The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Why isn't button layout configuration a standard in all games now?
DR Wilson
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi All
I'm new to this forum and I would like to ask this question and hopefully something will come from it....
I've e-mailed EGM, OXM and even Tycho and Gabe to see if I could get an answer to why this is but so far nothing. So here goes...
Why is the ability to map out your own buttons on a controller still not a standard in all games? Several games like those in the orange box let you change the button configurations while others do not. I loved playing Bioshock on the 360 but having the Y button for jump threw me off more than once and I’ve played several other games that had great potential but were diminished because of the control scheme with no way to change it. Why with all the various ways to be unique do game designers choose controls to be one of them and with all the various developments made in graphics and gameplay mechanics do they still leave out the ability to change the button layout that would let people play the way they want to? It would be as if the car companies started to change around where they put the steering wheel and not allow people to move it back to a place they’re used to… and with some games it feels like they’ve placed the steering wheel in the trunk. If you want to take the car analogy further they do have adjustable seats as a standard now. What should it matter to game developers if people map out the controls to be as if they’re playing Halo so long as those people are having fun playing the game? And that’s the most important thing about video games. Having fun. The ability to pick up a video game and play it the way you want to and have a good time. They really should give players that option in all games because as good looking and powerful as a Ferrari is…. It’s no fun to drive it from the trunk.
Have a good day
Ted
I'm new to this forum and I would like to ask this question and hopefully something will come from it....
I've e-mailed EGM, OXM and even Tycho and Gabe to see if I could get an answer to why this is but so far nothing. So here goes...
Why is the ability to map out your own buttons on a controller still not a standard in all games? Several games like those in the orange box let you change the button configurations while others do not. I loved playing Bioshock on the 360 but having the Y button for jump threw me off more than once and I’ve played several other games that had great potential but were diminished because of the control scheme with no way to change it. Why with all the various ways to be unique do game designers choose controls to be one of them and with all the various developments made in graphics and gameplay mechanics do they still leave out the ability to change the button layout that would let people play the way they want to? It would be as if the car companies started to change around where they put the steering wheel and not allow people to move it back to a place they’re used to… and with some games it feels like they’ve placed the steering wheel in the trunk. If you want to take the car analogy further they do have adjustable seats as a standard now. What should it matter to game developers if people map out the controls to be as if they’re playing Halo so long as those people are having fun playing the game? And that’s the most important thing about video games. Having fun. The ability to pick up a video game and play it the way you want to and have a good time. They really should give players that option in all games because as good looking and powerful as a Ferrari is…. It’s no fun to drive it from the trunk.
Have a good day
Ted
DR Wilson on
0
Posts
At least that's how I figure it.
I'm not entirely sure how some companies are able to get away with customizable controls and how others aren't, but this isn't really a problem with the developers, it's a problem with the console manufacturers. Blame Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.
It's kind of ridiculous, but this is true in a lot of cases. Some developers, especially big-name guys with Producer credits on a lot of big-name titles, have done this.
"We feel that allowing the player to control the camera would compromise the overall vision for our game" is another line we've heard in the past... Resident Evil, anybody?
It's retarded, but you see it happen over and over again. Remember The Duke? It took millions of customers complaining very loudly before they released an Xbox controller for non-Sasquatches. They fed us the line, "We've tested the controller on a lot of focus groups and this is the one they liked the most." But come on. You've got to be kidding me.
Anyway, this "trend", if you can call it that, probably isn't going anywhere, and if you notice that the highest-profile titles are often the guiltiest, it means you're paying attention. The biggest-name producers seem to be the most likely to refuse any compromises.
8.2.1 Basic Control Pad Setup Required The following rules must be observed when assigning operations Compliance Item to the Control Pad: • A Control Pad must always be connected to Control Port 1 in order for the player to start the game. • Control Port 1 must always be assigned to player 1 functions and Control Port 2 must always be assigned to player 2 functions (Except when a Control Pad is not connected to Control Port 2). • When a 6Player is used, the first port must always be assigned to player 1. The next port to the right is assigned to player 2. 8.2.2 Basic Button Setup Required The following rules must be observed when assigning Compliance Item operations to the Control Pad buttons: • Make sure that the “A, B, C” Buttons are all used. • The START Button (used for the Start and Pause functions) input must be recognized regardless of input from other buttons. • All button presses must have an immediate effect (unless a delayed response is a wholly intentional aspect of the game/application design). Recommended • The use of buttons A, B, C must be given priority over the use of Compliance Item buttons X, Y, L, R. Recommended • Button C should be given priority over Button A for use as a Compliance Item “Select Button”. Button B should be used as a “Cancel Button”. (This takes into consideration the relative accessibility of each button.) Recommended As a rule, the Control Pad button usage priority is C>B>A. Compliance Item Button functions should be assigned based on criteria such as the frequency of use, the degree of skill required, or the power of the shot/action. 8.2.3 Basic Button Setup Examples Although the following should only be used as examples, button functions should be set up so that they do not differ too much from other games. In addition, the user should be free to reconfigure button functions (refer to section 7. Options). Examples: Action Racing L,R Not used L,R Drift X,Y,Z Not used X,Y,Z Not used (or may mirror A Special attack A,B,C functions) B Normal attack A,C Accelerate C Jump B Brake Fighting Shooter L,R Defense, etc. (Typical air-to-air/ ground shooter) X,Y,Z Weak, medium and L, R Change view strong punches X,Y,Z Secondary attack (ground A,B,C Weak, medium and attack) strong kicks A,B,C Primary attack (air attack) Role Playing / Adventure L,R Special function X,Y,Z Special function (display map, etc.) A Inspect area, etc. B Cancel C Confirm, open windowAnd trust me, everyone does this.
EDIT: Lemmie clean this up a bit...
Console manufacturers don't specify button configuration to that degree. Usually all they encourage is standardised menu buttons (eg, PS2 X goes forward, triangle goes back). Developers are free to do want they want in the game itself.
I can understand some cases where a certain function may need to be tied to a trigger or something (ie. Revving Nero's sword in the 360 version of DMC4), but that doesn't mean the other buttons can't have full customization.
Final Fantasy VII, I'm looking at you.
Yes they do, read the above.
Did that bit just get ignored, or was the Saturn an anomaly? Am I missing something else?
edit: i.e., for the Gamecube, all Nintendo said was A is the primary button, B is the secondary. Which was obvious anyway.
According to Chris Senn, that requirement is subject to approval.
You had to give the players the option to reconfigure the controls upon sega's request, but any time you do so you had to submit it to the standards review board.
EDIT: And sega only ever requested it for internal development, namely from AM2.
EDIT: considering the number of games which use a control scheme similar to gears of war, do you honestly doubt this sort of thing still doesn't go on?
1) There are only so many ways they can map controls to allow you to be able to reasonably access all abilities at the same time. Many proposed 'superior' control schemes by people don't take into consideration that what they suggest would mean it would be impossible to crouch while zoomed, to name one example.
2) More importantly, with a game that has multiplayer aspects, it could give players with a certain layout an unfair advantage over other players. Of course even a single player game would have concerns about control abuse.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Another reason I see for some companies locking their control scheme is that it encourages you to play the game as intended, with certain functions at hand. I can't think of what PSone game it was back in the day (I'd like to say Air Combat maybe?), but I stayed with default, while a friend changed the control layout to something more noob-friendly, thereby putting advanced (ie, important for later success) functions out of reach, so to speak. I started to excel or grow with the game, while he struggled to get anywhere once the shit hit the fan.
[edit] DarkPrimus nailed it nicely with his Halo example.
If a custom configuration turned out to confer an advantage, wouldn't that imply that the default configuration was inferior in the first place?
Developers tend to copy each others' control schemes generally. There's only so much you can do with a controller; most hardware layouts strongly suggest certain configurations.
Inferior in some respects, perhaps. But default configurations are chosen for intuitiveness.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
The dual stick, GoW style control scheme has been around for much longer than it's been used. Max Payne used it, yet devs didn't copy it.
Suddenly we switch to the next generation of consoles and everyone is using them? Nuh uh, I don't buy that it has nothing to do with updated SDK standards.
In theory, the developers should aim to have their testers use a variety of control schemes, and choose the one which they say feels most natural. In practice... well, yeah.
Regardless, just because control scheme A is scientologically proven to be better than control scheme B, that doesn't mean it should be ze one true control scheme which SHALL NOT BE CHANGED BY THE LIKES OF YOU.
Indeed, a custom control may give you advantage on a single map that favours abuse of a certain action (melee perhaps), but be useless on others. In this respect a custom control might help in one instance, but not offer a consistent control quality across the entire game.
Not to say these are impassible barriers, but they're probably taken into consideration.
This. I had never thought about it from that point of view before.
It might be superior in one set of circumstances - on only one map in Halo, for instance.
I remember looking forward to NiGHTS more for the fact my new controller would give me superior control on Sega Rally.
It didn't
But the point is that car manufacturers don't move their steering wheel, and what's more, you can't either, beyond adjusting for your height. The adjustments you can make in a car are more like when you decide how close you sit to the TV screen, or whether you use a beanbag chair or a sofa.
For a car to have equivalent "remappable controls", it would have to be possible to swap the indicator switch with the gear stick and the ignition key with the cigarette lighter.
Because the Arcade Racer and the NiGHTS pad work in completely different ways, although they're both analog.
The NiGHTS pad wasn't designed for analog input in the same way that the dual shock or N64 controllers were. Rather, instead of allowing for degrees of tilt, it accounted for degrees of rotation. So, it can't really do what the arcade racer does.
The arcade racer, by the by, IS analog and offers degrees. of tilt. I.E. you pull left a little, you go left a little. Pull left a lot, go left a lot.
I doubt many people knew what analog control was back in 1994, so that feature never really got very much publicity.
no one asked, "whats a good reason remapping isn't a standard feature?"
They asked "why isn't remapping a standard feature."
and it just so happens that the reason why isn't very good.
Basically the ability to remap the control scheme comes down to two things.. choice and having fun. Developer's pride in their control scheme or what manufactures want to see as the primary buttons don't mean a damn if the game is unplayable. People want the choice to either play the schemes developers create or to play however they want. If they can't do that the ability to have fun or the amount of fun with the game is diminished due to the poor control scheme. It's the reason why sandbox games like GTA are so popular. They give gamers the choice to do whatever they want and have fun. Game developers have a decision to make as to what matters more to them. Their control over button layout schemes or the gamer's ability to change the button layout if they choose and have fun playing their game.
As for control schemes that might give gamers an unfair advantage? Never…. EVER in the time I have played online computer games like counterstrike have I heard of anyone accusing another player of cheating with their control configuration. Okay.. You don’t hear people complaining “oh you’re using T,F,G,H for directions not W,A,S,D” That doesn’t happen. If it’s not an issue for computer gamers why would it be an issue for console gamers? I don’t care if you’ve remapped your controls to play with your left foot. You want to do that… should be your choice if that will help you enjoy the game more.
That's one of that reasons why people who play Starcraft scare me.
Which is so sad, considering the Atari 5200 I grew up used a very nice analog joystick. It was so disappointing that this was forgotten about for about a decade until the N64 came out (at least that was the next console I remembering seeing it used predominately with).