Comments on: Driving Stick – or Button http://grandtextauto.org/2007/10/08/driving-stick-or-button/ A group blog about computer narrative, games, poetry, and art. Thu, 30 Sep 2010 22:43:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Mark http://grandtextauto.org/2007/10/08/driving-stick-or-button/comment-page-1/#comment-133969 Mark Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:33:12 +0000 http://grandtextauto.org/?p=1607#comment-133969 That sort of control separation reminds me of the strategy actually used commercially to produce some games' cooperative multiplayer modes without having to do much rewriting. I'm thinking in particular of the cooperative mode in the <i>Mario Kart</i> series, which basically works (modulo a few tweaks) by giving the driving-related sticks/buttons to one player, and the "fire" button to the other player. (There's probably something similar that predates that example.) That sort of control separation reminds me of the strategy actually used commercially to produce some games’ cooperative multiplayer modes without having to do much rewriting. I’m thinking in particular of the cooperative mode in the Mario Kart series, which basically works (modulo a few tweaks) by giving the driving-related sticks/buttons to one player, and the “fire” button to the other player. (There’s probably something similar that predates that example.)

]]> By: noah http://grandtextauto.org/2007/10/08/driving-stick-or-button/comment-page-1/#comment-133889 noah Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:28:05 +0000 http://grandtextauto.org/?p=1607#comment-133889 More seriously, I wonder if finding ways to denaturalize the controls could be useful in general for critical work on computer games? I also wonder if it's particularly useful to make the role of each control more perceptible by giving it to a separate individual. We could start the investigation by breaking open an XBox controller and extending out the wires so that we can give a different person each control -- an analogue stick, the triggers, the directional pad, etc. We'll have to try it the next time we get GTxA together. More seriously, I wonder if finding ways to denaturalize the controls could be useful in general for critical work on computer games? I also wonder if it’s particularly useful to make the role of each control more perceptible by giving it to a separate individual.

We could start the investigation by breaking open an XBox controller and extending out the wires so that we can give a different person each control — an analogue stick, the triggers, the directional pad, etc. We’ll have to try it the next time we get GTxA together.

]]> By: noah http://grandtextauto.org/2007/10/08/driving-stick-or-button/comment-page-1/#comment-133766 noah Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:17:58 +0000 http://grandtextauto.org/?p=1607#comment-133766 Now if only we could get <a href="http://grandtextauto.org/2007/09/24/the-tell-tale-brick/" rel="nofollow">David Sudnow</a> to come play [giantJoystick] with us. He might begin to find a joystick game as fascinating as a certain paddle one... Now if only we could get David Sudnow to come play [giantJoystick] with us. He might begin to find a joystick game as fascinating as a certain paddle one…

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