742 replies to this topic

[CES]

I hesitated a long time before deciding to go with just a winzip self-extracting archive. Again feedback would be much appreciated whether or not I made the good choice.

From what I'm hearing, your game is as simple as my first one. For a small game like that, a self-extractor is fine. Mind you, self-extractors don't normally come with uninstallers, but if your game can be deleted by just deleting the directory, you don't need one.

I don't get this one. I used the shift key a lot for my controls. What's an unexpected Accessibility window? The shortkeys for shortcuts used ctrl+alt, what uses shift?

This is a windows annoyance - if you have Windows 2000/XP:

-Go to control panel -> accessibility
-Under StickyKeys, go to settings, and turn "Use shortcut" on.
-OK -> Apply
-Press one of the shift keys like mad.

The computer will beep, and will display a popup - this defaults to on on many Windows installations, and it can mess up your game. Not everybody knows how to turn it off, unfortunately .

To turn off, go back to settings and uncheck the "Use shortcut" checkbox.

I totally agree and would like to expand even more.
Other keys which should NOT be used;

Control: That brings up Google on some PCs
Shift: You've talked about
Function keys: F1 to F12, because they are not defaults on some netbooks. IE; you hold down function to get the F1 keys otherwize its controls things like Wireless and such
Tab & ALT (Gr); Similar reason to Shift and Control
Numpad keys you talked about but also include +, -, /, * and .
Esc, Scroll lock, pause, Print screen, Insert, Home, Page up, Page down, delete, and end: Not on Some laptops / netbooks, or do other thinks in the OS
Windows Key: It loads up "Start" Duh
No more than 2 key combinations as some old PS/2 Keyboards don't like it. Like mine

And that's them all. So in short, stick to letters and non-numpad numbers.

Now that's all the keyboards stuff sorted.

Now the mouse,

No middle mouse click
No mouse scroll
No right and left click combos

And that is all for the common user input devices.
Try to stick to them and them only. Not every one has a webcam to control the character and these games are coming more into yoyo lately.

Hope I helped some of you
CES

[Zeddy]

I would find the lack of all those buttons pretty annoying. In a first person shooter, I expect to be able to switch weapons by scrolling the mouse-wheel. If there's a third thing I can do to stuff I aim at, I expect to be able to do this with the middle mouse button or some other button on the mouse. Ctrl and Shift also make excellent sprint and crouch buttons. Moving all of these to letters can work, but not as well.

Absolutely use all of the buttons mentioned above if it feels like they should naturally be used as such. If the function is important, however, there should also be alternate buttons or simply the option for the user to set their own controls. The option to set controls should be there no matter what, really.

[Druid TC]

I haven't checked through the whole topic, but nor have I seen this on the front page: masks that are bigger than the object they correspond to.

Also, lack of support for left-handed players (WASD as well as directional arrows), mainly in games that involve both the keyboard and the mouse.

Edited by Druid TC, 18 February 2011 - 06:54 PM.

[Rusty]

I haven't checked through the whole topic, but nor have I seen this on the front page: masks that are bigger than the object they correspond to.

Also, lack of support for left-handed players (WASD as well as directional arrows), mainly in games that involve both the keyboard and the mouse.

Well this flips as well. I've seen a few GMC members shouting how "WASD" is the new age of keyboard gaming, I'm right handed and find "WASD" controls decrease my reaction times and general hand to eye coordination on games.

[yalmic]

If the game uses a mouse it should definitely use "WSAD" else
arrow keys are probably better with Z as secondary X as primary and C as extra
action buttons.

[NinjaCatStudios]

I'm right handed and I find WASD alot better.
I hate middle mouse button because I don't have one .

[Rusty]

I hate middle mouse button because I don't have one.

Annoys the hell out of me. This is one of the main reasons I always buy games for xBox over PC.

[Zeddy]

Man, I hate those iPhone games 'cause I don't have one.

A half-decent mouse is like 10 bucks, people. That's just about the difference in price between a PC and a console game.

[NinjaCatStudios]

I have a netbook.
I rarely have £10 on me and when I do, do you think I'd spend it on a mouse?

[Zeddy]

No. But then I wouldn't expect you to play a mouse-based game with a trackpad, either. Those things are awful.

[Water Chicken]

I play mouse based games with a trackpad. Doesn't bother me any.
EDIT: Then again, I'm more used to trackpads then mice.

Edited by Emanrice, 22 February 2011 - 05:35 PM.

[NinjaCatStudios]

That's your opinion, even tbough a mouse is accurate, the pads do work fine when you can use them.

[Zeddy]

IMHO, I think that stating that something is my opinion is kind of unnecessary, I feel. I personally find that the mere fact that I wrote it is a decent hint towards that statement being an opinion which I have, in my opinion. Just saying.

Pretty sure you could also get good at Super Mario with a Guitar Hero-controller.

[Water Chicken]

Pretty sure you could also get good at Super Mario with a Guitar Hero-controller.

If you can do that, I will forever bow down to you.

[Rusty]

No. But then I wouldn't expect you to play a mouse-based game with a trackpad, either. Those things are awful.

I sprite with a trackpad. I can't use a mouse to sprite for the life of me. I tried a few times and it looked like a DaVinci masterpiece that had been cut up, burnt, soaked, recycled and used as toilet paper.

[NinjaCatStudios]

I can use either
I think in my head atleast that the mouse is good for quick precision, hence many people's choice to use it.

[Unsung Hero]

I'm not sure if this was already posted, but it wasn't at the beginning page.

I dislike games with excessive blood, gore, or other theatrical effects. Now, don't get me wrong; I like blood, scenery, etc. as much as the next guy. However, in excessive amounts it sometimes distracts the player from his/her main objective, goal, or that BIG LASER GUN POINTED AT HIS FACE!!! *zapping sounds*

Okay, so you get the point.

Edited by Unsung Hero, 24 April 2011 - 05:37 AM.

[Awesomeness]

How about this: Bad/unresponsive controls?

There's a huge difference between falling in a pit of lava because you forgot there was a collapsing platform, falling in a pit of lava despite hammering the jump button, and falling into said pit because it takes three separate buttons to jump out of the way and you can't hit them fast enough, or it's the beginning of the game and you can't remember which ones they were.

Edited by Awesomeness, 03 June 2011 - 03:12 AM.

[Koran]

Extra files, other than the one Game Maker compiled exe., that are needed to run the game.

... so we should leave them out, and let the game be unable to run? Or should we just not make the game if it's not possible to do it without them?

I don't understand why this one is annoying... as long as everything's nicely packed in an archive, I don't get why there's a problem.

Edit: as for things that do annoy me: unksippable cutscenes >_>

And more often than not, levelling up in RPG's. I want gameplay, quests and plot advancement... I do not want to have to wander around in a cave or in tall grass and fight 700 monsters or pokemans before I'm strong enough to advance the plot. What really annoys me the most though, as that where this balanced, I'd love it.

You're too weak to beat the dragon, so you go and level up outside the city... and you discover new stuff! New pokemans you haven't seen yet, a cave that might have an awesome sword in it... making players go and level up nearby is a brilliant way to encourage exploration. It's just the amount of timed you're forced to do it that ruins it

Worst culprits: Pokemon and Runescape (blimey, the levelling crippled that game)

Edited by Koran, 20 June 2011 - 11:41 PM.

[PurpleFuzzy]

Little while back, we were on the subject of controls, arrow keys vs. WASD, or whatnot... I think any game should come with customizable controls. It's a wonderful feature that's surprisingly very easy to program.

-PF