Control Scheme?

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Comments

  • edited June 2009
    http://kotaku.com/5303149/tales-of-monkey-island-chapter-1-preview-guybrush-sails-again

    "Telltale has experience with both in their point-and-click adventures work—and a keyboard-only control scheme in Wallace and Grommet —but for Monkey Island, they're looking for a compromise. Right now, you can use the keyboard to move around, but you still need the mouse to click stuff and manipulate your inventory. The alternative is to click and hold the left mouse button to bring up a red direction arrow over Guybrush. Dragging the mouse in this mode will make Guybrush walk steadily in whatever direction the mouse is moving toward. It's still a bit twitchy, and it would be nice if you didn't have to hold the left button down; but there's still plenty of time for the development team to figure it out."

    Looks like my guess was right with the mixed SB/W&G controls, yay me :D
  • edited June 2009
    I think the ultimate justice lies somewhere between the interfaces of Hit the Road, CoMI and the Sam & Max series. My current best bet is two verbs: left click for the generic "interact" and right click for "examine". However, I never played a game utilizing this exact scheme, so it's only a theory :)

    I've played at least one like that (Toonstruck) and it is perfect.
  • edited June 2009
    Toonstruck is amazing.
  • edited June 2009
    WDeranged wrote: »
    http://kotaku.com/5303149/tales-of-monkey-island-chapter-1-preview-guybrush-sails-again

    "Telltale has experience with both in their point-and-click adventures work—and a keyboard-only control scheme in Wallace and Grommet —but for Monkey Island, they're looking for a compromise. Right now, you can use the keyboard to move around, but you still need the mouse to click stuff and manipulate your inventory. The alternative is to click and hold the left mouse button to bring up a red direction arrow over Guybrush. Dragging the mouse in this mode will make Guybrush walk steadily in whatever direction the mouse is moving toward. It's still a bit twitchy, and it would be nice if you didn't have to hold the left button down; but there's still plenty of time for the development team to figure it out."

    Looks like my guess was right with the mixed SB/W&G controls, yay me :D
    I'm glad that they've mixed it so those who prefer mouse-only can "hold the left button to walk", but I have to ask these questions.

    Am I the only one who actually loved the Grim Fandango and Monkey 4 controls? I thought they were awesome, and that's from a guy who grew up with both the SIERRA keyboard adventure games and the Lucas Arts mouse adventure games.

    Why would you judge a game on its controls before you have tried it? I mean, even if you didn't like Wallace and Gromits controls, that doesn't mean you won't like these. They are two different games that might have similar controls. What's the big deal?

    By the way, I played through the demo of W&G before I wrote this. What was the problem, you could still click on EVERYTHING you could interact with and Wallace would WALK over to it and then do the interaction. It's not like you have to walk up to it, then click, as I feared when I read this thread at first. (Though I hate to admit that I only read the first 16 pages before I decided to try the demo, register and comment.

    Well, tomorrow I'll be pre-ordering my Monkey5, and who knows, maybe I'll buy W&G just because the demo was so freaking awesome!
  • edited June 2009
    I'm leaning towards W&G as well. Though, Bone has got me very intrigued....but since the story isn't even finished yet I may be more pleased with starting a new series that definitely has an ending.
  • edited June 2009
    I've had Grim Fandango for 10 years,but mainly because of the controls, I've never beat it or played it in years. Monkey Island 4 was a chore to complete and I didn't enjoy the setup for that one either cause it seemed harder to get around and notice where object were. The whole GRIMe system (I think that's what it was called) always seemed like a step backwards from the SCUMM system.
  • edited June 2009
    Kotaku wrote:
    The alternative is to click and hold the left mouse button to bring up a red direction arrow over Guybrush. Dragging the mouse in this mode will make Guybrush walk steadily in whatever direction the mouse is moving toward.
    I wonder why the TTG programmers have not mentioned that yet!? (Or have I just overlooked that statement here in the forum?) - Even if that solution is a bit "twitchy", as Kotaku stated, that would be perfectly fine with me, as long as I have the option to play the game "mouse only". - I hope there will be a public demo soon, as it seems that there is a demo for the press available already...
  • edited June 2009
    Frankly, I never much complained about controls in adventure games. These games aren't the type that requires quick reflexes (excluding minigames, of course), and the 'playing' takes place mostly in my head, where I figure out how to solve a puzzle, instead of closely watching the screen, hands ready to kill any enemies approaching.

    True, some adventure games HAVE frustrated me with god-awful, unplayable controls. But after playing Telltale's games, I'm sure that I can live with them.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2009
    I wonder why the TTG programmers have not mentioned that yet!? ... I hope there will be a public demo soon

    Indeed!

    (Also we have talked about the controls a bit, in the "Kotaku preview" thread elsewhere on this forum.
  • edited June 2009
    Jake wrote: »
    Also we have talked about the controls a bit, in the "Kotaku preview" thread elsewhere on this forum.
    Thanks for pointing that out. There are so many threads for ToMI that I cannot follow every one. (Here is the link for everybody else who missed that one.) - I am pretty close to placing a pre-order now, but I still hope that a demo will be available before the official release date.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited June 2009
    WDeranged wrote: »
    The alternative is to click and hold the left mouse button to bring up a red direction arrow over Guybrush. Dragging the mouse in this mode will make Guybrush walk steadily in whatever direction the mouse is moving toward.
    Wonderful :-) That's pretty much what i proposed for W&G back then.
  • edited June 2009
    I think it would be good if u can move the character by pointing the mouse cursor at the edges of the screen. If u put the mouse on the left edge of the screen the character will move left, if u put the mouse on the upper edge of the screen the character will move up, etc. :rolleyes:

    No need to hold or press any key, only moving your mouse. ;)
    Like some first person adventures (i remember the old Cryo ones) but in this case u don't move the visual but the character.

    Bloody Eugene
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited June 2009
    I think it would be good if u can move the character by pointing the mouse cursor at the edges of the screen.
    That would be very annoying for me. Too much Mouse movement, especially on my 24" 1920x1200 Display.
  • edited June 2009
    It's only there because everyone was screaming for it. Personally, I think it'd be more of a hindrance than a help. It looks like it'd be way too problematic. But at least you don't have to use it. And it's there for people who want overly-simplified interfaces that they can just use one hand with. Myself, I'll be using the keyboard and mouse. Things must evolve. I welcome change.
  • edited June 2009
    I understand I'm against the stream here, but I actually enjoyed playing W&G completely on the gamepad... I look forward to do the same with ToMI!

    ...
    ... Then again, if you just could support all DirectInput pads instead of only XInput ones......... ehm, *cough* *cough* :rolleyes: :D
  • edited July 2009
    Sorry, dont know if this has come up, i know about the new controls, mouse only options, but what i am wondering is, will the game have the option to try to speak to and examine all things like in the previous MI games, like clicking on a person, will it automatically go into talking to them or can you choose to examine or pick them up aswell? Like in curse of monkey island you can choose to pick up Griswold Goodsoup and Guybrush says "I don't indiscriminately pick up bartenders" will there be this type of stuff?
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited July 2009
    It's only there because everyone was screaming for it. Personally, I think it'd be more of a hindrance than a help. It looks like it'd be way too problematic. But at least you don't have to use it. And it's there for people who want overly-simplified interfaces that they can just use one hand with. Myself, I'll be using the keyboard and mouse. Things must evolve. I welcome change.

    This is actually something we've wanted to do for a while. Well, not the exact implementation we have exactly, but something to allow cinematic style direct control from the mouse. Chuck Jordan prototyped out an initial version of this a couple months ago, and Robert did a "2.0" for Monkey. The fact that everyone was clamoring for it definitely helped grease the wheels, but its also fortunately just something we wanted :)
  • edited July 2009
    Certainly the thought of being able to sit back and play it with just the mouse is somewhat appealing, but I just played through W&G ep. 1 for the first time yesterday, expecting to have some sort of horrible control scheme because of what I read there, but I really liked the way it controlled! The characters moved under direct control like in Grim Fandango (but better), but with all the advantages of pointing and clicking added in. What's not to like (except perhaps having to use two hands)?

    I can easily see myself switching back and forth between control schemes on a whim, depending on how lazy I'm feeling.
  • edited July 2009
    inso wrote: »
    What's not to like (except perhaps having to use two hands)?

    That's just it; I cannot play and eat chips at the same time, since it will grease up my keyboards.

    God! Even PC adventure games are trying to make me lose weight! Keep you healthy paws offa my PC, wii!!
  • edited July 2009
    did any of you check the new gameplay trailer? it looked to me that they decided on point and click.:)
  • edited July 2009
    jam4nr wrote: »
    did any of you check the new gameplay trailer? it looked to me that they decided on point and click.:)
    Well... point and click and keyboard...
  • edited July 2009
    I really REALLY like the fact that the good ol' MI3 cursor is back! You should get a (tm) on that one!
  • edited July 2009
    I really REALLY like the fact that the good ol' MI3 cursor is back! You should get a (tm) on that one!

    Like this?

    71035931.jpg

    Might get a little distracting in-game :D
  • edited July 2009
    Like this?
    Might get a little distracting in-game :D

    Hahahahahaha!! :D
    Nooooo, I was talking about...oh, come on! You know what I meant to say! :p
  • edited July 2009
    tredlow wrote: »
    Frankly, I never much complained about controls in adventure games. These games aren't the type that requires quick reflexes (excluding minigames, of course), and the 'playing' takes place mostly in my head, where I figure out how to solve a puzzle, instead of closely watching the screen, hands ready to kill any enemies approaching.
    Exactly. MI4 was awkward for about 12 minutes and then I slipped right in. The controls have to be insanely bad for it impact my experience. Most of the interaction is mental.
  • edited July 2009
    Agreed. Grim Fandango is still my favourite adventure game despite obvious control issues. I barely even thought about them.
  • edited July 2009
    Well... point and click and keyboard...
    Nope. You can play the entire episode with the mouse, if that's what you're most comfortable with; I did exactly that yesterday. It's not point-and-click to make guybrush walk around, but the method is explained during the opening and to me, feels very natural almost immediately.

    It's part of that "we've been experimenting with the interface to improve it across platforms while still keeping direct control" that we keep telling people on here we've been doing for months, but no one wants to believe us :)
  • edited July 2009
    Chuck wrote: »
    Nope. You can play the entire episode with the mouse, if that's what you're most comfortable with; I did exactly that yesterday. It's not point-and-click to make guybrush walk around, but the method is explained during the opening and to me, feels very natural almost immediately.

    It's part of that "we've been experimenting with the interface to improve it across platforms while still keeping direct control" that we keep telling people on here we've been doing for months, but no one wants to believe us :)
    Mh... no, I still don't believe you :p
  • edited July 2009
    Now, this might sound like a question that goes completely against every other one so far, but can you play it keyboard / joypad only? I haven't really found an answer yet, though I might just have been a bad searcher.

    Because when thinking about it, it would be nice to fall back into my bed and play using the wired 360 controller sometimes. : o

    Did that with Wallace & Gromit once I got stuck not knowing that you
    could remove the invention in the kitchen
    . : P
  • edited July 2009
    Point and Click adventures are a relaxed experience thats why having to use the keyboard sucked in W&G and Grim Fandangeo MI4 for that matter.

    I didnt skip them but i couldnt play them in bed, in front of the telly, relaxed one handed. Its a silly silly idea to use the keyboard. End of
  • edited July 2009
    Not. Again.
  • edited July 2009
    Not. Again.
    Obvious, "use a gamepad" copy paste phrase is inserted here :D
  • edited July 2009
    Now, this might sound like a question that goes completely against every other one so far, but can you play it keyboard / joypad only? I haven't really found an answer yet, though I might just have been a bad searcher.

    Yeah, me too!

    I'd really like to play it just with the gamepad!
  • edited July 2009
    Ah, there's nothing like people who give an opinion and then say 'End of' as if it's some sort of incontrovertible fact.

    As I said, I can understand the -appeal- of mouse only controls but also fail to see what is so terribly bad about the approach W&G chose. In fact, going back to Sam and Max it was rather frustrating to have to keep on clicking around to get about, especially when walking along that long main street.

    Ultimately, having the option for mouse/keyboard or mouse only is what they've gone for, and it's surely the best solution.
  • edited July 2009
    I really REALLY like the fact that the good ol' MI3 cursor is back! You should get a (tm) on that one!

    Im not entirely sure whether or not that's just for the intro or the whole game, because in the clips of flotsam island iv seen, it was the same mouse icon that was in S&M. They may just be using that cursor at the start to show that this is the end of a previous adventure, who knows.
  • edited July 2009
    Im not entirely sure whether or not that's just for the intro or the whole game, because in the clips of flotsam island iv seen, it was the same mouse icon that was in S&M. They may just be using that cursor at the start to show that this is the end of a previous adventure, who knows.

    That was an older version of the game, so I'm guessing the old interface was only present in the old press demo, before the new TMI interfaces were implemented.
  • edited July 2009
    I've just got to say that of all the things that come together to form a perfect monkey island game (or any adventure game for that matter), controls are the least of my concern. Who the f#@k cares about the controls? I wouldn't care if Telltale goes out of its way to make the controls as hindering as possible...I've played through many, many adventure games, including Grim Fandango and EMI, and I'm certainly not going to let something like controls stop me from playing a new Monkey Island game (especially since, aside from the members of Telltale, none of the complainers have even played the game)!

    God, I hate the internet, it's so...whiny.
  • edited July 2009
    Is there someone here (except me) who want the good ol' verbcoin back? I loved it in Full Throttle and Curse!
  • edited July 2009
    There isn't going to be any verbs in TOMI.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited July 2009
    prizna wrote: »
    There isn't going to be any verbs in TOMI.

    Oh no, how am i supposed to understand what they say? :(:p
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