Movement Controls

[GarinT]

I've not yet seen any discussion on how the UI will be handling on-screen movement.

As someone with hand issues, I really hope that most user interactions can be handled by mouse control as I can more easily control the mouse than hunt-and-peck on the keyboard. :-)

I really dislike the WASZ key system used in many games (Neverwinter I am looking at you)

I would hope that both options will be offered so that "dedicated" keyboarders and "casual" mousers can both be happy.

[Carbon D. Metric]

I think there should be room in the controls to allow the mmo standard "mousing around" style where your character moves in the direction you aim as long as you press both left and right mouse buttons.

Personally, I hope this is built in as a normal feature rather than a secondary one, I like to strafe with my asd and w keys while moving with the mouse.

[Jazzlvraz]

Full numeric keypad re-mapping, including the Enter key, for us southpaws, please.

[DeciusBrutus]

I don't think there's any good reason not to have fully remappable controls.

[Hardin Steele]

I am used to the W,A,S,D, but there are many controls and if you want to play bad enough you can figure them out, but remappable is a no-brainer anymore. As is a customizable UI.

[Jazzlvraz]

Hardin Steele wrote:

...remappable is a no-brainer anymore.

Tell that to the usually brilliant Skyrim folks :). Their console-ported UI had us lefties digging out our old hex-to-key translation references we'd not touched in an age.

[Being]

(slaps knuckles with ruler) That's what you get for using a console to play your games.

[Jazzlvraz]

Nay nay. All-PC-all-the-time for me; if I could still edit my last I'd've said "ported-from-console-UI". I've not owned a toaster since a Genesis my brother gave me for Christmas back in the day.

[DeciusBrutus]

There's no good reason that console games shouldn't have fully-remappable controls, either.

[Deianira]

I'd very much like mouse-driven movement as an option, along with some keyboard mapping flexibility for binding actions to different keys. I'm most comfortable with right-handed mouse movement, and left-handed action bars.

[Nihimon]

Deianira wrote:

I'd very much like mouse-driven movement as an option, along with some keyboard mapping flexibility for binding actions to different keys. I'm most comfortable with right-handed mouse movement, and left-handed action bars.

+1! I've been banging this drum for a while.

I use a Nostromo KeyPad with my left hand, and a Mouse in my right. I would prefer to use the mouse only for controlling my character's facing. I'm hoping there aren't lots of things I have to click in the game world, or that there will be some key combination I can map on my Nostromo that will let me activate whatever object is directly in front of me.

Perhaps there can even be a target reticle that we can bring up in the middle of our viewscreen to give us precision when "clicking" with our keyboard.

It's much easier for me to point my entire screen at something in the game world than it is for me to find the mouse cursor and move it somewhere rapidly.

[Deianira]

Nihimon wrote:

I use a Nostromo KeyPad with my left hand, and a Mouse in my right. I would prefer to use the mouse only for controlling my character's facing. I'm hoping there aren't lots of things I have to click in the game world, or that there will be some key combination I can map on my Nostromo that will let me activate whatever object is directly in front of me.

Perhaps there can even be a target reticle that we can bring up in the middle of our viewscreen to give us precision when "clicking" with our keyboard.

It's much easier for me to point my entire screen at something in the game world than it is for me to find the mouse cursor and move it somewhere rapidly.

This would be ideal!

[Aeioun Plainsweed]

I hope PFO has an option or a built-in hotkey for switching mouselook on/off cause I really like to play with it. It makes movement a lot easier for me because I only like to use the mouse to move.

For those that use the mouselook there could be also be an option so that when you bring up an UI element like an inventory window etc you automatically switch to cursor mode. And with the mouselook:on a player also needs a bindable separate interaction button outside mouse to loot and interact with objects and npcs.

I'd say these are pretty modern standars for an aaa mmo but I could be wrong...

Please please Goblinworks :) Pretty please :). It's a little extra work I guess... pretty please

holding down the right mouse button all the time is tiresome... :(

[Nihimon]

I'd also ask that there be keys we can use to turn our characters. The Environment Experience felt very awkward for me. I had never encountered that style of movement controls, though now I see they're the same as Darkfall's.

Please, please, pretty-please use the same movement controls that are standard in WoW, Rift, LotRO, Vanguard, EQ2, etc.

Default Keyboard Controls:
W = Move Forward
A = Turn Left
S = Move Backward
D = Turn Right
Q = Strafe Left
E = Strafe Right

Mouse-Move:
Holding Left Button = Turns camera, but not character.
Holding Right Button = Turns character. A & D become Strafe Left and Strafe Right, respectively.
Holding Both Buttons = Same as Holding Right Button plus moves character in the direction they're facing.

[Jazzlvraz]

Aeioun Plainsweed wrote:

...holding down the right mouse button all the time is tiresome...

It's amazing how different people's experiences can be. I actually have trouble--not just in games, but in general--*not* clicking the right mouse-button when I don't intend it.

My finger rests on it anyway, and it takes only a moment of lapsed concentration to let that finger drop enough to register a click...many times a day. I'm a right-button mouselooker in games, though, so I never have problems in those :-p.

[Aeioun Plainsweed]

Jazzlvraz wrote:

Aeioun Plainsweed wrote:

...holding down the right mouse button all the time is tiresome...

It's amazing how different people's experiences can be. I actually have trouble--not just in games, but in general--*not* clicking the right mouse-button when I don't intend it.

My finger rests on it anyway, and it takes only a moment of lapsed concentration to let that finger drop enough to register a click...many times a day. I'm a right-button mouselooker in games, though, so I never have problems in those :-p.

I've been playing Tera and it allows me to use just my mouse for moving for the first time in my mmo history. Playing 10 years of wow or so just the basic set that Nihimon described seems archaic to me though i hope that's the default system but i hope they also add the mouselook.

[Nihimon]

I agree there should be Toggle Mouse-Look and/or Toggle Mouse-Move key bindings that can be used so that you don't have to hold the mouse buttons down.

[Banesama]

I'm hoping it has fully customizable map keying. I suffer from peripheral neuropathy and I can only tolerate using the keyboard/mouse for about 30 minutes before the pain because to much to handle.

I can get by that limitation though if I can map the keys and mouse control to a gamepad. That is what I did when I played DDO. I rarely touched the keyboard and never touched the mouse when I played that game.

[Marthian]

I think we might have to wait until the combat system is out for controls.

I enjoy most of my games with WASD controls, but for some: mouse movement is better. Hopefully whatever the combat system turns out to be, it will allow for multiple control types.

[DeciusBrutus]

For discussion, I'll suggest System Shock 2 for an example of interface thought.

Normally, it's standard FPS controls with mouse aiming and (fully customizable, and I don't recall the default) keyboard movement.

Tap a key (again, I don't recall the default) and the HUD elements appear, along with a mouse cursor to do your interface tasks. The movement keys still operate, and the world doesn't pause while you fiddle with your inventory. Press the same key, and drop back into look-and-shoot mode.

I don't like how that works, because it requires learning two different ways of moving.

[Aeioun Plainsweed]

Banesama wrote:

I'm hoping it has fully customizable map keying. I suffer from peripheral neuropathy and I can only tolerate using the keyboard/mouse for about 30 minutes before the pain because to much to handle.

I can get by that limitation though if I can map the keys and mouse control to a gamepad. That is what I did when I played DDO. I rarely touched the keyboard and never touched the mouse when I played that game.

I think this is important. I've tried a few games now. For example in Rift and GW2 (and probably in WoW too)you can't bind left mouse button or right mouse button to movement controls, but I sincerely hope this will be available in PFO.

I think DDO has an inbuilt controller support, but even if Goblinworks doesn't implement such, a fully customizable keymapping(like in Tera) allows a lot of freedom in choosing the best play style for each person and helps mapping an emulator for controller.

[Lorimir]

Banesama wrote:

I'm hoping it has fully customizable map keying. I suffer from peripheral neuropathy and I can only tolerate using the keyboard/mouse for about 30 minutes before the pain because to much to handle.

I can get by that limitation though if I can map the keys and mouse control to a gamepad. That is what I did when I played DDO. I rarely touched the keyboard and never touched the mouse when I played that game.

I agree with this suggestion,this sounds like a good idea,and it would make overall play control a bit smoother.

[Blaeringr]

This might be a bit of a hint: http://cdn.goblinworks.com/PFO_Environment_Experience.html

[Aeioun Plainsweed]

DeciusBrutus wrote:

For discussion, I'll suggest System Shock 2 for an example of interface thought.

Normally, it's standard FPS controls with mouse aiming and (fully customizable, and I don't recall the default) keyboard movement.

Tap a key (again, I don't recall the default) and the HUD elements appear, along with a mouse cursor to do your interface tasks. The movement keys still operate, and the world doesn't pause while you fiddle with your inventory. Press the same key, and drop back into look-and-shoot mode.

I don't like how that works, because it requires learning two different ways of moving.

This is a little bit off topic, but I've been experimenting with other games and here's an UI type I would really much like to see in PFO.

-cursor mode: the default cursor mode would be similar to WoW, but it would also have fully customizable keys for looting, interacting, camera rotating, character movement etc, you could also bind left and right mouse buttons, you could play with this mode without ever touching the combat mode, this mode would be for those who like to click on shortcut bars and for those who like to move the cursor and camera in conjunction with the character.

-combat mode: customizable key to switch between cursor mode and combat mode, a mouselook mode with tab targeting, no cursor, when you open an UI element you automatically switch to cursor mode(cursor always starts at center), if you were in combat mode when you opened a hud element closing all the hud elements puts you back into combat mode, when activating point-and-click skill(for example ground targeted AoE skills) you automatically switch to cursor mode to designate the area and automatically switch back to combat mode after releasing the skill, this mode would would be for those who like a bit more immersion.

This kind of cursor/combat mode UI would in my opinion cater to a lot of different play styles.