Control Interfaces

Visionaire Studio allows, you, the user to create, customize & tailor your own unique command/control interface. Here are a few command/control interface types you could use for ideas. Currently we do not support true key input (keyboard) or joypads but hopefully one of the developers will decide to add it to the engine for when the 2.5D support is finished as it would allow people to make Tell Tale esque games.

Before I start, I would just like to point out that by default most command interfaces - except from the cycle command interface - utilizes the right mouse button to examine objects/characters & the environment etc or for clearing the currently selected command. I would also like to point out that handheld devices; such as iPads & android tablets use gestures instead of the general left/right/middle click mouse commands & thus you should take that into consideration when planning your game if you are intending to target handheld platforms - as well as pc/mac/linux or - as your primary platform target.

Single Command Interface (broken sword interface)

This is the simplest & most commonly used interface for modern adventures games as it only requires you to create one command for being able to left click. The reason we don't need to create one for right click is that it already exists as a command for Visionaire Studio. Typically left click would be used for character/object interaction & right click would be used to examine characters/objects.

In games such as Broken Sword, the cursor automatically changes - on mouse over an object/character - to an animated cursor that reflects what action will be performed if the player clicks the interaction button on said object/character. Right clicking will usually prompt some kind of examine/observation action; this action is not shown via the cursor icons in Broken Sword & it is assumed that the player should know this or has read the bloody manual.

More modern point & click games such as Deponia uses the same kind of interface as that of Broken Sword but use a single cursor icon which is split into 2 parts. One part always has the examine icon which fades in when you hover over an object you can examine & the other half fades in different icons, or nothing at all depending on whether or not you can interact with the object/character that is currently underneath the cursor.

Ideally this kind of command interface, besides being very streamlined & the simplest interface to create by far, would be the most ideal command/control interface to use for all intended devices; especially handheld devices such as android tablets & the iPad.

Click here for a guide on how to create a single click command interface.

Text Command Interface (the retro command interface)

This command interface by far is the most time consuming to create & was widely seen in pretty much all of the old LucasArts & Sierra classics. This interface requires you to create a command for every single action your character can perform in game in which the players can select an action by clicking on the action text list or an icon which represents a certain action which they would like to execute on an object, a character or the environment.

The reason this interface is so time consuming is because you have to firstly create the action text/icon images & then you have to manually create & add them to the interface where you want them & then you have to draw the object area around each one & create the left click (immediate) action part for each one which should contain the action part for setting the command to the required one. You also have to create a command button for each of your available actions.

Click here for a guide on how to create a text command interface. (to do)

Coin/Ring Interface (CoMI)

I think I first saw this used in The Curse of Monkey Island & essentially it was a streamlined version of the old text command interface that popped up an interface - which contained a few animated action icons - when you left clicked or held the left mouse button down on an object, character or some part of the environment that you could interact with. Typically the ring interface would appear at your mouse cursors current position. Right clicking or moving the mouse cursor outside of the interface area would usually close the interface.

Click here for a guide on how to create a coin/ring interface. (to do)

Cycle Command Interface (s&m, the interface for dirty minded people)

I am of course referring to Sam & Max in which you could cycle the current action command/cursor by right clicking. This interface is fairly easy to create in Visionaire Studio, due in part to there being an option for it in the mouse settings section.

Click here for a guide on how to create a cycle command interface.