25 replies to this topic

[TeamSteeve]

Quote from the Bugtracker.

In general Android keyboards are not supported (it's not something we are planning on doing) - though if there is enough support for it we will consider it (start a poll in the gmc.yoyogames.com) - Only the XPeria Play is officially supported.

So... cast your vote now!

I have an Android phone with a hardware keboard and I think using hardware hardware keyboards on tablets is very useful. While the majority of Android devices out there don't use a hardware keyboard, I think that if we don't have the ability to use it, we may be missing out on a niche market that could potentially make or break some games. Not to mention that however unreasonable it may be, I'm sure some people will get reviews saying "I got a keyboard and can't use it. Don't buy this app!" and they rate it one star, or something along those lines. I definitely want hardware keyboard support and can think of many uses for it. I'm much more interested in hitting a type of audience that will say "This app supports hardware keyboards unlike most other apps, you should buy it!", than trying to make an app that's trageting a much broader market that is already filled with similar apps.

That's just my opinion anyway. What are your thoughts?

[cotycrg]

I 100% agree with you. Hardware keyboard + an async way to pull up the touch keypad on Android/iOS devices would be absolutely wonderful.

I remember back in GM8.1 and below GM would keep track of what keys were being pressed, always leaving them in a string format that you could either cache yourself or clear. It'd be neat to have another system like that. Or just to use the keyboard at all at this point, because really we could do -that- ourselves..

[TeamSteeve]

They are working on an async input that pulls up the on screen keyboard but it will be nice when it's finished.

And thanks for your support, we need as many people on board as possible to get Yoyo Games to agree!

[Kouri]

You get a vote from me. While I've moved on to a touch-only device, I do have very fond memories of playing Cordy on my HTC G2 with the keyboard acting as a gamepad. My parents both use keyboard Androids now (my dad has the G2), so I'm sure it would be nice for them to use it when I develop apps for their tastes.

[kburkhart84]

I of course voted yes(I doubt anyone will vote no). I happen to have a G2 so I could test this. There will be a slight catch to this though. Having the onscreen keyboard popup(to replicate a hardware keyboard where there is none) will take up space, and so the game experience will possibly be different depending on the device. Also, since no iOS device has a keyboard(unless you are using a compatible bluetooth keyboard) that little catch I mention would apply to that as well.

[Mailas]

I definitely vote yes.
I had to make my own keyboard in my Studge game, haha.

Edited by Scylla, 12 July 2012 - 06:12 AM.

[TeamSteeve]

I see one of the mods has added "Don't care" to the poll. That was a good idea becase I don't think we would get many "no"s but we may get a decent amount of "don't care"s.

Still, this topic has a decent amount of views and not many votes. Now you have no excuse not to vote people!

[filulilus]

Don't care (2 votes [15.38%])


Hmmm, I'm actually suprised that so many of you like it to be suported
I feel that Android games are best when touch screen is used and I rather see that YYG put time into something else at the moment.

EDIT:

Hmmm, I might add that I never had a phone with keyboard hardware

Edited by filulilus, 13 July 2012 - 01:08 PM.

[cotycrg]

Hardware input is best for when strings are needing input.

Say, you wanted to make a game where you could name your character.

[GStick]

I'm definitely a hardware keyboard kind of guy...

[TeamSteeve]

I specifically got a phone with a hardware keyboard because of how handy they are. I even use apps that allow me to use my phone as a keyboard for my tablet and PC. These are just a few things that hardware keyboards are very useful for, but I'm sure that we will be able to find fantastic ways to use them with GM:S if YoYo will add support for us!

[Nervware]

I wouldn't say its an immediate priority, but one that would make a good addition.

[TeamSteeve]

It's a priority to me! I'm dying to make use of the keyboard!
If there is hardware keyboard support, there's a good chance I (and any Android users) will be able to map other sorts of controllers to to the hardware keys and be able to use those too.
I can map a PS3 controller to keys and it works for anything I've tried so far!

[filulilus]

It's a priority to me! I'm dying to make use of the keyboard!
If there is hardware keyboard support, there's a good chance I (and any Android users) will be able to map other sorts of controllers to to the hardware keys and be able to use those too.
I can map a PS3 controller to keys and it works for anything I've tried so far!

Connecting a controller to your Android device would be awesome... (especially for emulators)
But I don't really think that's the main idea with Android devices.

Yet again, I'm not against keyboard hardware, I just think there are other more important priorities right now.

[treatlikeobjects]

So I have a game that relies mainly on keyboard keys, so what happens if I import that game do the bindings get wiped out? I was thinking of putting up an onscreen keyboard and just using mouse enter to get it to work.(will that work or are there special functions for each platform). My game has 4 buttons and a spacebar. I was hoping to port with android with keyboard because my game shouldn't require anything else to port.

[cotycrg]

So I have a game that relies mainly on keyboard keys, so what happens if I import that game do the bindings get wiped out? I was thinking of putting up an onscreen keyboard and just using mouse enter to get it to work.(will that work or are there special functions for each platform). My game has 4 buttons and a spacebar. I was hoping to port with android with keyboard because my game shouldn't require anything else to port.

Touch buttons are easy to do. I assume the 4 buttons are actually movement, so you could make an analog stick for simplicity.

[filulilus]

You can make analog buttons with the touch screen.

draw_set_color(c_black)
speed = 0
if mouse_check_button(mb_left)
{
 if point_distance(100, 300, mouse_x, mouse_y) < 100
 {
  draw_set_color(c_red)
  speed = 5
  direction = point_direction(100, 300, mouse_x, mouse_y)
 }
}
draw_circle(100, 300, 100, 0)

[Tennx]

Voted no.

Keyboard Android devices are less and less everyday passes. I think it would be a waste of efforts of YYG Team implementing that functionality.

[Arusiasotto]

Voted no.

Keyboard Android devices are less and less everyday passes. I think it would be a waste of efforts of YYG Team implementing that functionality.

Android tablets are becoming more common, as well as attachable keyboards. It would be a waste of potential not to allow people to use the option.

[David Batty]

I voted yes, not for my phone or tablet but for set top boxes running Android. It won't be too long before we have a forum area for set top box developers, our content will be consumed on the TV in the living room. This will usually have a wireless or bluetooth keyboard for input and therefore interaction with the users. The TV doesn't have a touch screen and nobody is near enough to reach it anyway so a keyboard is the only way to go.