Switch or Button? news - Joyride Laboratories
Joyride Laboratories
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Joyride Laboratories is an independent game development studio, founded in 2009 by Florian Hofer and Sönke Hahn. Our headquarters are located in Berlin, with secret external facilities on the island of Amrum. We made Nikki and the Robots.
Switch or Button?
We press them, we jump on them, we push boxes on them. They open doors and move platforms. But what should we call them?
Posted by qubodup on May 26th, 2011
We press them, we jump on them, we stack boxes on top of them. They open doors and move platforms. But what should we call them?
Portal's Button and Portal's Switch: but which is which?
(both modelled by gamerfreaq)
(both modelled by gamerfreaq)
My team has recently finished figuring out the rules for playing levels in our game Nikki and the Robots and for some reason I asked "Is there a reason why we call 'buttons' 'switches'?" - The reply: "Well - they are, are they not?"
Whee
Wikipedia says buttons are switches and Giantbomb tells me buttons usually act as switches. I'm confused though. Is the switch castle a translation error? Are the jump-or-place-crates-on-switches puzzles called button puzzles? What should we call them in our game? Or does it not matter at all?
I should have probably kept this to myself. Oh well. Words.. Um. Comments?
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Switch: switches between states. A light switch turns the lights ON, and if you press it again - OFF.
Button: sends a signal (either short pulse or for as long as you are pressing the button) to another system. The power-on "button" of the computer sends a signal to the motherboard.
I guess...
Here's mine:
A switch is anything that can be moved into another position to change anything, and can usually be moved back, but won't do so automatically. A button is something you press, but might go back automatically. If it's a button that doesn't go back at least until you press it again, then it's a switch and button. If it's a button that times out or doesn't stay without being held down (most portal buttons) then it's only a button.
Finally: Switch is a name based on function. Button is a name based on the circular shape.
A button can be a switch, but all switches are not buttons.
Exactly. like how a square is both a rectangle and a rhombus, but not all rectangles (or rhombuses) are squares.
You mean, like, all thumbs are fingers, but not all fingers are thumbs?
Herp
so a switch seems the best option. right?
I think I actually meant to say... a button is a type of switch, thus all buttons are switches but not all switches are buttons.
Not all buttons are switches (see moci). Not all switches are buttons. Buttons can be, but are not necessarily switches (eg a button which alters resistance according to the pressure it receives rather than switching between two states). In the Niki and the Robots example, I would think the proper term would be switch since they are not returning to an "open" state.
Call them alterators. Or alternators. Though I prefer the first one, that seams to not be a real word. Let's make it a real word.
But actually the question you pose is a very good one.
ahoy hoy everybody
i say they should be pickles
Definite difference, hence the two names o differenciate them... A switch toggles between two states and remains constant until switched, while a buttom is a momentary input that returns to an original position after being pressed. So yeah as mentionned a button is in fact a type of switch that automatically resets itself.