You know what, I agree. I will say that the innitial controls when it first was released were god-awful, but they really are not that bad as everyone seems. They take a bit to get used to, but I think thats where people end it. I think people find them too confusing to take the time and learn them for a minute. I thought they were responsive and worked very well. I also like the BiA controls, they were really easy to use. Wolfenstein3D's had to be the best though, but then again you don't look up or down in that... but the ability to kind of customize your controls and move sh!t around made things really easy and convenient. Ohh, and dual sticks for 360/PS3 arn't horrible. The mouse and keyboard of course is a little easier and more accurate, but I still can nail some damn good headshots on the fly with a bolt-action rifle in my CoD's, F.E.A.R.s, and KillZones
No, it's not a decent FPS. And PSP gamers know better than to use the analog for movement and face buttons for free look. We reverse the two. Face buttons move, analog free look. N64 Turok style. Dual analog on console FPS are helped because the developers add just a tinge of auto lock that has gotten better (near imperceptible) as time has gone on. In the N64 days you could tell when it was happening (and later, games added the option to shut it off totally). Got better on Dreamcast with some games, and PS2. Then Halo came out on XBox and the auto lock was almost invisible to the player. But kb/m is still much more accurate. To the rest of you going on about controller add ons: Why in the hell would devs support a peripheral (a controller "add on") when they could just spend their time (and therefore money) focusing on the control method that EVERY iPhone/touch owner has: multitouch and accelerometer? You wanna know why kb/m are more accurate? Because FPS titles, which matured on PC, were designed with kb/m in mind. Why? Because kb/m is the stock control interface which ALL PC owners have in common. And it took time for PC game developers to get the best, optimal control for their games using that interface. It too will take time on a platform using multitouch and an accelerometer.
Exactly. The iPhone is still just a Phone/Media Player. If you want to play games buy a DS or PSP or whatever kids use these days.
It would be flippin' sweet to get a control pad with dual analog control sticks, a D-pad, ABXY, and a left and right shoulder button. Maybe even throw in vibration for us Touch owners. Imagine, all that with a beautiful multi-touch screen. The BEST handheld eva!
And take heed when I state that "it'll take time to get better". Booch just mention dual analogs again. But, again, it wasn't always as good as it is now controlling FPS titles using dual analogs (or single analog + face buttons when it comes to earlier home consoles as well as PSP, and touchscreen + face buttons for DS). It evolved over time. Part of the evolution was the addition of a computer controlled auto lock that, over time, got to be better and better, by which I mean lagged less over targets and therefore became more and more imperceptible to the player. Earlier FPS (and 3PS) on iPhone/touch were marred because developers thought they could totally mimic mouse look using the multitouch screen...or the accelerometer. And that's not the case at all, primarily due to the thumb of the gamer obscuring targets, but also the slight lag that is more apparent than with mouse look on PC. There were some games that experimented with "virtual dual analogs" to some success. BiA was among the first, but it was, iirc, the third option in the control setting submenu. Some people preferred the "slide to free look" option, but I preferred the "dual sticks" as it didn't obscure my view of the battlefield. Some liked the "tap to aim" option. Auto lock wasn't that badly implemented either, IMHO. Still too "apparent" but not too bad. Later, with Terminator: Salvation the auto lock lagged way too much over targets. Way, way too much. It was over simplified. Plus, for some really stupid reason, they removed the "virtual dual analog" option found in BiA, and replaced it with that misguided "wheel pad" option which was just...it wasn't a good replacement, IMHO. On top of that they removed the "tap to aim" option, replacing it with an "accelerometer to free look option". I like the accelerometer free look option, but I don't understand why they saw the need to remove the other options found in BiA. Sometimes simplifying submenus doesn't help the end user at all (something that even John Carmack needs to understand, as can be seen by that past topic on here where everyone stated "more options are better".) Cube has some good ideas. Wolfenstein Classic too...but vertical aiming is not necessary in that game, so it comes with a bit of a caveat. Devs need to include options, not remove them for one "solution" as that "one true solution" has yet to be found. And, of course, they need to implement auto lock but make it less apparent to the end user. Multitouch is not lacking in lag as mouse look. That has become apparent over time. It's the same deal as with dual analogs on consoles. It'll evolve over time.
Lots of FPSs? Dude. Only Modern Combat, LiveFire, and Nex. Dooms gonna be Wolf-style. And that iControlPad or whatever is only for jailbroken iDevices. I hate jailbreaking. Its not worth it.
This argument, or some variant of it, seems to be the heart of everyone's very strong criticism of the concept. Yes, the iPhone is a productivity tool. Yes, it neat and slim now and you don't want the clutter. Yes, you can just play your PS3 at home. You love the casual nature of iPhone gaming. I agree w/ that sentiment. But, seriously, shut up. Quit stating the obvious. Some people consider the iDevice their primary gaming platform, and want to get all they can out of it. They want more control options, they don't mind if it is bigger or less sexy or inconvenient. They are not casual gamers. I don't know how large this segment is... but w/ so many millions of iDevices out there - there probably exists a profitable niche for a device like this. Why not have it as option for people to buy... I just don't understand all the criticism.
If they're not casual gamers, they shouldn't expect harcore games from a casual device. It's stupidity.
I agree. A mouse provides real precision--and a trackpad or trackball is very similar. That gives me high hopes for a touchscreen too. (Walking is more of a concern than aiming, really.) I think with the RIGHT controls (including trackpad-style swipe aiming) an iPhone could be nearly as good for controlling an FPS as a desktop computer. And both can be MUCH better than a console FPS, where auto-aim gives you "training wheels" to make up for the awkward indirect control system. Yuck! I've seen some iPhone games (like Dark Hill) with controls that come close to my ideal, and I have high hopes that Live Fire/Kill Test will come even closer. I've been playing with different FPS control schemes because I love FPS's and want to release my own someday on iPhone. (Not Gearball.) Some of the things I thought would work well don't, but swipe controls for two hands can work great I think. I have a few additional ideas to enhance that, which I'll experiment with some day. I want to make a game that respects the strengths of the iPhone platform and doesn't try to be something it can never be... but at the same time, I want to get VERY close to the desktop FPS experience I know and love. I'm convinced this is possible. Now, some extra (shoulder?) buttons for firing and jumping might make a nice accessory. Even a D-pad for moving, possibly. But for aiming, I'll stick with touch! I've played too many hours of UT2004 on trackpad to doubt the possibilities of swipe actions.
Nothing wrong with the option. But my critique of the idea stems from the fact that although it might sell to a large niche...it'll still just be niche. Why would a developer therefore take the time and effort (and time and effort is money in game development, btw) to implement an option for such add ons when the vast majority of possible consumers are unlikely to have such an add on? That's why it won't take hold in a big way, why most devs are unlikely to support such an add on, and why devs are probably better suited to spend their time/effort/money on trying to implement control schemes that use the stock interface (multitouch screen and accelerometer) in the best way possible. Put it to you this way: Light guns were peripherals for years on home consoles. But light gun games were few and far in between. In order to get the most enjoyment out of said games, one needed the peripherals, but peripherals are niche and sell to a minority of the userbase, not the majority. So the result was less and less developers, over time, releasing light gun games. This changed this gen. What console this gen has the most light gun games? The Wii. Why? Because the Wiimote basically is a light gun (IR sensors have been used in arcade light gun game cabinets for years prior to the Wii). So now developers are assured that their games can be enjoyed, and therefore purchased, and therefore marketed, to the ENTIRE userbase. But you're alluding to using the peripheral as an option, so maybe this is a better example of why it probably is not a "need": Home consoles, for quite a while now, have had the option to use keyboard/mouse controls in FPS titles if the developer supports such a thing. PS2 had USB ports. Dreamcast actually had a Sega branded keyboard/mouse. XBox had some peripherals here and there. But the vast majority of devs ignored those add ons and tried to perfect controlling FPS titles using the stock controllers. And over time they have implemented controls that are as close to keyboard/mouse as possible on analog sticks and face and trigger buttons. For analog stick control, again, there's the implementation of auto lock on which has gotten so good that most players nowadays don't even notice that it's there. That's the sort of thing developers on this platform should be spending their time/effort/money on, not supporting a peripheral that will only target a small part of the total target consumerbase.
As a developer, I'd support a control device. I would simply hope that some standard consensus emerges from peripheral makers so that you can use your choice of device and not have to worry about which games support which devices. (Assuming they share some common features and aren't completely unique.) And I wouldn't neglect people who do NOT have a control device--they will always be the majority. If it was somewhat standardized, like that, then I'd support if for the following reasons: 1. I like options. People buying games like options. 2. Compared to the rest of the project, the work involved wouldn't be much. 3. I'm a UI and control-system junkie I play FPS games with a PS-style gamepad in my left hand and a mouse in my right hand. About 48 functions programmed total for Quake Wars (the most complex game I play) so I never have to touch the keyboard! Why do all this? Partly because it's useful and comfortable. Partly because I love messing with controls and customizing them.
This thread started because of the upcoming FPS games... I don't know if they are hardcore, but they are definitely not casual. They are not expecting these games, they are in development. So who is stupid? As for spiffyone... I agree w/ you. But I think it is all about money... if enough people own the addon, a developer will support it if he thinks he can be more profitable w/ this option. I see the chances of this as slim... but the sheer number of iDevices could make this niche profitable. It'll be curious to see if this ever gets off the ground.
I would like to see apple make one official control pad for iphone and no others. It should have 4 buttons, at least 1 analog stick, and shoulder buttons. In my opinion if there was one official gamepad more developer would give it functionality in their games
