Hi Dark, Interesting. I certainly wasn't aware the classic joysticks for Atari and NES had simple on/off input systems like a keyboard. I of course have studied how PC game controllers like how the Logitech game controllers for the PC work, and naturally assumed that the joysticks for older systems used a similar input system. Now, that you explained how they worked I do see how some of those games can be adapted for a keyboard.
Basically, all it comes down to is coming up with the right formulas to calculate speed based on the length of time the key or keys are pressed. I'll have to look into this further as I am interested in adding more analog mechanics into my games as I grew up with the Atari, NES, Super NES, etc and I know I personally haven't done enough research into emulating those sorts of mechanics in my own games and game engine. One thing we do agree on writing and having some tutorials would be very helpful. To be honest I have been programming for over 14 years and I am still unclear how to do it myself so need to check the web for some tutorials to find out what would be good analog game mechanics. My guess is every developer learns this by trial and error and they do so simply by trying to emulate the mechanics in game x so there is no set way to do this specifically. Cheers! On 5/25/14, dark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tom. > > I'm afraid I completely disagree about analogue movement. The sort of sticks > > your talking about, the 3D thumb sticks that directly calibrated player > movement to stick position, eg, far right = walk fast right less far right = > > slower, didn't come into the mainstream world until the 32/64 bit era in > the mid 90's. > > All the previous games, including classics like mario, sonic, MEga man etc > had a simple on/off input system, even for joysticks. I know this very > certainly because I have read the manual for my X arcade stick which > precisely imitates those movements, so have a vague idea at least how the > hardware works. > > The way that all those 8 and 16 bit era games handled analogue movement was > > much more to do with the software and game engine than the hardware. For > example, instead of having a character's walking speed be constant, have it > > gradually increase when the correct direction is held. With jumps, have the > > amount of time held on the jump button dictate the hight of the jump, in > combination with how much the directional buttons are pressed and what speed > > the character was going. > > Many games (like mario), also had a run button which, when held would cause > > the character to run further and any running jumps be hier. > > All of this is quite possible on a pc keyboard by simply tracking the time > spent holding the keys, indeed I've played freeware graphical games that do > > this quite nicely so that playing on a keyboard isn't that different > technically to playing on a stick. indeed when playing the Pc turrican > remakes, I don't miss my old comador Amigar Zip stick half as much as I > would expect to :D. > > So yes, the analogue thumb stick controllers could be used to create in game > > movement, but certainly for something with the same movement model as all > the games of the pre 32 bit era had wouldn't be difficult at all at least > from a design perspective. > > The problem however is firstly that as you said, if people have not > experienced the mechanics of mainstream games they do not know! the fine > differences in say Mario's walking and jumping speed, and secondly precisely > > working out some mathematics to create a more analogue system of control > rather than just a basic press button movement model such as games like > Superliam and Q9 have. > > Perhaps this is where writing some tutorials or basic formulae for > programmers would be helpful. > > Beware the grue! > > Dark. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
