Mythruna

I've been looking at adding joystick support to Mythruna recently.  Partly because it would be good to have and partly because I would like it for some other projects that I'm remaining silent on for the moment.

Anyway, I'm curious how many of you out there have game pads.

I bought a few cheaper ones from Amazon to experiment and there appears to be no real standard mapping for the layout of the controls as they relate to what is reported to code.  Thus, I'm interested in (eventually) having some folks run a test app to collect info about their game pads... the more mappings I can look at the better the default control setup will be.

Obviously I will eventually have to support letting the user remap the controls but I'd like the defaults to not be completely stupid... and so far if I set things up for one set of game pads, another will be completely stupid.

I will probably pick up a few different cheap ones in the future... so I'm particularly curious to see what a more expensive game pad reports.  I don't plan to buy any of those. :)

iv never used one and probibly never will unless there nesecary for mythruna :p i hadnt achualy heard about them untill know.

I have a few of them. If you mean just any old controller that can be used for the computer then i have (i think) 3 different kinds and an older one, but that one has less buttons. I also have a wired xbox 360 controller that i use for some Steam games.

For most games i like just using the mouse and keyboard, mainly because once you're as used to it as i am you can do so much more than on a game pad.

A player named Timepath (don't know if you ever met him or not) had hacked his client once to use a game pad but was never happy with the mappings.  I think when there is a third person perspective and a lot of action stuff that some people will like the gamepad.

Yeah, for PC RPGs I also prefer the keyboard + mouse.  Still, I get really used to the double analog sticks on console games and I could see how someone might want to play that way.  Especially if there was a working third person perspective.

When I saw how badly it worked for Mythruna "out of the box", I got motivated to try and make it better.  Plus, I'm toying with the idea for a quick side project that would be a more gamepad oriented thing.

I use a 360 controller for many games. I love it when it just works but I will sometimes use Pinnacle to map the keys myself. After playing MC on the xbox I maped the PC version with Pinnacle and havent looked back.

I agree that in some 3rd person action perspectives it might be a good idea, and maybe you should add it before release... but i don't know if you should take time out *now* to do it...

 :-X not worth the extra wait.

There are a few reasons that kind of add up.  Mostly it was because I've been swamped with my day job but this was something simple I could play with while doing full release builds between testing my full release builds.

Some other things to consider:
-I'm kind of half considering a quick side project that might earn some more cash to help with Mythruna development... it would require joystick support.
-Some of the next things I will have to get working in Mythruna are character animations for the AI (and as a side-effect the player).  Having a working third-person view with proper joystick support makes these animations easier for me to work on... and I figured if I was already adding gamepad support for me then I might as well make it sensible for as many as possible.
-It's been a while since I put out a Mythruna build and there's nothing significant that will be done soon... so sometimes I start looking for some easy wins that might make a small release worthwhile.  Three months is too long for me.

But your point is exactly why I don't want to bother adding a complex button mapping screen or anything... that would be a waste of valuable time right now.

Im not sure if you would answer this, but what are all the expenses you have for making mythruna?

The "hard" expenses are mostly domain registration, hosting, SSL key renewals, etc... I also purchased a computer that is just for the public server, etc..  The accountant takes some money... and I have a bunch of expenses I need to run through my lawyer that I can't afford to pay for yet.

The looser expense is my time... which is where most of my investment is.  And my current situation is such that more money directly impacts the amount of time I can spend on the game from week to week.

I feel like i would donate up to 50$ if i knew more of the direction you were going and knew it would be stable... But what guarentee do you have that a side game would get enough attention to be worth it? you would be in a smaller mythruna boat.

I think my end vision is pretty stable.  There are only a few cutting edge areas that may turn out to be impossible but there are fallback positions in all cases.  Full physics is one of those things... though I have a much better understanding of the risks now than when I started.  It used to be "is proper physics going to even be possible?"  And now it's more "how much will I have to dumb it down not to randomly explode?"

A lot of proper physics is just a short cut to avoid a longer + harder path, though.


I don't.  It would have to be a nearly free (for me) effort so that there is no/little risk.  One of the missing pieces was joystick support so I checked that against my priorities and discovered it would be useful for other things so I added it to my short term list.  Other things that potentially move up on the list of priorities that more directly affect Mythruna are character animation and local-only physics effects (particles effects and stuff).  The latter of which naturally leads to be closer to having networked physics also ready to go.  (Physics will probably go through about five phases before it's "done".)  And, by the way, local-only physics is useful for proper character animation.

Anyway, it's mostly a way to focus on shorter term goals because town generation + AI, done properly is long and arduous.  If my life situation were to change tomorrow, I like to know that I have some quick options for potentially quickly jump-starting full time game development... or at least knowing where those lines are.

Well as soon as my little pay pall issue fixes itself you have my 25, and how about this, the next good update ill throw in another 25, for every update after I can promise 5 or more. Now I cant say it can stay this way because pay pal hates mw, but I can promise you at least my 25 now, and 25 after, unless life hits me with a bus lol

LOL. :)

I really don't know. Do you plan on using your own custom ones? or use one naturally for computer? May I see an image of one?

lol i sense a reference there...
The final game can only get better with your experiences. If things are taking too long though i may need to shell out more money so my- i mean, your dream game can be finished  ;) if i could give you my excitement for your game, i would.
I guess you do what you have to do to keep the ball rolling, Paul. I've played video games all my life, but i just can't see myself getting a job just on a degree and my love of video games. I'm paying attention to how you're going about this because i can easily see myself being in your shoes later, though my "plan" for now is to become an optometrist first, get some money than start doing games like this in my free time, so I want to see how you're doing it.
If you ever need any help let me know, and keep up the good balance between fun and finances  :)

An image of a gamepad?  Have you not been anywhere near a game console in the last 10 years? :)

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=images+gamepad

I'm not sure what "using my own custom ones" means in this instance.

Sorry, I forgot what a gamepad was for some reason, my mind went back 10 years when you had a joy stick and a button :P. by "using my own custom ones" i mean will you make your own for use only for Mythruna?

Sorry to tell you this, But joystick+button = probably 30-35 years ago. :).

My idea of gamepad usage = Blue-tooth + Wii-remote + Classic controller. My older brother tried it. It had instant input response time.

Maybe I'll post another pic when the other three come on Wednesday.

(http://i.imgur.com/MDzx2.jpg)

Though truthfully, I have not gotten the PS3 sixaxis to work on my dev machine yet.

you americans..... we call those things game controllers not pads.... hahaha

I call them game controllers, too... though I suppose that isn't specific enough since any joystick is a game controller.

It's the rest of the internet that seems to call them gamepads because when I was trying to buy some that's what I had to search for.  And honestly, it bugs me that "gamepad" is underlined in red as a spelling mistake. :)

Those controllers look drastically like Playstation controllers, maybe version PlayStation2.

One of them _is_ a PS3 controller.  The other two are just USB game controllers for the PC.  A lot of them are shaped this way.  XBox controllers are similar except there isn't as much to hold onto... and a lot of times one of the sticks is flattened into the controller body (which I don't like).

Updated pic with all 7 test joysticks.  The top one is obviously not useful for a game like Mythruna but since I'm really fixing the joystick support in jMonkeyEngine, I needed to make sure to support it.

(http://i.imgur.com/PDSnd.jpg)

Ah, I want to get a game controller for Mythruna (when supported), i miss controllers :(

Like 2 months ago, we were told that we were "spoiled" with many items, so we got our PlayStation2 and Nintendo64 took away and were gave to some friends, we still have a Wii, but I don't care for it one bit.

Depending on how the game looks i might use a controller. i might post a picture of it later.

You may be too young for it... but Resident Evil 4 on the Wii was almost worth having the console.  Scary game... good action fun.

I loved that game, I played it on the PlayStation2 :) but it wasn't mine.

Soooo much better on the Wii, I think.  The control scheme was excellent.

My cousin has it on Wii, I may want to try it, but I am very determined not to play the Wii again for some odd reason, I just don't like it. We have like 20 wii games, and I only like 1 about 58%, it is a sonic the hedgehog game. In matter of fact, when the wii was new, we traded out XBOX360 for a STUPID WII!!!!! *Rages*  >:(

I truly don't like X-box 360 due to copying designs. Mii's look almost the same, same stand-up design. Overall USA version of Nintendo xD

I was losing sleep playing RE4 every night.  I have four Wii remotes and I'd run down the batteries on each one and have to hunt for new ones.  At one point I was even pulling batteries from the TV remotes. :)

Nice thing is when I did the same thing for Metal Gear Solid 4, it was on the PS3 and the controllers are rechargeable... so I'd just swap them. :)

You are a true gamer. :). We are "fans" of Nintendo so we have ALMOST every console. Missing probably 2 or 3 consoles. WiiU is next!!! *Will be playing ZombieU*

All the newer stuff like the PS3, PS Vita and 3DS i don't have  :-\ just no money for it. Though I'm perfectly happy with my Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, PSP, DS, SNES, Sega Dreamcast, and my 1 of our 4 tank computers. I have so many steam games...

You can start making more money by the following:

1.) Youtube is a hint: make videos.
2.) Have a headset, and FRAPS, or any other recorder (such as bandicam)
3.) build an audience.
4.) what's next? http://youtube.com/partners <-- become a partner!!
5.) Make an adsense account to get payed.

6.) Get a Job for more money.
7.) Get a Job outside of the house.
8.) Repeat from step 6

I have a reeling Unnatural sits there watching the index waiting for a reply. :) And by that, I mean he beat my 2-days online streak in less than half a year. xD.

Edit: I just noticed he's in oklahoma like me. :)

Im creeping up, with less then a month, but I use my phone so its real easy to log in

I use my 3DS most of the time.

Isn't the internet a little slow? or hard to navigate for some odd reason? i suppose 3DS's are better than DSI XL's