2.05.3 features re-added

Spork98765

Member
Jul 3, 2015
363
0
Despite what the newsletter says the only place to find/access the controller option is in the table options; which cannot be changed via a controller :rolleyes: The Main Menu is the one you look at where manage tables etc is. If you have to load a table to access a particular option it's not a main menu, FYI.
Android HID controller support added: Controller settings A and B are now located in 'Help and Options' in the main menu and table menu.

IIRC, the original implementation of A/B mode, prior to it being yanked out, was so players could choose whether they wanted to use the digital or analogue shoulder buttons; Triggers/bumpers, or L1/2 R1/2 or Upper and Lower Shoulder buttons or IDk if there's any other terms really. This feels like we have gone backwards as B mode has all sorts of problems. Which is strange, seeing as TPA defaults to B mode.

Kinggo covered most of how the UI and controller interface works here, but there a few other specific issues i'll mention.

In both A/B mode, when in landscape, the options menu is split into 2 columns. Now only being able to move on 2 axis, up/down, is bad enough, but when you select something from the right column you have to exit options before you can select anything from the left column. Of course Instructions, Extras, Options, Goals, and Pro Menu all cannot be utilized with a controller.

When in game and you pause again 2 axis selection, this time only left/right, of the option items. Controls, and Camera option cannot be utilized via controller

The R analogue stick in Mode B is tied to the analogue shoulder buttons. So plunge and trigger the flippers, really any left/right motion of the stick will do it. This is where I am wondering what happened to the old A/B mode that worked before this new UI removed it and then "introduced" it, again?

Why the redundant 3 ways to change tabs/pages, but no way to change filters on the tables tab/page, or seasons on the store tab/page?

On the Home screen it is, again, 2 axis movement while selecting tiles. Why can I not simply press up to go from, for example, Tournaments to Table of the month. It seems poor design to have to press right/left 4 times to get to another choice that is one tile above it. There appears to be a dead spot where the cursor disappears when you press left once from Recently Played, or right once from Head to Head. This can give the impression that there is no way to select anything. Another reason 2 axis selection is a bad UX choice.

On the table select screen: If you are at the end of a row that is above an incomplete row and you press down it will skip the incomplete row and jump to the next full row; which opens another issue. (see below)

When sorted by goals: The cursor will remember its position in the row of the goal grouping and will return to that position from wherever it was in the row of the other goal set above/below it. This can cause the cursor to jump around a fair bit depending on the location of its former and new position; a complete left to right and it can skip as much as 2 whole rows. (see above)

Addendum musing about table select: Why wasn't the R Stick mapped to be a pseudo mouse like on the Steam version as a way to select filters, change season, press unmapped doo-dads etc.? Again I have to query about the Ouya/Razer Forge version and it's controller mapping being ported. How is it that a Nexus 7 in a box can have a fully mapped controller UX, but getting the same for a general Android release is like [analogy x metaphor]?

While you can move in 4 axis direction on the store tab/page you cannot actually select anything with a controller. If you do press the A button on one of the table tiles in the store it seems that it will cause more than one of them highlight. The first one I pressed was The Getaway and all of them were highlighted blue, except TX-Sector. This is repeatable.

Oh yeah, the manage tables thing still doesn't work right. I downloaded 3 updated tables: Dr Who, The Getaway and Last Action Hero. Yet, as soon as I opened The Getaway from the table select menu ... Surprise! You have to download a new version of this table, again!! This happened on all 3 of my Android devices.

Hmm, maybe I forgot something. It took me longer to write this out than it do to identify these things.
 
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Russell Bergman

New member
Feb 29, 2012
242
0
This happened to me too on The Getaway. Plus when you start The Getaway table, you don't get The Getaway music, just the drum solo music. I don't know if it updated completely or not.
 

kinggo

Active member
Feb 9, 2014
1,024
0
Kingo covered most of how the UI and controller interface works here, but there a few other specific issues i'll mention.
You missed one "g".
So, it's not better on tablet? I didn't even try because I have zero interest to use controller on tablet but it would be nice that it works there also.
While this support on TV is far from finished end user product, I actually don't want to complain much because they will most likely break something again (didn't try 2.05.3 yet, maybe it's already broken). And now at least I can use the game with just controller. Those few not working things I can do with tv sideview. But I don't need that just to start new game on the same table again.
 

Baron Rubik

New member
Mar 21, 2013
1,852
1
This works relatively well for me again since the re-addition of TPA mode A/B.
Mode A allows Native HID controller support, with flippers via the shoulder buttons. Switching to B moves flippers to the triggers.
I was having an issue where neither worked, but adding the A/B toggle fixed the issue.

Re menu functions via controller. This is still a little flaky. It works better on my Shield tablet than on my Note4 phone. The Auto scroll down the table icons doesn't always keep up with the table selected halo. And it can easily be broken into a jittery mess by applying controller input and touch input simultaneously. This has been logged and acknowledged by Farsight though.

I have to say, although I can tend towards criticism and criticality, how impressed I am with FlippyFloppy's efforts and leadership to fix issues through the Android beta. I'm quite positive TPA will continue to improve even for the older tables.
 

jaredmorgs

Moderator
Staff member
May 8, 2012
4,334
3
I think we could use [MENTION=5544]Spork98765[/MENTION] over for a stint in the testers group.

As Baron re-discovered, it can often be more productive to get access to beta releases so you can test iteratively. Even if you can't do it on a regular basis, its extremely helpful to get fresh eyes over the platform.

It is clear FarSight is having issues with sorting out support across different brands of controller and could do with more constructive help with hardware interaction testing

I personally think this relates to choosing the Moga HID library over the Android HID one.
 

弹珠台

New member
Jul 8, 2016
87
0
This happened to me too on The Getaway. Plus when you start The Getaway table, you don't get The Getaway music, just the drum solo music. I don't know if it updated completely or not.
Getaway seems broken,now every time when you need play it you must re-download,become a infinite loop
 
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Brandon Garvin

FarSight Employee
Oct 10, 2016
118
0
弹珠台;250888 said:
Getaway seems broken,now every time when you need play it you must re-download,become a infinite loop

We're working on an update that fixes this. I don't have any ETA on it's release, but I can't imagine that it will be too far off!
 

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