Touch Screen UI Mode

This might end up being a bit divisive. As touch screen controls, only seem abit more popular among the gaming community then motion sensors.

But it would strike me that touch screen interfaces for computers are becoming more and more common place, and having touch screen controls would allow PA to be played intuitively on a number of other devices.

Civ 5 is currently the only game that seems to be leading the way on this front, by having a Touch Screen input mode.

Currently, most Windows 8 Tablets, are only using HD4000 graphics cards, it may not be likely to have PA running on such low spec hardware, but one thing that can be guaranteed is that the hardware in these new Win8 Tablets will become more powerful, and in the near future, its very likely that they’ll have the guts to run PA on atleast Low settings.

So the question, would be is there any plans to include touch / leap motion modes, and if not will the HTML Customisable GUI, allow for this kind of drastic alteration of the input style, or does it simply allow for where the buttons appear, modifications?

I think that there is something quite tactile and satisfying about controlling an RTS 'hands on'

According to Microsoft, their Surface design never denied use of mice. It was just introducing simultaneous use of both - for easy to use, intuitive touchscreen and more precise and resourceful mouse.

So i don't see any reason why would you need a touchscreen for an RTS where using multiple mouse buttons is a huge advantage.

Oh yes of course they can use mouse input. And for an fps, a mouse is the only way. But I'd argue that a well designed touch interface for an RTS could actually work better then mouse input.

Also, being able to have a quick skirmish well sat on train on way to work, or lounging about on sofa would be definitely desirable.

There's obviously odds that a badly designed interface would be far worse then mouse, but would be nice if Uber don't discount it as a moddable addition by hard coding in mouse only controls from the outset. At least then will be able to experiment with coming up with a clever touch paragdim. RTS mouse control has had almost 15 years perfecting it, so doubt touch will be perfect from the offset.

I think I just like the idea of being able to play PA anywhere on a tablet.

It's certainly not for everyone, but I love this idea. It seems like it could be easily done as an HTML UI mod as long as Uber provides an API to the hooks used by mouse/keypress events.

There is a hugely massive difference between a 'Touch capable UI' and being able to play the game on ARM processor devices (tablets / phones)


So at best, a touch capable UI will allow the user to swipe around on one of the new laptops that have touchscreens. Kind of awkward.

As others have said though it's HTML5 based so you'll be able to do what you like with a touch screen style UI.

I take it you haven't seen or heard of Win8 Surface Pro tablets, which are complete computers with x86_64 processors and the full windows experience but in a tablet form factor? Which is very different from "laptops that have touchscreens". They aren't a huge market yet, and I care very little for Windows 8, but a tablet form-factor full PC is pretty enticing (except the freaking price).

Shouldn't be hard to do using the built-in HTML/Javascript though, unless they specifically block it or something.

Sure I've heard of them. They have yet to become even close to mainstream, assuming Windows 8 Surface Pro even makes it off the ground as a tablet and becomes more widely accepted. So if only like 0.0001% of the tablet market is x86 capable, I think its fair to talk about ARM processor tablets and phones, and the more ubiquitous touchscreen-laptop.

I have touchscreen monitor to my PC and im using it to play SupCom. I even created topic, where I asked about that, but everyone says "no, touchscreen is stupid!" so I gave up the idea.

forums.uberent.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=41728

While true that most tablets aren't that powerful, you can get one with a dedicated GPU very soon! (I am not associated with Razer in any way)

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-edge-pro

Processor:
Intel Core i7 Dual core w/ Hyper Threading Base 1.9GHz / Turbo 3.0GHz

Memory:
8GB DDR3 (2x4GB 1600MHz)

Video:
Intel HD4000 (DX11)
NVIDIA GT 640M LE (2GB DDR3, Optimus Technology)

Display:
10.1” (IPS, 1366x768)
Multi-touch HD display

Operating System :
Windows 8

Storage:
128/256GB SSD (SATA-III)#

Network:
Intel WLAN (802.11b/g/n + BT4)

Others:
Stereo speakers
Codec supports 7.1 (via HDMI)
HD Webcam (front-facing, 2MP)
Array microphones
Dolby Home Theater v4
USB 3.0 x1 (green, SuperSpeed)
Audio jack (3.5mm, 4-pole, stereo out / mic in)

I'd love to see touch support!

Oooh Shiney! I want one.

This might end up being out before MS get their act together and finally release Surface Pro in uk.

@ozonexo3 Yeh, that seems to be the prevailing opinion of most hard core gamers. And in general I would agree. But I think Civ5 has shown that it can be a nice addition without hindering the core game. Obviously the only hinderence would be Dev time, that could be used else where. Which is why I don't nesserially request that they build it in as default, but at least leave the option open to mod by not making early design choices that make it impossible to implement later, in some hardcode.

@Pawz, where as I agree they are no where near mainstream yet. There does seem to be a general trend towards touch screen post windows 8. As general consumers are starting to expect touch in everything. Not to mention that windows 8 is a complete ball ache to use with mouse and keyboard only.

A touch screen has the potential to be even faster than the mouse. A mouse only has one point of interaction with the game world. A touch screen can support up to 10 fingers.

And a keyboard has at least 104 keys nowadays, ~25 of which can be used without moving your left hand. These would not be available if you were using 10 fingers on your screen because swapping back and forth with your left hand would be quite tiring.

Aside from that, I doubt you'll be able to use your ring and little finger efficiently, leaving you with 3 fingers, which is equal to the minimum number of buttons on a (non-apple) mouse. Many mice have 4-5 buttons, some even more.


Using a touch screen would have your hand obscuring part of the screen all the time. In a turn-based strategy game this might not matter too much because you can take the time to get an overview between actions. In a Real-Time Strategy game I think touch input (and the accompanying obscuring) would simply not work.

I understand people want it because it's cool. I believe it's not worth the development time to create something which will probably become a gimmick. The argument "it's becoming more and more common for devices to have touch" is not an argument for having this feature at launch. I believe that if they add it, they should add it after they've released the game.

Don't think purely in tablet ways, we also are talking about touchdisplays as 2nd displays. For example you could put the minimap(like supcom) on it and then zoom/go round etc. without having to focus it with your mouse or use the keyboard and you would still have 1 hand ready to do other things on the main display. If you're trained you don't even need to look at the 2nd display and can with a slight fingertip get immediately where you want to go and start instantly with whatever.

Ten fingers in Theory. In practice, most can only find two or three, five if you are lucky. And even if it can find five, nearly everything is obscured.
The touch screen might beat the mouse, but it's certainly not going to beat the mouse+keyboard any time soon... if ever.

Quick Scroll, Events and Custom Viewpoints.
In the long run, I think that fat finger syndrome/disease would win out over any advantage given by a touch mini-map.
(that is not a reference to anyone's mass, just the technology limits)


A touch UI should be an afterthought. Something to be offered as an optional patch, if at all. Not something in the main development, causing delay, when we already have a tried, tested, optimised and widespread method of interface.

Touchscreens need multitouch to be viable for playing an RTS. If they don't have that you can't use both hands simultaneously, which is the only advantage I see over using a mouse.

If multitouch is there, the only thing I can see as a hindrance would be, that the optimal way to use them would be your fingers, which would be like having a blob as a cursor. Aka they have some precision issues.

If i remember corectly all windows touchscreens support only 2 touch

Meh. That's more due to a lack of practice than anything else. If there was a pro level game that used the touch screen, you'd be seeing the most ridiculous hand yoga that doesn't exist quite yet.

The GUI is using webkit which has had touch support for a long time now. So it shouldn't be to hard to mod this stuff in with a gui mod, at least the basic stuff.

The Ultrabook I'm using at the moment supports up to 5 points, the pro tablet I have supports the same, I think. Totally depends on the display. Realistically, support of more than 4 to 5 wouldn't be utilized, but I'm pretty sure most win 8 touch screens can support quite a few simultaneous touch points. I know of at least two that support at least full 5 point touch.

The downside of a Touchscreen is that your fingers are blocking your vision on the screen. Thats why i suggested in another thread to use tablets or smartphones as inputdevice. Imagine it as by the game modified keyboard that adjusts to the current selection/happening on the main (pc)screen.