05-25-2003, 12:15 AM
Ooooooh the interface debate . . .
This is usually something I see in FPS discussions.
Ironically, it was only just yesterday that I had some struggling moments with D2's badly designed interface. My left hand was running around Shift, Ctrl, 1, 2, 3, 4, F1 and F3 . . . ugh! Why do I still use these default settings? Because that's what I've grown accustomed to. One of my old jobs had me playing games and moving between machines on which the games were installed and it simply didn't pay off to deviate far from the default settings. :(
Fortunately I can forgive Blizzard for the shoddy character interface (a relic of D1) on the basis that the configuration screen allows some customization. B) But why the hell have they failed to add a Mercenary command interface yet??? Gah! I tear my hair out in frustrasion sometimes when knowing what the merc AI is capable of and not being able to override mercenary stupidity behaviour with a simple command of the ease and simplicity found in such games as X-Wing and MechWarrior 2 (mid '90s)
Isolde? You listening? :D
Well enough of D2. The interface debate is something I see from time to time is from the First Person Shooter circles. The one that always pops up is the inverted/non-inverted mouse debate. For those who don't know, the mouse usually controls the targetting reticule (or crosshair) that sits in the middle of the screen and shows where you steer or aim. Some players like myself prefer to have that pointer behave like a mouse pointer in Windoze whereby pushing it forward moves the pointer up and pulling back moves it down. The other (minority) group of players prefers the mouse to have a more joystick-like behavious whereby pulling the mouse back tilts your viewpoint up and movingti forward has you looking down.
End result? You hop onto someone else's machine running a game in which you fancy yourself an expert, make a vertical adjustment, find the pointer is behaving inappropriately, instinctively 'correct' the error and suddenly you find you are staring at the ceiling or the floor. :blink:
I find it interesting that pretty much all FPS games these use the "as mouse pointer" approach, but it was really nutty one time I first tried Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight which apparently had game designers of the opposite persuasion. The default setting had me staring at ceilings and floors and that one aspect in the configuration menu looked back-to-front - What a mindbender! :blink:
As for the rest of the FPS interface I, got hooked on Unreal Tournament's design and never looked back. Completely non-traditional this has me shoving the keyboard away through about 30 degrees and largely ignoring the left end of it. The best part about UT is all user preferences are stored on .txt so when you move from machine to machine you just grab your drink coaster, shove it in the drink coaster drive, copy the file and slap it straight in the UT "System" directory - All macros and mouse settings ready and waiting. :)
This is usually something I see in FPS discussions.
Ironically, it was only just yesterday that I had some struggling moments with D2's badly designed interface. My left hand was running around Shift, Ctrl, 1, 2, 3, 4, F1 and F3 . . . ugh! Why do I still use these default settings? Because that's what I've grown accustomed to. One of my old jobs had me playing games and moving between machines on which the games were installed and it simply didn't pay off to deviate far from the default settings. :(
Fortunately I can forgive Blizzard for the shoddy character interface (a relic of D1) on the basis that the configuration screen allows some customization. B) But why the hell have they failed to add a Mercenary command interface yet??? Gah! I tear my hair out in frustrasion sometimes when knowing what the merc AI is capable of and not being able to override mercenary stupidity behaviour with a simple command of the ease and simplicity found in such games as X-Wing and MechWarrior 2 (mid '90s)
Isolde? You listening? :D
Well enough of D2. The interface debate is something I see from time to time is from the First Person Shooter circles. The one that always pops up is the inverted/non-inverted mouse debate. For those who don't know, the mouse usually controls the targetting reticule (or crosshair) that sits in the middle of the screen and shows where you steer or aim. Some players like myself prefer to have that pointer behave like a mouse pointer in Windoze whereby pushing it forward moves the pointer up and pulling back moves it down. The other (minority) group of players prefers the mouse to have a more joystick-like behavious whereby pulling the mouse back tilts your viewpoint up and movingti forward has you looking down.
End result? You hop onto someone else's machine running a game in which you fancy yourself an expert, make a vertical adjustment, find the pointer is behaving inappropriately, instinctively 'correct' the error and suddenly you find you are staring at the ceiling or the floor. :blink:
I find it interesting that pretty much all FPS games these use the "as mouse pointer" approach, but it was really nutty one time I first tried Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight which apparently had game designers of the opposite persuasion. The default setting had me staring at ceilings and floors and that one aspect in the configuration menu looked back-to-front - What a mindbender! :blink:
As for the rest of the FPS interface I, got hooked on Unreal Tournament's design and never looked back. Completely non-traditional this has me shoving the keyboard away through about 30 degrees and largely ignoring the left end of it. The best part about UT is all user preferences are stored on .txt so when you move from machine to machine you just grab your drink coaster, shove it in the drink coaster drive, copy the file and slap it straight in the UT "System" directory - All macros and mouse settings ready and waiting. :)
Heed the Song of Battle and Unsheath the Blades of War