where they are.

As far as programming it goes, if you can time a tap-hold for a 2 second function change, you can time a post-tap looking for the same trigger again.

In landscape, what are your plans for the nice black strip across the base?

If you can sort out the left/right click then a save/load (filling in a default name in the save automatically) button and a couple of the menu options as icons could replace the keyboard all together.

[thirty3baboons]

andys - get yourself a title screen in it mate. credit where credit's due. This is a marvelous project.

[andys]