Topic: DESCENT FOR WiiWare ANNOUNCED

[tueidj]

'lo all. I'm the guy who made the wii homebrew port (which I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned here...)

When I started working on the controls it quickly became apparent that using motion was hopeless. The wiimote (or nunchuck) just doesn't allow accurate control. It's fine for detecting large movements like swinging or shaking, but for fine movements like turning or acceleration it just doesn't cut it. The sensitivity provided by the motion plus expansion is probably a lot better but it's also a lot harder to write code for and I couldn't really be bothered. 

The pointing control doesn't really work well either. The pyro is meant to fire into the center of the screen so the gameplay changes too much (and gets a lot easier) if you can just point at what you want to hit instead. If the game doesn't have directional shooting and only uses pointing for turning, it still feels unnatural because your shots aren't going where you're looking - you have to watch the cursor onscreen that shows where you're pointing to prevent moving the wiimote out of range.

So, in the end I just made (nearly) all the buttons available for reassignment and kept the game's original "configure controls" dialogs. I really don't find it that bad, the homebrew port supports multiplayer with dosbox clients if anyone wants to try pitting their joystick skills against it.

[NUMBERZero]

I've played Metroid Prime 3 and The Conduit. Without the motion pluss, the controls were super sensitive and accurate and allowed for precise actions.

[Crash]

Hello tueidj!
I was surprised it hadn't come up. I know a small private forum where your Descent port has gone down quite a storm. They were amazed that Interplay was going to do one themselves.

[Foil]

The pointing control doesn't really work well either. The pyro is meant to fire into the center of the screen so the gameplay changes too much (and gets a lot easier) if you can just point at what you want to hit instead. If the game doesn't have directional shooting and only uses pointing for turning, it still feels unnatural because your shots aren't going where you're looking - you have to watch the cursor onscreen that shows where you're pointing to prevent moving the wiimote out of range.

Yes, that would be weird, but that's not what I was suggesting.  My idea would be to use the pointing control for rotation, not reticle aiming.

It would work something like

Freelancer mouse controls

, where the position on the screen determines the turn (point left to turn left, point up+right to turn up+right, point middle to stop turn, etc.).  Firing would still be in the direction the ship is pointing.

[Kaiaatzl]

The pointing control doesn't really work well either. The pyro is meant to fire into the center of the screen so the gameplay changes too much (and gets a lot easier)...

I personally don't see what's wrong with making it easier.
The game is still plenty hard even if you have perfect aim on every shot you ever fire.  And anyway I see aiming more as a skill thing than a difficulty thing.  If the wiimote motion handles like a joystick (instead of like mouselook ) I don't see any problem.
Or even if it handles like a mouse without mouselook, though I can see that getting awkward fast (constantly needing to move the remote, yet a fixed turn speed... bleh).

[Matthew]

The hard part with using the wiimote like a joystick imo is that you have no physical feedback of where center is, and I can personally see myself losing track of where center was in a hectic fight and spiraling into a corner and getting blasted to death.

[tueidj]

Yep, that's also related to another issue regarding using the wiimote to control the ship - it gets tiring very fast if you have to hold the wiimote pointed steady at the middle of the screen or in a perfect upright+flat position just to fly in a straight line. Doesn't happen with joysticks and mice because their idle position requires no effort.

[Scyphi]

Hmm, glad to hear all of this nonetheless, as it gives one an idea of what to expect if and when Interplay ever releases D1-for-Wii.

[VANGUARD]

Yep, that's also related to another issue regarding using the wiimote to control the ship - it gets tiring very fast if you have to hold the wiimote pointed steady at the middle of the screen or in a perfect upright+flat position just to fly in a straight line. Doesn't happen with joysticks and mice because their idle position requires no effort.

I agree. My sister bought Call of Duty 3 for the Wii, and in a short while, I was getting sick of holding my arm up to shoot.

Wii's are good for sports, or something of the sort. I never figured they were good for anything else.

[Kaiaatzl]

For some reason Vanguard's post gives me deja vu.
Maybe something I overheard on the bus?

[Eagle131]

My GOG.com copy/D2x versions will do me just fine.  Not a big Wii fan to be honest.

[VANGUARD]

For some reason Vanguard's post gives me deja vu.
Maybe something I overheard on the bus?

that, or I said it earlier in this topic:

part of the reason I never got into the Wii games. my sister knows I love Call of Duty, so she got Call of Duty 3 on the Wii.
I had to keep my hand up at chest level to shoot the germans. If I dropped my arm, the gun drops.
VERY ANNOYING!! "MUCH EASIER" on a PS3, or XBox, PC..

[Kaiaatzl]

You make me think how much I'm looking forward to the next time I do paintball.

I guess I got your post confused with something similar I heard a girl talking about to her boyfriend on the bus.  Apparently she's a big fan of COD and Halo.
Personally I don't like cod.  Or tuna.  But any other fish is fair game!  When it comes to sardines I eat them like a dolphin who hasn't eaten in months.

[VANGUARD]

I have; but don't use it anymore, a user name on the PS3 called C.O.D_Veteran.
I don't know how many times in that Call of Duty zombie map that I hear people on the mic calling me "Cod."
It's C O D, as in Call of Duty, like the game we're playing!
Only ONE person said "Call of Duty Veteran". I'm like, thank you! Now I am Vanguard with some numbers at the end.

I know, it's not for everyone. My girlfriend doesn't care for it, but she doesn't care for those games anyway, to my knowledge.

she doesn't even like Linux. that hurt!  :'( ...........okay, just being sarcastic. I don't mind.

[karx-elf-erx]

Wii's are good for sports, or something of the sort. I never figured they were good for anything else.

It is beyond me why anybody would mistake anything you can do with a Wii for sports.