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Read if your interested in some one else's whining, but as far as sixaxis use is concerned, most of the issues i complained about have been resolved by Dancingpixels the developers of sixaxis in the 0.5.2 release, now includes a touch emulation system that is just Sheer Genius, and resolves most of the issues i complained about with games devs having to get their finger out at all ......... typical.
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Hi folks
Been kind of goaded into this rant due to mounting frustration with the general direction most (almost all) Android games developers seem to be taking . I love my phone (HTC Desire Z) and am now a confirmed Droid Zealot (I'll side with ANYONE against Apple ) But i am getting increasingly frustrated with droid native games, crappy touch controls without any keyboard options. I wanna use my PS3 pad !!!
I cannot be the only one who feels this way?!?!?!
My basic point is 'Touch controls suck for games'!!!!
IMHO much like the gamepad verses mouse argument, for me its not even a debate. Touch controls are ok until you need to make fast precise movements of some kind (usually involves not dying), or you need to make a highly coordinated movement involving changing position and changing POV at the same time.Then it usually all falls apart.
Fingers leave the digitiser, interface routines get confused as thumbs get too close to each other, digitisers just plain ignores some inputs, or your thumbs just end up meeting in the middle !!!!!!
I know touch has the advantage of reconfigurability, and convenience but for games those are its only good points, it scores very low on speed and precision in almost all situations.
Now am not naive i completely understand most Androids have few hardware buttons these days, so it makes sense to develop for the one guaranteed interface device all Androids have. But the problem is that almost the entire Android games dev community seem to suffer from the same problem what i call 'Touch screen Myopia' in that they develop solely for the touch screen, completely ignoring the fact a lot of serious smartphone gamers deliberately choose phones with QWERTY hardware keyboards and standalone Bluetooth controllers are becoming way more popular ( BT controllers usually need native support or a t least a set of keyboard keys that you can config the pad driver to use). So it seems to me about time developers added one or two small additional element to all Android games.
#1: A set of hard coded keyboard keys for all games controls (very simple)
AND/OR
#2: A simple, robust, full controls config system (not that much harder)
Now why this wasn't established as a best practice way back in Android history is beyond me, but maybe it leads me onto another pet peeve. I can't help the suspicion that part of the reason these kind of more adaptable control schemes are rare on native droid games is the rather unfortunate 'Apple Aping' that seems all too common around droid dev.
'Apple does everything with touch (indicative of how seriously Apple take gamers IMHO) so we should too' SCREW that !!!!!!!
Yeah am aware that many devs develop for IOS too and often port to android, but what am talking about isn't hard to implement its less than a days work for a competent programmer. Its a bog standard function in just about every emulator in existence.
Last i want to point out how awesome games like N.O.V.A, Destroy Gunners, ShadowGun, and so many others could be if they had one or both of my suggested control improvements implemented.
There are some games already that implement keyboard keys scheme like 'Turbo Fly 3D' (awesome future racing game) its not technically difficult, its just a matter of devs doing it.
Related
I am interested in buying the Raphael.
As i enjoy playing the ZX Spectrum emulator for ppc
(Pocket Clive, Fuse for ppc), i would like to know if anyone has tried this emulator with the Raphael....
Is the Raphael's keyboard working with the emulator??
Is the lack of hardware keys causing problems???
Is the emulator slow???
Thank you in advance for every answer.....
It actually runs pretty well. You cant use the hardware keyboard though; sliding it out causes it to hang rather than flipping it into landscape. I guess it only supports portrait. Unless you want to do some programming in BASIC though, the onscreen keyboard is good enough to navigate menus etc. The only hardware buttons you need are UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT and FIRE, so the buttons on the front are good enough if a bit close together.
I've got 5,090 games so I'm gonna have some fun with this. I'd suggest you install to storage card as the only directory you can use for roms is in the path it creates itself in Program Files, so obviously better where you have more space.
So in answer to your questions:
1. No, the hardware keyboard does not work
2. No, the lack of hardware keys does not cause a huge problem
3. No, it runs 100%, not too slow (nor too fast, and sound emulation is spot on too)
For anyone else who wants to try it, it's HERE
I would share my roms too, but I think this would be deemed as warez as I payed for them from HMV years ago (£10....bargain!) and also there's always that stipulation that if you download the ROMs you must delete them after 24 hours unless you either own the original game or bought the ROMs, (and therefore the respective license(s)).
Your answer was quite enlighting....although quite dissapointing...
I was dreaming of playing again my Zenobi adventures without using the stylus...
Anyway, do you find the on screen keyboard any better or larger in VGA screen -that the Raphael supports- than any previous 320x240 ppc screen??
Thanks again...
P.S. Have you tried the scummvm???
Does the keyboard work?
Any problems regarding the lack of hardware keys in the front????
there's always that stipulation that if you download the ROMs you must delete them after 24 hours
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Click to collapse
Oh, that one again.. it's not true, you know.
Unless the game/application/product have been put in the public domain, made available as freeware, or is available as a demo/shareware/trial, or you own the license (as you mention) then downloading said product for any amount of time is technically piracy, regardless of if it is for 24 hours or not. The fact that it is "abandonware" does not mean it legal to download ROMs, even for "trial" purposes.
But isn't it OK to download and "try" ROMs for 24 hours? (MAME ROM FAQ)
I know you're not talking about MAME ROMs in this case, but the principles of copyright still holds. I also know you're not condoning piracy - just thought it worth mentioning this about the perceived legality of downloading copyrighted material for 24 hours.
So here I am coming to see what is new in "Raphael land 2008" and find someone is nearly as far back in personal computing as I was when I started. A ZX Spectrum Emulator!!!!
Hey - anyone got a ZX80 emulator?
If I can find the cassette tape backup - and if it still is readable - I have an old "Star Trek" game I wrote long time back. The stars twinkling outside the bridge of the Enterprise's view screen were my stellar achievement....
Mind I actually used to do statistical analysis in SOFOR (Southampton University's variant of Fortran IV) sitting in London at two in the morning because my computer budget lasted longer in the middle of the night. And I could actually get a console - instead of having to punchcard it and run it on a teletype terminal - that was an added bonus! Thirty years ago in 1978 to be precise.
I used scummvm with some success on my Wizard, Artemis & Tytn II, but as far as I am aware it doesn't support the hardware keyboard. I had to map the on-screen keyboard to a hardware button so I could use it while I was in game. Then again, that could have just been the Artemis as it has no hardware keyboard. Can't quite remember to be honest. Have to say I haven't tried it on the Touch Pro yet.
The Z80 keyboard in PocketClive is rather small too.
And one final thing about the legality of ownership of roms, as I said, I paid for my spectrum roms so I'm safe there. I do not condone illegal downloading of roms. Always believed you could 'legally' test them for 24 hours though. That's a new one on me.
Let me start by praising this forum. You're all members of an incredible community. I just purchased my first mobile device (besides Sega's Game Gear and the original Nintendo Game boy, if you'd be liberal enough to put these in the same category), the hTC Raphael (AT&T's Fuze more precisely), and you guy’s have got me really excited about this technology.
Excuse me for continuing off topic, some background information may help you to answer my questions.
I’m really into technology, I’m always learning more about web standards, xml, hardware engineering, open source development, and computer science in general. I have a small computer lab in my house comprised of desktop systems dating from 1994 -2005. Due to financial limitations I don’t usually buy new equipment. As a hobby I sell and repair computers, and I’m really into web development (SVG has been my main interest for a while). I’m a very novice programmer, taking my first baby steps into Java though I’ve briefly used C++ and I’m fairly fluent in Javascript.
Let’s get back to the Fuze already! Heh.
So I’d obviously like to customize the Fuze to my liking, and I’ve been doing my homework. I bought the device because of its support for SVG, VPN (for my home network),WIFI (the university I’m attending has a large WIFI network), and Opera Browser. I just tried out tyguy’s forum post, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3042587#post3042587 , yesterday. After some customization (rhedgehog's Raphael Tweaks, adding support for zooming with the scroll wheel in opera, screen rotation via accelerometer, My_Flash3_1) I realize that I’m pretty disappointed with the device. It seems to be running slower than ever (I used the default rom w/ the bloat ware for a week), my email had broken (probably because of Sprite Backup restoring ‘personal information’ w/out ‘system files’, luckily nightbird’s post, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=412438 , linked me to the software that fixes this ‘can’t view my inbox’ issue), the TF3D Music Library changed for the worse, but I’m not here to complain. Tyguy’s post was adequately informative, and a great start for beginners like myself.
At this point you’re probably saying “What is your question, and what does this have to do with BlenderPocket?!”
So.. I understand that the graphic rendering support of the Fuze is less than what some would like (probably due to the Qualcomm Chipset). Pauloke’s Diamond VR Hologram v2.02 runs on my Fuze, but at a frame rate of 0.17FPS. I’ve read up on Hard-SPL by Raphael Elite Team, Raphael Elite Project’s RC2 ROM, Aruppenthal’s RRE ROM, and Monx’ ROMeOS2. I’m cautious to try flashing, but I have an insurance policy, so I’ve decided to try Raphael Elite Project’s RC2 ROM.
On to the questions!
Has anybody tried BlenderPocket on a Fuze? http://russose.free.fr/BlenderPocket/ This would be an ideal application for my device.
Do those of you ‘in the know’ think that the rendering support of the Raphael could handle this app? The system requirements for BlenderPocket are quite low.
Which ROM’s effectively enhance rendering support for OpenGL, MD3DM, SVG Graphics? / Is there a ROM you would recommend for my Raphael? (after reading my autobiography, lol ) I understand that these are complicated issues involving Qualcomm proprietary drivers, I'm just trying to catch the most up to date information on Raphael graphics development.
I understand that there are some issues with the Fuze keyboard. Blender, among other apps, require input configuration from hard keys.
Where might I find information about mapping keyboard keys to apps (specifically pertaining to the Raphael)?
Where might I find a table of the hard key codes (ie: PAD_00x01)? http://russose.free.fr/BlenderPocket/?q=node/22
Does the ‘HTC Fuze Keyboard Fix.cab’ fix the keyboard issues I’m speaking of (the issue some have noted about not being able to configure keyboard keys as input to emulators and the like), or just adjust for the AT&T keyboard layout?
While on the topic of emulators.
Has anybody successfully run FPSEce on their Raphael? Sonhy claims that it works great on his system, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2642151#post2642151 . Others complain of keyboard and rendering issues. It would be incredible to use this device for work and play, a PS1 emulator would be ideal for play time. :-D
Thanks in advance for any advice or answers to my questions. All advice is appreciated.
Also in advance I apologize for any duplicate questions, I’ve spent a week combing the forum and these are some questions that I’m left with.
I am more than willing to donate my time to testing and development as well as money (what little I have of the stuff) when I'm better educated on who's hands it belongs in.
EDIT: After installing the Dimond Ati Drivers I now have 16.67 Average FPS during execution of Pauloke’s Diamond VR Hologram.
Now if only I could figure out this button mapping. I'm trying out ButtonFinder.exe
[email protected] said:
Which ROM’s effectively enhance rendering support for OpenGL, MD3DM, SVG Graphics? / Is there a ROM you would recommend for my Raphael? (after reading my autobiography, lol ) I understand that these are complicated issues involving Qualcomm proprietary drivers, I'm just trying to catch the most up to date information on Raphael graphics development.
I understand that there are some issues with the Fuze keyboard. Blender, among other apps, require input configuration from hard keys.
Where might I find information about mapping keyboard keys to apps (specifically pertaining to the Raphael)?
Where might I find a table of the hard key codes (ie: PAD_00x01)? http://russose.free.fr/BlenderPocket/?q=node/22
Does the ‘HTC Fuze Keyboard Fix.cab’ fix the keyboard issues I’m speaking of (the issue some have noted about not being able to configure keyboard keys as input to emulators and the like), or just adjust for the AT&T keyboard layout?
While on the topic of emulators.
Has anybody successfully run FPSEce on their Raphael? Sonhy claims that it works great on his system, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2642151#post2642151 . Others complain of keyboard and rendering issues. It would be incredible to use this device for work and play, a PS1 emulator would be ideal for play time. :-D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The htc fuze keyboard fix only fixes the keyboard layout if you use a touch pro rom which has different keyboard layout. Most roms here are touch pro roms, so you will need this for correct layout. I noticed on that emulator thread there was a link to this keyboard mapping for games,http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2703133&postcount=3
I've tried a few of the roms here, Da_G's is very good if you don't want to use the touchflo3d UI. With touchflo, the ROMeOS roms are hard to beat, although NATF and Proven roms worked well for me also. Choose one and flash, you'll be much happier with your fuze once you do as they are all huge improvements over stock rom.
Thanks Showaco. I had also seen Dilta's KforRaphael.CAB (Thanks Dilta!) Just hopeful that a more permanent fix to the issue could be developed. May be my first venture into programming for the Raphael.
Firstly, I've been following the leaks so far, and so I don't want to hear, oh there won't be a multitouch. The bottom line is, we don't know what the final product will be.
Secondly, it goes without saying, that I support any efforts by MS to incorporate capacitative screens. Currently, there are two known and upcoming solutions to replace the stylus, one an RF pen (a stylus that should work with cap. screens- google it!) and a solution that MS has recently invested in, called something like N-trig.
The purpose of this thread is to discuss, and make content those who are against multitouch if it comes to 6.5, or for that matter, 7.
Now, the main argument against multitouch, is that it is against single-handed usage. Here I will list why that is a moot/null/void argument:
- Using the iPhone as an example firstly (and pretty much throughout but it is not due to me having a liking for it, rather I hate it, but I hope to convey a more profound message), though there is argument over the pinch gesture in Safari (their internet browser), the double-tap to zoom is still available. So, the double-tap that we are used to in Opera, is also in Safari. So one can have it both ways. So, to sum up this point, devs would need to make sure that their programs are made for single handed usage, but that multitouch offers a different (and as some would argue, more enhanced) method of using the phone. So single-handed usage is still there, basically.
- Some games, require pressing of more than one button simultaneously. Now if buttons A, B and C are onscreen and are only viable via touch entry, then we're screwed once again as only one given button can be pressed at one time. If you're a gamer, you will know how big a limitation this is to your phone. It hurts in so many scenarios. If you're not into games, or your games are limited to puzzles: trust me, this is a biggie!
- A similar and relevant point; phones like Touch HD bear the brunt of lacking multitouch, as they don't even have a D-pad for games. So all buttons onscreen (D-pad inclusive) can only be pressed one-at-a-time!
- Whether you like this app or not, it demonstrates that some apps simply cannot do without multitouch. Why put limitations? If you want to argue it is against single-touch usage, then press one button at a time !
- Another app that is somewhat heartwarming . I've used it on an acquaintance's iPhone, and it's nice to swirl two of your fingers through the pond making multiple ripples. Again, just use single touch if you're against double ripples .
- Text entry for those of us that type at lightning speed would be hindered where we are required to press one button right next to the next one in quick succession. Why put this limitation?
- I will add more here onwards if something comes to mind. Maybe. Maybe not.
So all in all, single handed usage can still be there, and MS can enforce this in their SkyStore (app store equivalent), though granted it could be difficult. But most developers would do this, as most do what their customers want, not what I, the dev want.
LASTLY, this is not a WM bashing thread if you think like that, so stop hating! This is for improvements only!
Just to let you know...it's not all M$'s fault..Mostly HTC and the companys that make the devices. Just look at the omnia. It has a capactive touchscreen.
Good Points, and just because WM6.5 has Mutlitouch available doesn't mean devs or phone builders would HAVE to use it.
I'm a big fan of "many options."
Side Note: Moved to General Discussion.
Kraize said:
Just to let you know...it's not all M$'s fault..Mostly HTC and the companys that make the devices. Just look at the omnia. It has a capactive touchscreen.
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Is this truly true ? If so, why doesn't Samsung advertise it as much? Also, doesn't the small buttons become difficult to use?
JimmyMcGee said:
Good Points, and just because WM6.5 has Mutlitouch available doesn't mean devs or phone builders would HAVE to use it.
I'm a big fan of "many options."
Side Note: Moved to General Discussion.
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This is precisely my point! The only little niggle is that devs should make sure that productivity tools allow single handed usage as well. One way would be to enforce this through the SkyStore. Another would be to let the magic happen itself.
I really want to see what people will say against my strong defence of multitouch. Come on people!
It will raise the cost of the devices (both due to the much more expensive screen AND the need for a special, larger stylus) and create a further layer of incompatibility between WM devices (those with multi-touch and those without).
Surur
surur said:
and create a further layer if incomparability between WM devices (those with multi-touch and those without).
Surur
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Which is why everyone should have to buy a new device when Windows Mobile 7 is released.
Seems people are forgeting WM6.5 is more like Vista, a stop gap before the better OS ie Windows 7
Why WM6.5 does not have mltitouch ?
I will try to answer this question.
The big hardware manifacturers are in the begining of producin multitouch capable phones (you all know that you need multitouch capable digitizer in order to be able to use multitouch). Microsoft communicated with manifacturers and they were not ready with such devices, which is the reason multitouch to be reserved for windows mobile 7.
Seems people are forgeting WM6.5 is more like Vista, a stop gap before the better OS ie Windows 7
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Click to collapse
Totally agree
I see no real benefit in multi-touch on small screen. granted, in games with on devices with minimal input buttons, but until device manufactures actually start releasing 3D drivers for the devices the point about gaming isn't of much substance because there will only be mediocre games.
I don't know what the masses want but I see little benefit in it on screens that one can stretch the thumb from bottom left of the device and reach the top right.
I rather draw a counter clockwise circle to zoom and a clockwise to zoom out.
the real benefit is in the screen response, not the multi-touch. aside from gaming, tell me what other real benefit is there? because I don't see it.
Text entry for those of us that type at lightning speed would be hindered where we are required to press one button right next to the next one in quick succession. Why put this limitation?
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I think this depends on the sip you're using and have no reliance on multi-touch capabilities. I see myself as a very fast typist and this is thanks to the sip I'm using.
do this, ask your friend to do this with his iPhone: press 2 keys at the same time while typing the word "Quilts", so your friend would type it like this "Qu" then "il" then "ts" and tell us what's the result. I am pretty curious as to what the results will be. I would ask my girl to do it but she's at work now.
I was surprised that mame does not exist for android. I thought mame has been ported to pretty much everything, so surely there must be a version for android right? I know there is a version of mame that plays cp2 games and supports a couple of other types of hardware, but I'm referring to old school games (pac-man, frogger etc).
I'd like there to be a more robust mame for android. Something that supports all the roms as it does on the desktop. Obviously if it's a more modern rom and the cpu of your android device isn't enough for it, then it won't run well.
Again, for me personally it would be mainly the classic arcade games.
Most I can imagine working well, some wouldn't (like say defender just cause of it's control scheme).
Anyway, I'd really like to see this happen, but someone mentioned on another forum that developers don't want to as mame is opensource and they couldn't sell a closed source version. Actually, just reading the mame page it states:
"Redistributions may not be sold, nor may they be used in a commercial product or activity." It also goes on to say the source code would have to be released.
Would a donation fund be in conflict with the above? Hmm, probably so I assume. But again, it would be paying a developer a one-time fee for his service of porting and not the final product per say. Once he/she claims this bounty, it would be free to all others. Can anyone chime in if that would be in conflict?
Would any developer be interested in this? What would be a fair amount for this work? If I started this fund with even a small amount of say 10 dollars, if 10 others did, obviously it would only be 100.00. But maybe after some time 100 would. Would 1000.00 be worth it to a developer to take this task? I have no clue how difficult this would be to port to android (c to java porting). Obviously, some type of custom overlay controls would be needed as well in addition, a touch based frontend for launching the games.
Companies (atari etc) may not like the existence of emulators and I know roms bring up issues and would never be distributed, but emulators alone are completely legal.
Hey woah... Hold up on all the replies. One at a time folks.
I'm a little surprised, no one is interested to see mame on android? After productivity apps it was the first thing I thought of when I thought of gaming on my android. I've waited a while to see if things would happen, so now I thought of this idea.
No one is interested?
You won't be seeing recent versions of MAME running on Android at any point soon. The performance requirements for MAME have gone up drastically as MAME gets more and more accurate with its emulation. As such, you're only going to see older versions of MAME being used in stuff like phones, such as MAME 0.37 or below.
And for someone like you who really wants the older classics, running an older version of MAME would be better for you anyways unless you'd want to see the classics stutter and be almost unplayable.
I haven't been actively following mame development as of late,but I do remember when they changed from sound samples in asteroids and the CPU requurements went up drastically. But that was a unique case of emulating analog circuitry. So I'd be surprised if the requirements went up dramatically for say pacman.
But fine let's say you are right point taken. I would have no qualms with mame . 35 or whatever. But again few seem interested.
Besides the ones in the market?
http://www.appbrain.com/app/jrioni-arcade-full-version/com.jrioni.jarcade
Or this?
http://g-arcade.appspot.com/
g arcade only supports:
Capcom CPS-1,CPS-2,Cave
Neo Geo (make sure neogeo.zip(bios file) is in the same folder)
Taito, Toaplan
That's the one I was referring to initially. Not interested in that.
jroini I saw before and was under the impression it only supported modern hardware similar to g arcade but it seems I was wrong. However it is a commercial app and not in compliance with the mame license. From it's blog:
http://jrioni-arcade.blogspot.com/
Starting at the next release, Jarcade will no longer contain MAME core engine in order to be compliant with MAME license.
I'll separate all android related work from MAME core engine including UI/touch control, opengl rendering, screen preview/Cabinet, video/sound filter, file handling...etc.
There will be a separate MAME engine APK which will be open-source and free to download from Market.
What does this mean to you?
You'll need to download and install MAME APK separately.
Again, this is needed in order to continue supporting the project.
I hope you understand
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So it sounds like mame will be free and what he'll be charging for is the android gui?
Anyway, I'll look into this option further.
See my recent post. I have ported my iOS mame 0.37b5 Mame4all port called iMAME4all to Android. It's called MAME4droid. No stutter with correct hw without filtering
Let you play all classic
Hey! I just came here to spread the word! I just found this yesterday.
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!
Just some comments. Not really related to your app but I have roms of a modern set and having difficulty converting my roms. I believe I understand how clrmamepro works (although I think the interface is clunky) and I didn't see any errors in conversion (using your dat file) but yet over half my roms won't work saying they are missing files. I used to use a different program for rom sets but I can't recall it's name as it has been a number of years. Even if it's still around, I assume you don't have a dat file for other rom conversion utilities. I can't recall if dat files are universal. I guess I could grab an exe of mame 37 and use that as it's reference.
On your program, great stuff! My only complaint is the actual controls unfortunately. And this may not be a fault of your software, rather my inability to get accustomed to touch based controls. Even in the menu to select a game I keep accidentally trigger a left or right and go down a full page. I have to be calm and patient just to select a game. I'm not sure how this can be resolved though. There is a dead zone option but no fine tuning. Maybe that would help. Or even an option to scale the control size? I realize that may start to overlap the game, but for good controls I'd sacrifice that.
What I think does need changing is the threshold for trackballs. I tried playing attaxx (a turn based game, so it doesn't require twitch skills) and even on the lowest trackball sensitivity setting I couldn't play it.
Also, is there a way to get into the dip switches of games? (difficulty, # of lives etc).
Finally, some games I prefer the bootleg version. If I have them in a merged set does it recognize that? For ex, with galaxians I prefer super galaxians that has the alternate board layout. Do I need to make separate rom set for that and not a merged set? Also, galaxians enemies shots seem to flicker more than I recall in mame on a pc. But a minor gripe.
Anyway, my only real gripe is the controls and that may just be my inexperience with touch based controls. But man, try and play frogger (which requires someone to let go and and then re-push in a direction) I could barely get a frogger to his home!
Regardless, thanks again. Android really needed this!
MAME is meant to be played on with buttons and real joysticks.
Yes I realize that, however things might be able to be changed to make the controls more usable. The trackball sensitivity definitely needs adjusting. And maybe a tweak for the deadzone option (like set a threshold value?).
sark666 said:
Also, is there a way to get into the dip switches of games? (difficulty, # of lives etc).
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Press Coin + Start at the same time
Over the past few years, there seems to have been a collective industry shift - at least in the Android market (and to an extent Windows, which really only broke onto the scene when this movement was underfoot) - to move the navbar from soft capacitive buttons (like those on the HTC One X) to wholly virtual ones (like those popularized by the Nexus series). What I've been wondering is why, and I'm hoping to get some perspective from the XDA community on this.
When everyone except Blackberry moved away from using arrays of physical buttons, three options were left on the table:
Minimal physical button usage
Soft capacitive buttons
Virtual touch buttons
Apple has clearly stuck with (1) largely because it is so core to the iconic iPhone design, but also because it's simple - the same button is used for numerous functions. Samsung's Galaxy S series has blended (1) and (2) - presumably in mimicry of Apple's success, but in different enough of a way to avoid patent lawsuits. The biggest proponent of (3), AFAIK, is the Nexus - and it really has inspired others to follow in its steps.
What I don't understand is why there has been such a strong move from (2) to (3) - and yes, I have done my Googling. But I haven't seen any particularly persuasive arguments or reasons:
Screen real estate - Uh, have you seen a Nexus? I haven't seen any phone that uses exclusively virtual buttons which doesn't have a ridiculous amount of negative space on the bezel where s.c. buttons can be dropped in.
Aesthetically appealing - There's something to be said for the negative-positive space ratio that minimalism relies on, and cutting s.c. buttons changes absolutely nothing about that ratio (see above).
Design consistency - This I understand, but only to an extent. (Disclaimer: No experience doing dev for Android) From a dev perspective, do soft capacitive buttons not provide input the same way the virtual navbar does? From an industry perspective, I can see how it's easier than re-engineering the circuit and layout design every time something as big as that changes - but is it really that important?
Customizability - NOPENOPENOPE. We all know someone that, while wonderful or positively brilliant at what they do, is completely lost when it comes to technology. That is the vast majority of the smartphone market, and therefore the vast majority of the Android market. Granted, power users might have a tendency to gravitate to Android, but playing with ROMs and the like to customize the navbar? We're the 1% when it comes to this, and there's no way that the industry would shift its design perspective solely for this 1%.
So, does anyone have another reason - or perhaps, a rationale for one of the reasons that I've mentioned that explains why I'm wrong?