Secret project: Controls
When designing a video game, it’s always important to bear in mind that players will be interacting with it, and make sure you don’t make that a game that sure looks like it would be fun if only it were playable (Editor’s note: a 7.0 on Gamespot is roughly equivalent to my rating of 1.5). So while designing my game, I’ve tried to keep in mind how players will play it and make sure I’m not expecting them to jump through any extraordinary hoops just to hit an orc with a damn sword.
At present, I’m planning my control scheme around the Wii remote and nunchuck, because I have to design it for something and that offers the exact functionality I have in mind. The main feature of peculiar Wii-ness that I’m using for the game is the pointer; as such, it would be relatively straightforward to redesign / port for the DS or the PC, and only marginally more difficult for a platform without a pointing device, though I think the game would be ideal as a Wii Ware title. At present, I’m planning to use the pointer, the analogue stick, and the A, B, C, Z, +, and – buttons. That may seem like a lot of buttons, but I think the use of them will be simple enough as not to cause trouble.
The control stick is used for primary movement. 360-degree movement is possible, terrain permitting, and various levels of pressure will vary movement speed.
The pointer is used for targeting and menu selection. If the pointer is not pointed at the screen the game will continue to function, but any actions requiring a target won’t really accomplish anything until you point the damn thing where it should be.
The A button is the primary input button, and is the button that will be pressed most often. A is the button you want to use to talk to people, to read things, to open things, to pick things up, and to attack. It’s also the button of choice for confirming menu selections.
The B button is for using skills and spells, and for cancelling menus.
The C button is for jumping.
The Z button is for defending.
The + and – buttons both pause the game; both buttons share the same function in order to accommodate people holding the remote in either hand.
So as you can see, it involves several buttons, but most of the game’s button-work is done on just one of them (A). This seems to me to be a fairly simple but still full-featured control scheme, and we’ll be taking advantage of the Wii remote’s pointer functionality to allow some pretty cool interaction. But that’s a tale for another day; I’ve run on long enough for now. Be with us next time when we’ll discuss skills and spells!
Don’t forget, should you decide to port a collection of your games to some future system, to swap the buttons for your two major functions. Because nothing’s more fun than going back to a game you played a lot when you were young, only to be killed by a bottomless pit you tried to cross by shooting. *cough*Mega*cough*Man*cough*Anniversary*cough*Collection*cough*
Comment by Nyperold | 6 April 2008
Yeah, that was quite the WTF. They didn’t do that with the X Collection, I don’t think; at least, if they did, I didn’t notice.
Comment by Darien | 6 April 2008