Touchpad casing

We are having this printed on monday. It might still get replaced by the Android, who knows.. Two rocker buttons, one on each side.

Android Layout

Making some of the buttons part of the touchscreen would save us a lot of space. Less wires and less mechanisms. Placing these functions next to the touch input makes sense, because this way you'll be able to fire your weapon, throw your grenades and aim down your sight while you're jumping, crouching and proning. We can add some haptic separation between the touch and the buttons with some sticks or so.

Can the CS men make this happen? Is it very complicated? Please comment.

Double Aiming Concept

Here's a visualisation of how we would like the aiming to work. Without super assistance from Activision's side this seems unachievable for the prototype but revolutionary as a concept for Activision. Enjoy!

Gun aiming + Touchpad aiming = Hardcore

Here's a concept we can't make real but we can demonstrate on film: Gun aiming only moves the crosshair on the screen and touchpad aiming turns the view in the same way a mouse does.


Rationale:

This requires no compromising in producing the next version of CoD because you can just switch off the gun aiming feature from the game and you're back to the typical mouse+keyboard control. Gun aiming is extra hardcore because it gives the gamer one more degree of freedom in aiming. I'm sure this can be at least as accurate as aiming with a mouse. More immersion, more control, more hardcore and only available with the Warlord on a PC.

The Warlord

Here's my current vision of our project. I've placed the maximum number of buttons per grip that I think is manageable. Some could be added over the thumbstick I guess. Add your comments!

GlovePIE Script for simple touchpad gestures

GlovePIE only understands Synaptics touchpads, which means the external one we purchased isn't compatible. At least for PC's, most laptop touchpads are Synaptics and my beautiful script works nicely :) Copy and paste to GlovePIE and enjoy typing different letters by moving your finger in four directions:


Touchpad.swallow = true // Touchpad will have no effect on cursor

// This script is about making simple touchpad gestures produce keystrokes.

If Touchpad.FingerPresent = true then
var.touchlocx = touchpad.x
var.touchlocy = touchpad.y
wait 20 ms
If touchpad.x > (var.touchlocx + 0.05) then // Move finger right
Press K
Release K
ElseIf touchpad.x < (var.touchlocx - 0.05) then // Move finger left
Press J
Release J
ElseIf touchpad.y < (var.touchlocy - 0.05) then // Move finger up
Press U
Release U
ElseIf touchpad.y > (var.touchlocy + 0.05) then // Move finger down
Press I
Release I
EndIf
EndIF

Aalto Functional System Prototype Plan

Our plan to research attachment methods for the modular concept has changed. Please comment on this, we'd like to hear your opinions. Do not hesitate to express dissatisfaction in case our sudden change of plans evokes such feelings. Here's the plan:

First, we're going to do user testing with different cardboard prototype iterations (including the Black Prototype) to look for an optimal general layout for the gun and its different grips. We are not focusing on button placement in this test. We intend to interview our test subjects about the concept of modularity in terms of being able to change the locations of the different functions as in the Gyro-Handle Warlord.

Second, we will make the winner of this cardboard layout test a functional prototype. This functional prototype will include a touchpad. The touchpad isn't intended for replacing the aiming function of the gun, but it could serve as a secondary mouse device (when resting the controller on the lap or when browsing the menus). When in fiery combat, the gun would still be used for the actual aiming and the touchpad could serve as a gesture input device for throwing grenades etc. . We feel that the touchpad has loads of potential! It could have a mode-switch to select between e.g. mouse mode, gesture mode, thumbstick mode and keyboard mode depending on the in-game situation.



The reason we are slightly doubtful about modularity, is that it seems like a concept without a real concept behind it. Like our research showed, many users just want a reliable controller without having to worry about its construction and such. We must make sure first that the default setup has a solid idea behind it and that it works.