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Controller compatibility


Aether

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Some people may already know, but you can plug an Xbox controller into your computer and play certain games with Controller Compatibility. Nimbatus does not have this, though it could very much have it. The cursor controlled by the 'sticks' and the d-pad for selection/left and right. The Y, B, A, X buttons as well as LB, LT, RB, RT would be controls for your ship. 

 

I am aware of the fact this would compromise the flexibility of 26+ of keys to use, but who needs 5+?

(I actually only have 12 hours in nimbatus so I have no idea what the average is.)

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I have found controllers and joysticks to be most bothersome to use in anything but menus, with the utmost worst being screen-wide clusters of tightly-packed elements, like real-time strategy games. I do not believe I would even try playing Nimbatus with anything other than a mouse, or at least a device that lets me quickly point at what I want, rather than slowly dragging a cursor across the screen to reach a given position.

Also, any basic circuitry requires way over ten keys, or tags. Four directions, one weapon, one magnet (two inputs) for barrel missions and such, one directional sensor (two inputs) for keeping the craft upright, and you already have a whole nine keys to map. Add a switch to make the magnet easier to use, a factory for crafting missiles (a thruster on TNT, so one input for printing and releasing, one input for missile thrust, one input for exploding), and map a total of thirteen keys. Also, one cannot use tags without the keyboard, which requires one drop the controller, enter a tag name, pick up the controller again. It is tedious.

I would not make use of such function, and I have trouble figuring out what sort of person would.

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4 hours ago, PhiIlo said:

I am aware of the fact this would compromise the flexibility of 26+ of keys to use, but who needs 5+?

As an addition to the game, no problem.  There's no reason it couldn't work -- we have the mapping and logic to fly drones however we want.  As a simplification?  I really wouldn't want to see Nimbatus dumbed down to pure joystick.  We know from games like KSP that construction becomes really awkward; analog stick is just no substitute for mouse.

Also check out joystick emulators, a variety of ways to connect joysticks to non-joystick software.  You might have everything you need already.

1 hour ago, Ookami-sama said:

I do not believe I would even try playing Nimbatus with anything other than a mouse, or at least a device that lets me quickly point at what I want, rather than slowly dragging a cursor across the screen to reach a given position.

I think they wanted to use analog stick as the mouse.  The "standard" joystick these days has two analog sticks and half a dozen buttons all in easy reach.  In some ways joystick is a lot more convenient.

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Also, any basic circuitry requires way over ten keys, or tags. Four directions, one weapon, one magnet (two inputs) for barrel missions and such, one directional sensor (two inputs) for keeping the craft upright, and you already have a whole nine keys to map.

WASD would probably be mapped to a hat, pad, or stick, so make that five.  You don't actually punch the dir indicator keys in flight either, so make that three.

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I would not make use of such function, and I have trouble figuring out what sort of person would.

Someone with a really nice controller and ten years of xbox reflexes?  Also, try and tell me you're not curious what monstrosities could be constructed from two independent cursors ;)

I could be biased, I spent a long long time finessing my controller layout for Kerbal Space Program.  Now there's a program with a lot of keys...

dual-action2.png

 

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1 hour ago, Ookami-sama said:

I have found controllers and joysticks to be most bothersome to use in anything but menus, with the utmost worst being screen-wide clusters of tightly-packed elements, like real-time strategy games. I do not believe I would even try playing Nimbatus with anything other than a mouse, or at least a device that lets me quickly point at what I want, rather than slowly dragging a cursor across the screen to reach a given position.

Also, any basic circuitry requires way over ten keys, or tags. Four directions, one weapon, one magnet (two inputs) for barrel missions and such, one directional sensor (two inputs) for keeping the craft upright, and you already have a whole nine keys to map. Add a switch to make the magnet easier to use, a factory for crafting missiles (a thruster on TNT, so one input for printing and releasing, one input for missile thrust, one input for exploding), and map a total of thirteen keys. Also, one cannot use tags without the keyboard, which requires one drop the controller, enter a tag name, pick up the controller again. It is tedious.

I would not make use of such function, and I have trouble figuring out what sort of person would.

You would still have your keyboard. While it is more bothersome, it would be totally possible to use keyboard keys as well. 

Also I forgot, the joysticks would be keys as well. (Also with the push-down feature!)

 

I don't have a reliable mouse in my house. All I have is a controller. They *always* disappear or break, and I'd hate for another situation like this again. 

Aka: I cannot use a mouse, I only have a controller.

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Interesting discussion. I would love to see a proper controller support for Nimbatus, as I think there might be big value for certain players wanting to control menus or their drone by a controller. Also, increased accessibility. 

Unfortunately there are some problems which would take quite a while to solve. First being the construction of drones. Finding and implementing a good way of doing that takes a lot of time which we currently can't invest because of more pressing features. The other problem is that we don't have any clever mapping for analog inputs. That means while buttons could be mapped pretty easily, ideally the analog sticks could be used with their intended accuracy. But we don't have a concept of analog inputs in the game, and controlling certain aspects with the mouse (targets for VTOL, directional sensor, weapons) would work differently as well (albeit this one is solvable).

So I think for the time being we can't work on that and you have to rely on 3rd party tools (like joymouse) or other solutions (Steam controller, ...)

I'm sorry for that. Even though we would love to implement many many more things like that, we can't because of time / resource reasons :/ 

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So it is that sort of person who would use a controller. I will try and refrain from commenting the kind of verbal abuse I would have just that sort of person go through if it were mine to decide.

"Thanks for not taking it at heart! Much love."

In a more serious tone, I do suppose that controlling one's craft can be done with only a few keys. Controller support for taking flight rather than construction sounds more enjoyable than I first imagined it. Is it yet on the "OCD (One Can Dream)" list?

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45 minutes ago, Ookami-sama said:

So it is that sort of person who would use a controller. I will try and refrain from commenting the kind of verbal abuse I would have just that sort of person go through if it were mine to decide.

"Thanks for not taking it at heart! Much love."

In a more serious tone, I do suppose that controlling one's craft can be done with only a few keys. Controller support for taking flight rather than construction sounds more enjoyable than I first imagined it. Is it yet on the "OCD (One Can Dream)" list?

I think... Sadly.

 

Though, it appears I am to lazy to get a mouse. So, I'll have to wait... ...

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