Gamepad support and patch version 1.0.36!
Hey there, folks! Today's patch sees three long-awaited features finally making it in-game: (1) the game is now fully playable with gamepad controls, (2) you can now delete save files from in-game, and (3) the game now supports custom destructible object graphics for player-made campaigns!
Finishing up gamepad support, in particular, took way longer than I'd anticipated--turns out, shoehorning gamepad controls into an elaborate interface designed for mouse and keyboard is pretty difficult, especially if you want them to feel good to use! 😅
Here's the full list of changes:
-- you can now clear saved game slots from the New Game and Load Game menus in the title screen, or from the save game menu in battle, by hitting the "X" button on a save slot. (The game will prompt you with a confirmation pop-up before proceeding.)
-- the game now officially supports Xbox One gamepads in addition to Xbox 360 and Logitech gamepads.
-- gamepad controls are now auto-enabled on the title screen if the game detects any connected gamepads, even if the Controls are set to mouse and keyboard in the settings. (This means that you can now use a gamepad to select gamepad controls rather than having to enable it with the mouse.)
-- if the game detects that you've hit a button on a gamepad while on the title screen, the game will now automatically leave gamepad input on going forward even if you didn't manually change the Controls setting to a gamepad.
-- the game now displays character tooltips when moving the selector over units using the gamepad.
-- hitting the "select" button (i.e. 'A' on an Xbox gamepad) on an empty battlefield space when using gamepad controls now immediately switches over the actions bar.
-- hitting the "actions" button (i.e. 'X' on an Xbox gamepad) when navigating the actions bar with gamepad controls now toggles focus back onto the battlefield.
-- when selecting a skill that cannot be used (because it's been used already, the character lacks the energy, etc.) with gamepad controls, the game now automatically kicks focus back to the actions bar instead of the battlefield.
-- when using gamepad controls, moving a character within skill range of valid targets will now cause the game to auto-shift focus to the skill buttons on the actions bar in order to allow quick and easy selection of attacks. (This makes the moment-to-moment experience of moving-and-attacking using gamepad controls much, much smoother.)
-- using gamepad controls, you can now click the left joystick inward to immediately undo the last move.
-- using gamepad controls, you can now click the right joystick inward to immediately rotate the current selected character.
-- when using gamepad controls in the character screen in battle, the shoulder buttons now cycle through characters.
-- when using gamepad controls, the right trigger button now cycles through camera zoom levels.
-- when using gamepad controls in battle, the start button now calls up the main menu.
-- when using gamepad controls, the D-pad now functions as an alternative to the left joystick.
-- added gamepad support for the "Download Campaigns" menu and its search options submenu.
-- added gamepad support for the battle main menu.
-- added gamepad support for the objectives window.
-- added gamepad support for the victory window.
-- finished adding gamepad support for the deployment interface.
-- updated gamepad menu navigator for the new turn box to support the start-turn button.
-- added gamepad support for the reports/objectives screen.
-- added basic gamepad support for the level-up screen.
-- added gamepad support for the promotion window.
-- added full gamepad-controls support for the character details screen, including full ability to use, give, and drop items in character inventory.
-- added gamepad support for the reserve supplies screen and its various sub-menus. (This one was a huge pain.)
-- fixed: it was possible for the game to freeze when trying to advance dialogue after the game attempted to move a character not found on the battlefield.
-- fixed: it was possible to cause errors by trying to move the selector off the edge of the map in gamepad mode.
-- fixed: the skill editor was not loading and saving custom power, length, or chance modifications to skill status effects correctly.
-- added support for a second custom string value to be displayed in save files for a campaign using ChangeSaveString.
-- fixed: custom save strings could carry over from one campaign to a different campaign during the same play session.
-- fixed: due to changes in the way the game processed status effects and damage, Gravity Spike and Gravity Well had ceased to insta-drop flyers into chasms or liquids.
-- added a sound effect for when attacks are blocked by a great shield.
-- tweaked the AI code to halve the effect of space danger calculations, making the AI much less likely to take no action with characters on the brink of death.
-- fixed: a quirk in the AI code made enemies ignore the danger of a space when evaluating whether to attack destructible objects, but not when evaluating whether to attack enemy characters, meaning that enemies in a dangerous position would sometimes inexplicably attack the scenery instead of enemies.
-- fixed: the game was canceling focus on the new turn box for the gamepad navigator upon concluding BeforeTurn dialogue, preventing the player from saving or starting the turn.
-- fixed cursor spacing when navigating the actions bar in gamepad mode.
-- fixed cursor positioning on the new turn box in gamepad mode.
-- fixed: upon selecting a button that changes the active buttons within an interface element (e.g. a page button) using gamepad controls, the cursor would remain over the same spot until moved...even if the button it had just selected since disappeared.
-- custom object images for custom campaigns are now fully working!
-- fixed in version 1.0.36a: gamepad mode would not get switched off when loading an old game from the title screen with a gamepad that was plugged in but neither used nor selected as the preferred control method.
-- fixed in version 1.0.36a: beating the game in randomizer mode did not award achievements.
...phew! That's it for this update. I do still need to add a "control map" screen to the game setting out what the buttons all do, and I need to implement some alternate tutorial text for gamepad users. All in all, though, you should now be able to play the game from start to finish using a gamepad. The one thing you cant do with a gamepad now is use the campaign creator (implementing gamepad controls for that would be an absolute nightmare, so that's gonna remain mouse-and-keyboard only).
For now, here's a quick rundown of the gamepad controls:
-- left joystick and d-pad: move cursor (or selector, if navigating a battlefield)
-- right joystick: pan camera
-- bottom button ('A' on Xbox controllers): select
-- right button ('B' on Xbox controllers): cancel
-- left button ('X' on Xbox controllers): toggle focus to/from actions bar
-- right button ('Y' on Xbox controllers): open character screen for the character or object beneath the cursor
-- L3: undo last move
-- R3: rotate selected character
-- shoulder buttons: switch to next/previous character
-- right trigger: cycle zoom level
-- start: open main menu
Until next time!
--Craig
Finishing up gamepad support, in particular, took way longer than I'd anticipated--turns out, shoehorning gamepad controls into an elaborate interface designed for mouse and keyboard is pretty difficult, especially if you want them to feel good to use! 😅
Here's the full list of changes:
-- you can now clear saved game slots from the New Game and Load Game menus in the title screen, or from the save game menu in battle, by hitting the "X" button on a save slot. (The game will prompt you with a confirmation pop-up before proceeding.)
-- the game now officially supports Xbox One gamepads in addition to Xbox 360 and Logitech gamepads.
-- gamepad controls are now auto-enabled on the title screen if the game detects any connected gamepads, even if the Controls are set to mouse and keyboard in the settings. (This means that you can now use a gamepad to select gamepad controls rather than having to enable it with the mouse.)
-- if the game detects that you've hit a button on a gamepad while on the title screen, the game will now automatically leave gamepad input on going forward even if you didn't manually change the Controls setting to a gamepad.
-- the game now displays character tooltips when moving the selector over units using the gamepad.
-- hitting the "select" button (i.e. 'A' on an Xbox gamepad) on an empty battlefield space when using gamepad controls now immediately switches over the actions bar.
-- hitting the "actions" button (i.e. 'X' on an Xbox gamepad) when navigating the actions bar with gamepad controls now toggles focus back onto the battlefield.
-- when selecting a skill that cannot be used (because it's been used already, the character lacks the energy, etc.) with gamepad controls, the game now automatically kicks focus back to the actions bar instead of the battlefield.
-- when using gamepad controls, moving a character within skill range of valid targets will now cause the game to auto-shift focus to the skill buttons on the actions bar in order to allow quick and easy selection of attacks. (This makes the moment-to-moment experience of moving-and-attacking using gamepad controls much, much smoother.)
-- using gamepad controls, you can now click the left joystick inward to immediately undo the last move.
-- using gamepad controls, you can now click the right joystick inward to immediately rotate the current selected character.
-- when using gamepad controls in the character screen in battle, the shoulder buttons now cycle through characters.
-- when using gamepad controls, the right trigger button now cycles through camera zoom levels.
-- when using gamepad controls in battle, the start button now calls up the main menu.
-- when using gamepad controls, the D-pad now functions as an alternative to the left joystick.
-- added gamepad support for the "Download Campaigns" menu and its search options submenu.
-- added gamepad support for the battle main menu.
-- added gamepad support for the objectives window.
-- added gamepad support for the victory window.
-- finished adding gamepad support for the deployment interface.
-- updated gamepad menu navigator for the new turn box to support the start-turn button.
-- added gamepad support for the reports/objectives screen.
-- added basic gamepad support for the level-up screen.
-- added gamepad support for the promotion window.
-- added full gamepad-controls support for the character details screen, including full ability to use, give, and drop items in character inventory.
-- added gamepad support for the reserve supplies screen and its various sub-menus. (This one was a huge pain.)
-- fixed: it was possible for the game to freeze when trying to advance dialogue after the game attempted to move a character not found on the battlefield.
-- fixed: it was possible to cause errors by trying to move the selector off the edge of the map in gamepad mode.
-- fixed: the skill editor was not loading and saving custom power, length, or chance modifications to skill status effects correctly.
-- added support for a second custom string value to be displayed in save files for a campaign using ChangeSaveString.
-- fixed: custom save strings could carry over from one campaign to a different campaign during the same play session.
-- fixed: due to changes in the way the game processed status effects and damage, Gravity Spike and Gravity Well had ceased to insta-drop flyers into chasms or liquids.
-- added a sound effect for when attacks are blocked by a great shield.
-- tweaked the AI code to halve the effect of space danger calculations, making the AI much less likely to take no action with characters on the brink of death.
-- fixed: a quirk in the AI code made enemies ignore the danger of a space when evaluating whether to attack destructible objects, but not when evaluating whether to attack enemy characters, meaning that enemies in a dangerous position would sometimes inexplicably attack the scenery instead of enemies.
-- fixed: the game was canceling focus on the new turn box for the gamepad navigator upon concluding BeforeTurn dialogue, preventing the player from saving or starting the turn.
-- fixed cursor spacing when navigating the actions bar in gamepad mode.
-- fixed cursor positioning on the new turn box in gamepad mode.
-- fixed: upon selecting a button that changes the active buttons within an interface element (e.g. a page button) using gamepad controls, the cursor would remain over the same spot until moved...even if the button it had just selected since disappeared.
-- custom object images for custom campaigns are now fully working!
-- fixed in version 1.0.36a: gamepad mode would not get switched off when loading an old game from the title screen with a gamepad that was plugged in but neither used nor selected as the preferred control method.
-- fixed in version 1.0.36a: beating the game in randomizer mode did not award achievements.
...phew! That's it for this update. I do still need to add a "control map" screen to the game setting out what the buttons all do, and I need to implement some alternate tutorial text for gamepad users. All in all, though, you should now be able to play the game from start to finish using a gamepad. The one thing you cant do with a gamepad now is use the campaign creator (implementing gamepad controls for that would be an absolute nightmare, so that's gonna remain mouse-and-keyboard only).
For now, here's a quick rundown of the gamepad controls:
-- left joystick and d-pad: move cursor (or selector, if navigating a battlefield)
-- right joystick: pan camera
-- bottom button ('A' on Xbox controllers): select
-- right button ('B' on Xbox controllers): cancel
-- left button ('X' on Xbox controllers): toggle focus to/from actions bar
-- right button ('Y' on Xbox controllers): open character screen for the character or object beneath the cursor
-- L3: undo last move
-- R3: rotate selected character
-- shoulder buttons: switch to next/previous character
-- right trigger: cycle zoom level
-- start: open main menu
Until next time!
--Craig