Sorry your browser is not supported!

Trying to perfect the controlling on mobiles , i always find it hard to control on mobile using virtual joysticks etc...

I have made 2 different system for controlling the 2d games ( see screenshot ), a cursor based control system and the normal virtual joystick, what do you prefer ?

Give it a try:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plemsoft.arcadefps

Also do you prefer the one finger control in the fps over the virtual joystick ?

Thanks.

Personally, I would say that no virtual joystick is the best option. Like, instead of showing a d-pad or virtual stick, just assume that the left side of the screen is for moving, and the right side is for looking.

The biggest issue I find is that it's difficult to keep your thumbs within a controller area, and device sizes vary so much, and you can't even go by the device resolution, because that might have nothing to do with the screen size.

So I say, don't have joysticks or thumb pads or anything like that, make it as dynamic as possible - when the user first touches the screen that's the controller centre, and when they touch again, that's the new controller centre, so you concentrate on the swipe directions rather than a virtual controller.

The popular mobile games are doing this too, like Pac Man 256 and Crossy Road, just swipe the direction you want to go, and it seems to work great.

I think Van B is right, that is a great idea. I really don't like virtual joysticks. D Pad is a bit better but it does distract from the game trying to find the buttons so Van B's option is a great suggestion.
I will use this for my Platypus game when putting it on mobile devices.

Thanks Van B and SpecTre,

The one finger swipe control is already in the game, you can swipe or use the virtual joystick you have both options (FPS). so i assume you prefer the "swipe" system , i never got the 2d games working correct with swipe, as you can have 2 directions at the same time, if your player get to a point where you can go say: up and right and you have both up and right pressed what direction should it go ? , on virtual joystick i use the highest value to decide the directions , so if you move the virtual joystick more to the right then up it will move the player right ( the cursor based system do the same ). i had a problem deciding this when you swipe in 2 directions.

I will have another go at doing a 2d swipe control system

I was thinking more that you just need to take the first touch, and make that the centre of the controller. So you detect a touch, and while the touch is active, the movement might be just the difference between that first touch position and the current position. So the player just drops their thumb and moves around, then lifts their thumb when they stop moving, and when they start moving again, it's based on the new first touch position.

So not strictly a swipe (which I know are painful to detect), more like a dynamic thumbstick. I have a really old RPG that's almost ready for release, except the controls aren't great... if people are used to virtual sticks then they'll maybe be ok - but personally I'd rather try the dynamic thumbstick approach for my own sanity. Maybe my thumbs are getting fat

Of course, no matter how nice you get the movement and rotation controls, firing always throws a spanner in the works... please everyone share ideas for how to implement firing when you are already moving and rotating with your thumbs - nothing I can think of is too practical. In my RPG, I can at least forget about looking up and down, so straffing controls have firing as well, but it's a worrying problem for a real FPS game. Unfortunately there are a lot of cheap Android phones and devices out there that have horrible accelerometers in them, not ideal for accelerometer camera rotation. I guess that might be the best option though, left side dynamic thumbstick for moving, tilt controls to aim or rotate camera, and fixed buttons for firing, weapon selection, reloading etc etc.

Van B: currently the game (FPS) use "double tap" ( or no direction selected ) to fire , so if you put your "thumbs" on the screen and do not move ( within a small rage ) it will fire on release , if you put your thumb on the screen and move it in a direction ( still need a small movement range ) then it will move the player, and do not fire if it gets a direction input ( in this case the double tap is needed ). so your able to play using one thumb to move and firing.

But im lucky i dont have up down 3d control as this game should be arcade style so easy aiming firing. and im able to use swipe up to move player forward ....

Ohhh man i cant hardly see what is going on when playing on my phone, and constant need to focus to make my thumbs hit the spot i need, thats why i tried a one finger system, but on my small phone i constantly put my thumbs at places where it hide what is going on , so you also need move your thumbs to new swipe point to also see what is going on in the game

Happy is not just me having problems controlling.