Hello Everyone, I am a student working on an interface/control scheme for a RPG and I would like some opinions and advice on what I am currently looking to do with the interface and how it works with the game play.

For starters, my game is set during the 16th century in England and the player will be completing quests throughout the land, while eventually competing in and winning the local jousting tournaments to progress through the game. The jousting is really a driving force behind this game and it is where I feel there is the biggest challenge to nail the interface. I want to present the jousting through the view of the helmet of the player and use the left stick to control the shield and right to aim the lance (thinking in terms of console controls). With the movement of the AI competitor coming at them I think it will be enough to keep it difficult, but does anyone feel it would be too difficult to ask players to attempt precision control with both sticks at once? The interface will give feedback to the players via a large red circle that gets smaller as the AI jouster closes in and the lance head location gets more accurate, and a green circle which also gets small representing the location of the player shield. The limited view could also play into this difficulty, but any opinions or suggestions on this would be great.

The questing part of the game will entail a lot of on foot battling and for this I really want the use of a shield/parry system to be a driving mechanic. I am anticipating a little bit slower pace to the battles than is typically seen today, but I also want these battles to last longer than a few seconds. For the battles I am thinking of using the L1 and L2 (LB and LT) buttons for blocking different attack and then the other combat abilities, such as the attack buttons, roll, and jump buttons on the main 4 buttons. The interface will give feedback to player blocks by making certain noises and having a special color effect depending on the success of the block. For example, if a player successfully blocks an opponents heavy attack, the shield would give off a green particle effect allowing the player a short window to counter attack. Anyone who is familiar with the game Vindictus and the block/parry system in there, I am attempting a similar mechanic here. As far as the blocking control layout. I am thinking this is the best way to keep the player free to string together combinations and attacks, without interfering with the ability to move or block efficiently. The last issue I may have is putting the weapon switch, as I am allowing the player to switch between two equipped weapons, on the R3 button. I do not want players to have the issue of accidentally pressing the R3 button and switching during battle, but how likely do you guys feel this is to happen? I myself have not had major issues with similar controls in the past, but I have seen the issue brought up before and the secondary weapons will be ranged so switching in the middle of a melee battle could be devastating for the player.

Below is a diagram of the full control layout as I have it now. I am really looking for feedback so feel free to say exactly what you think and bring any concerns, suggestions, or opinions to the table. Thanks to everyone who read this and takes the time to post.

[attachment=12181:ControllerLayout.jpg]

Bump, anyone got any advice?

The overall scheme sounds good, but do NOT put toggle weapon on R3. It is likely to happen, and most likely to happen in tense situations. That is also when switching weapon would be most devastating. Sprint on L3 is alright, because I don't think it would be a problem if the player accidentally sprinted a bit.

Allow full customizable controls settings and button mapping and it'll be fine.

X shouldn't be an attack.

It's generally accepted that the standard format is
X: Jump/Action/Speak
Square: Light Attack
Triangle: Heavy Attack
Circle: Kick/Grab/Other

I like it and it's pretty unique, but PLEASE do not put R3 to aim AND shoot, that won't work well. I think one button should shoot and another should ready/aim the weapon,