Game Control Standards

During my ongoing literature review I often discover interesting facts about things I’ve never thought about. Sometimes I can connect these facts with my own observations: The result is mostly a completely new idea why things are as they are. Maybe these ideas are new to you, too. Therefore I’ll share my new science based knowledge with you!

This week: This time, I continue think about the different ways of controlling a computer game and why it might be important to come up with a new control device.

In Finding of the week #107, I wrote about the innovative game mechanic of selectively controlling the arms of B.U.D. in Grow Home. Furthermore, I wrote about the control standards of computer games and how gamers got used to navigate through the virtual worlds by harnessing their mouses and keyboards.

These control standards are an ideal solution for the majority of the current games. It becomes almost natural to move through the virtual world via keyboard inputs, while looking around or focussing on one spot is performed with the mouse. Additionally, the mouse buttons are used to trigger certain events like activating switches or shooting a weapon. Some computer games are played from a static camera angle and can be even played without the mouse or with a game pad.

However, there are also some games that utilize different control standards that allow the precise control of special parts. These games are mostly simulation games such as flight simulators or racing simulations. Players of these simulation games like to accurately control their vehicles and enjoy playing these games with special devices like a joystick or a racing wheel. The simulation control standards allow the direct control of all the different elements of the simulated vehicle like all the different aerodynamic control surfaces of an airplane.

Apart from these simulation games, most games realize movement as a continous flow that is triggered by keeping one key pressed. Players do not need to seperately control the different body parts of their avatars. They just need to trigger a certain activity in order to fully perform it inside the game.

Innovative games like Grow Home demonstrate the limitations of the control standards. Controlling both arms of B.U.D. via the two main mouse buttons works well, but it is still a strange feeling of utilizing both of his arms with only one hand. The developers of this game recommend playing it with a game pad. This allows the control of each arm with the respective hand, but it is still a step away from becoming a natural feeling.

Grow Home has presented a new way of interacting with the game world. Now, I am looking forward how this approach will evoke some new control devices that allow a more realistic control of our virtual avatars.