Controller DesignTeam: TerraMind

Colin DuffyMatthew Carey

Steven-Felix ChoHarley Falkoff

Michael FigueroaAssignment 2

Full Sail University

AbstractAs more ideas started to come from this topic, we all agreed on one perfect design that we will be discussing in the next few slides. While thinking of ideas of a one-handed controller we realized that we wanted a controller that can easily be used with one hand. We always wanted it to have a firm grip in order for it to be easily held without slipping out of any size or type of hand. We made our controller so that people can play video games with one hand comfortably for hours. As a team we all came together to figure out that this would be a very possible way to create a comfortable and capable one-handed controller.

IntroductionGame controllers have been designed throughout the years to fit the need of every situation. Whether it is designed for specific genre(s), or to merely allow the player to have an advantage on a game they play. Controllers have been modified to fit the needs of the consumer. In this presentation we will present a design for a possible controller that can be used with one hand. We will discuss what three genres will best use our controller design, and how the mapping will be done with one of these genres. Explanations on how our controller will stack up against those already in the industry, how playtests resulted, and how well the team worked will also be discussed. We will also show prototypes and sketches of our design throughout the process.

Design PurposeThe reason why we stuck with the design we have is because of how easily usable it is. We wanted to make a controller that anyone can use with one hand. No matter how big or small your hand is, or how firm or slippery it may be, we wanted to keep our controller easy to use for every type of hand. We also thought it was a great idea to stick with the one hand controller because of all the people in the world who have a passion for video games, but unfortunately lost a hand to play with. This is a great idea because it isn’t even about the money for this design purpose. It is simply about bringing joy back to all the players with that type of disability. They will finally once again be able to enjoy the video games that they used to love and play everyday.

InspirationMatthew Carey - The thing that had inspired me with this design was using modular designed controls. This design idea came from the eDimensional Access Controller. The one thing that I got from this design that I wanted included was making accessible control functions that can be put into their own slotted position, and they can be removed and place in any order the user desires (eDimensional & BenHeck, 2014).Harlan Falkoff - My father lived his entire life with only one arm. He worked for HAL laboratories in the early 90s and worked on the instruction booklets for a few games. In order to write the instructions, he had to use the normal controller to play the game and had many issues since he only had one hand. From his troubles, I have taken the mantra that the player should never need to fumble with their controls to do what they need to to enjoy the game. Therefore my priority with designing this controller is comfort and ergonomics.Colin Duffy - I have thought of making a one handed controller in the past before this class because of my ex-girlfriend/ daughter’s mother has only one usable arm and hand. Her other arm is just there paralyzed almost entirely other than her being able to slightly move the tips of her fingers. She used to love video games before any of that happened to her. She always talks about how much she would love to play while watching me just play them on console. She inspired me to think of many ideas on a perfect controller layout.

Inspiration cont.Michael Figueroa - When I was in 3rd grade, I broke my wrist and couldn’t play videogames normally and without comfort. I would try to endure the pain at times but couldn’t really play and enjoy the game as much. So I tried to start practicing playing with my feet, except that the other consoles I owned had buttons in the sides that my toes could not reach. It was until that point I wanted to own a 1-handed controller. Since there aren’t many out there, I can now use my past experience as my motivator to create a 1-handed controller that people can use when they are handicapped in one of the hands or are one handed. So my inspiration motivates me to create a controller that is accessible, comfortable, easy-to-use and modifiable to the player’s preference.Steven-Felix Cho - I’ve had countless friends in the past who have been restricted from playing games normally due to a broken wrist or arm. Some would play with their feet, some would find an extremely creative ways to do it with one hand, or some would just give up playing controller games entirely until they healed. With the evolution of controllers, whenever my friends had had restricted movement due to casts, they all seemed to just drift away from consoles until they fully healed because it became too much of a hassle to deal with. With this in mind, I had thought ‘what if there was a console controller that could be played with one hand, yet wouldn’t feel uncomfortable at all while playing?’

Design MethodIn order to create our controller design we first had to address what the issue was. This issue was a challenge, how to allow a user with the use of only one hand to comfortably use a controller to play video games. Then after this was defined for us we started formulating different ideas and placing them in a document to review. We looked at each idea and tried to picture how they would fit: from a round controller to a Nunchuck-Styled controller. There was much debate over how the ideas would fit, much of these debates were because of an unclear picture. We then made rough sketches of what shape we wanted our design to look like. Based on this we tried to decide what would be done with the control features. We then made a prototype of the controller into the finished product by molding clay.

Schematic Diagrams

Design AssumptionsMatthew Carey -Modular control designs allow the different cells/panels to be integrated to provide the best error handling. This provides for flexibility between the different panels. It also provides complexity when creating the individual panels, but makes errors easier to detect by having only two control logics (Lee & Tilbury, 2008).Colin Duffy - I feel like the controller should be very easy to use. There should never be a moment where a player is uncomfortable with the way they are holding out controller. The player should be able to play with the controller for hours before his or her hand starts to get sore thanks to our very easy to hold grip. This will be a very awesome creation because there are so many possibilities that can come from a one handed controller. It will bring joy to many. (Heck, 2014)Harlan Falkoff - Controller shape should be comfortable for both hands and not feel cumbersome to grip while in use. An ambidextrous nature allows either hand to be used ergonomically. This provides a larger target audience by accommodating both left and right handed players. Additionally, this ensures players enjoy using the controller, rather than ‘settling’ for the controller because it works (Nintendo Wii Nunchuck, 2006).

Design Assumptions Cont.Michael Figueroa - Through the design of the controller’s functionality, we have gone through various ideas for the shape of the controller and how it would work with our primary functions. Through the design choices of the shape of the controller, we had issues on what size it should be that could compliment the functions and the shape of the controller. Ultimately, we have decided that the size of the controller should be similar to the size of the Wii’s Nunchuk since it is accessible for many children and adults. This size makes all of the modules and functions accessible and easy-to-use, plus all of the buttons are within finger reach. (OF, 2014)Steven-Felix Cho - The button layout of our controller is reminiscent of a standard controller, in that familiar button layouts will help players adapt to a new controller quickly. Since this is a controller designed for one-handed use, we have the joystick and face buttons on opposite sides of each other, in a way that the joystick would be controlled with the thumb, like it is with the left hand, and the face buttons would be controlled with the fingers, like it is with the right hand when playing arcade games. The face buttons are also placed in the diamond shape, in order to help with familiarity (Brycer, 2008).

Three Game SummaryOur controller is designed for 3 genres in specific: Platformer, Strategy and Arcade. One of the games that we used to specify the genres is Super Mario Bros U. We would map it in such a way that the current players of the game would get very similar with as with the Wiimote. The mapping would be:

Analog Stick - Movement, Swim, enter door/warp pipe (in direction of entrance), navigate menu.A Button(Button Module) - Jump, Swim, glide(hold), wall jump, Flutter(Yoshi, hold), view map, double/triple jump (press right upon landing),Accept(in menu)B Button(Button Module) - Run, carry (hold), shoot fireballs/iceballs, extend tongue(Yoshi), cancel(in menu)Down in Analog Stick + A - Ground Pound(Normal, Simultaneous**)

Down in Analog stick - Crouch, Slide (on slopes)Up on Analog stick - Climb (on fences, ladder, poles)X Button(Button Module) - Bubble**Down in D-Pad + B - Grab other players**/frozen enemiesStart - PauseUp in D-Pad(D-pad module) - Spin Jump,Baby Yoshi ability, dismount Yoshi, Flying Squirrel jump, Spin underwater(baby Yoshi)

Down in D-Pad - Boost Mode**Right/Left D-Pad - Zoom in/out in Map view

** - Multiplayer Only

Three Game Summary cont.Another game that we used to specify the genres is Final Fantasy Tactics. The key mapping for our controller will be extremely similar to how it is mapped for the PlayStation controllers. The mapping would be:

Joystick/D-pad (Movement): Cursor moving/character switch skill/item types on status screen, scroll mapJoystick (Camera) - Toggle view tilt low/highA (Button module): confirm, character info, choose commands, return cursor to active character and open menus

B (Button module): Cancel, return to map/battleX (Button module): quick scroll, toggle header/character info. highlight enemies in red and allies blueY (Button Module): Bring up menu

Start: bring up menu, highlight next characterTrigger (Trigger module): zoom in/out of world map, move cursor between characters, rotate battle map

Three Game Summary cont.Hammerwatch is an intense hack and slash game with several skills for each playable class. As players battle they must dodge and counter the attacks of hundreds of enemies at the same time. The controls must be tight in order for the players to overcome their foes. Our controller, with the following mapping, can be used to effectively control the player during the excitement.Joystick (Joystick Module): Movement and aim. Analog control is key for aiming projectiles.A (Button Module): Normal AttackB: Skill 1X: Skill 2Y: Skill 3Start: Potion

Trigger 1 (Trigger Module): StrafeTrigger 2: HoldTrigger 3: Map toggleTrigger 4: Autofire Hold toggle.

Control MappingThe inputs on the controller itself are limited to only Start and Home. The start button is used in many games for pausing the game or opening a particular menu. The home button is used on certain consoles to open the console’s main menu or access social media. All other controls are on modules which can be placed in any of 5 module slots on the controller, one for each side other than the bottom. Modules in the controller function as the individual parts would normally for that game. The modules include: 2 joystick modules, 1 D-pad module, 1 face buttons module, and one trigger module. The joystick modules each have a pressable analog stick. The D-pad module has an 8 directional pad. The face buttons module has the following buttons: A, B, X, and Y. The trigger module has 4 trigger buttons, all pressure sensitive in case a game uses analog triggers.

Designed Controller vs. Existing Controllers

We have examined controllers that are out in the industry, and have been able to come up with how ours stacks against them. The two controllers we examined were the Wiimote and the XBox 360 controller. The XBox controller is easily controlled with two hands, but is very hard to control with one hand. The Wiimote more stacks up better to our controller because it can be easily controlled with one or two hands. Just like the Wiimote, our controller can also be used with one or two hands. However, the way they can be altered are not so similar. The Wiimote can be held in either hand for one handed operations, but must be turned horizontally to use with two hands. Our controller is different because not only can it be used by either hand by doing simple rearrangement, but can be used with two hands by allowing one hand to operate the front, top, and back areas of the controller, and the other hand to hold the controller while operating the side functions.

Prototype

Play Test Findings and ResultsBernard Falkoff, 54, male. One-handed since birth.-Used the controller for 10-15 minutes in emulated play.“The controller feels great. I can reach all the buttons well enough and I can set it up differently for other games based on what buttons I use. My only complaint is that I have trouble holding it up while performing the minute motions of button presses. The base helps with this a lot.”At the end of the test session, Bernard said there was a small amount of pressure on his ring and pinkie finger, indicating the difficulty of holding the controller up while using it. He switched to resting the controller in his hand after only a few minutes, playing palm-up to alleviate that issue.

Post MortemWe did well coming up with ideas for the design. Our team was fortunate to be able to make our prototype with clay as a material to get a better idea of what the end product could look like. However, there were a lot of problems with time and organization that we had. A document that contained design decisions made could have helped us out greatly. Ideally, a controller should be made by people in the same location so all of them can hold and feel how the controller is to be used. Discrepancies between what some of our team meant and what was understood by the rest of us were huge hindrances to the team’s development process.

ReferencesBrycer, J. (2014, August 15). Gamasutra: Josh Bycer's Blog - How Control Schemes Standardized Gameplay. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JoshBycer/20140815/223542/How_Control_Schemes_Standardized_Gameplay.php eDimensional, & BenHeck. (2014, May 5). One Handed Game Controller For Playstation and PC. Retrieved from Disabled World: http://www.disabled-world.com/entertainment/games/gaming-controls.phpFinal Fantasy Tactics. Release. (1998). Square. Video Game.Final Fantasy Tactics/Controls. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Tactics/ControlsHammerwatch. 1.3. (2013). Crackshell. Video Game.Hammerwatch - Play with a Gamepad or Joystick. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/pc-controller-support/alpha-gamepad-joystick/xbox-360-ps3-psx-etc/hammerwatch

References cont.Lee, S., & Tilbury, D. M. (2008, March 19). A modular control design method for a flexible manufacturing cell including error handling. Retrieved from Springer: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10696-008-9036-x#page-1New Super Mario Bros U. Release. (2012). Nintendo. Video Game.New Super Mario Bros. U. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://www.mariowiki.com/new_Super_Mario_Bros._UNintendo Wii Nunchuk. (2014, May 13). Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://www.engadget.com/products/nintendo/wii/nunchuk/reviews/12mn/Wii の概要 [ コントローラ ] : E3 2006 : Nintendo. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://www.nintendo.co.jp/event/e3_2006/wii/controller.html#top