Magnaut Windows, Mac, Linux, Flash game

0 comments by TheLastBanana on May 23rd, 2013

Okay, let's talk controls!

The first version of Magnaut (technically Magno-Warrior) had some serious control issues. The main problem was that the attachments didn't arrange themselves automatically, and the ship pointed its front toward the mouse -- if you only had attachments on the sides, that made it pretty hard to aim. Obviously that's no longer an issue, but I still want to make sure that everyone can be comfortable with the controls.

Sadly, I just learned the other day that Flash doesn't have native joystick support. It's sort of possible to get it working in AIR, but it would be a huge hassle to get it functional cross-platform, so for the time being, I'm going to be leaving gamepad controls out.

So, what I've come up with is a few different PC-based control schemes that you can switch between. Also keep in mind that in all of these cases, you'll be able to re-bind the keys.

Method 1: Keyboard Only (Radial)

Description

You turn your ship manually, then can either go forward or backward. Firing is a separate button. Basically, this works like Asteroids. This is the one I've been using in all of the videos and pictures you've seen to date.

Pros/Cons

+ Easier to use non-frontal attachments
+ Movement looks more acrobatic and round
- Aiming takes longer
- Some might find the movement awkward, especially in intense moments

Method 2: Keyboard Only (Twin-Stick)

Description

You use a set of directional keys to move your ship, and another set to aim the attachments. Attachment firing is automatic while you aim.

Pros/Cons

+ Movement is intuitive
+ Can be plugged into Joy2Key pretty easily
- Aiming is locked to 45-degree increments
- If you're not using Joy2Key, it can be a bit difficult managing all these keys

Method 3: Mouse and keyboard

Description

You use a set of directional keys to move your ship, and aim with the mouse. Click to fire.

Pros/Cons

+ Aiming is faster and more precise
+ Movement is intuitive
- Harder to aim with non-frontal attachments
- Flash doesn't let me constrain the mouse (except in fullscreen), so that could get annoying in windowed mode