Hi Im doing a topdown, realtime arcade-rpg in the style of fallout tactics, stalker and some elements from games like zelda/link. The view is topdown and you control your guy and can turn around to shoot enemies that approach. There is TWO players at the same keyboard. So my problem is how to control them both in a good manner. example of view (another game) http://www.indiegames.com/blog/images/timw/robokill2a.jpg 1. Walk with keys, aim with mouse. Best and most fun solution, but only works for one player as you only have one mouse. 2. Walk with keys, rotate aim (clockwise/counterclockwise) with keys. Gets kinda frustrating as its hard to quickly and with precision turn around to fire at fast enemies. 3. Walk with keys, automatically aim at closest enemy. Keys to switch target should the player wants to. Might get too easy and some of the fun is aiming and picking your targets. On the other hand you will most often shoot the guy closest to you anyway. What are your thoughts? Any example of similar games and how they solved it? Thanks Erik

I remember playing an old multiplayer Asteroids style game. 3 of us were packed in around the keyboard and one of us had the mouse. It did work out fairly well but the controls were pretty simple. The keys were rotate left & right, forward & reverse thrust, and two keys for different weapons.

So, my thought is that if your game in 2 player mode requires (or is better suited to) more than 4 keys for direction and two for action buttons (fire, jump, whatever) for each player then it's time to look into developing network support.

well network coding seem so damn complicated... That's really mu last resort.

Shadowgrounds is a 3rd Person Shooter game that has hotseat cooperative play. One player uses the mouse and the keyboard, another uses a game controller.

Here's a interesting thing: On any Windows game you can plug in two keyboards and use them both at the same time. You can't have players using the same keys (you can't use the WASD or the arrows on both keyboards, for instance), but if it's too crowded to cram 3-4 players around one keyboard, you could use two or more keyboards, as long as each player still has their own keys.

The same thing works with the mouse. You can plug in two mouses and they can both be used to control the one cursor onscreen.

yeah but if its the same cursor they cannot use it for two player control... It was cool the thing with two keyboards though. I didnt know that. It wont help me though...

Im leaning towards the autoaim thing right now. Ill run some tests.
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Look up RawInput in the MS API docs, it lets you support multiple mice and keyboards via USB. The mice can be independent, which is perfect for your needs and although I never looked into it, I would assume keyboards could be too.

Obviously its not the only solution you should employ, although I do feel that plenty of users must have a couple of usb mice lying around these days at least.

I suggest going with your option #2. Even with things coming from all directions, 2 players should be able to cover each other's backs effectively enough to balance rotation speed. Alternatively, if you only require one action button to fire a weapon, perhaps consider adding a second to impliment a 180 degree turn.

there seem to bee no complete solution for 2 mice, and im not keen, or capable to dive into that low-level stuff.

Your point is taken, although i felt option 2 fell on the bad precision /frustration rather then not having enough time.

At first, I would say option 3 auto aim, seeming as controlling with the keyboard seems clunky to me. However, if you game is a shooter, then there is little point in this. So it does depend on your game, is combat the focus, or is it more puzzle solving and exploration?

If you do go for keyboard controlled turning, don't have rotation independent of moving. This would be very confusing (and possibly too many keys) Instead, have forward and backwards and turn left/right. Then, the character can spin and then moves towards the direction faced. This is like Asteroids (except your people don't have to glide forwards and slightly out of control)

Original post by Servant of the Lord
Shadowgrounds is a 3rd Person Shooter game that has hotseat cooperative play. One player uses the mouse and the keyboard, another uses a game controller.

Have you ever tried to play Shadowgrounds using a gamepad? It's absolutely terrible, I wouldn't recommend it to someone wanting to implement good controls.