Post by kindlegames in Dark Ember comments

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Hey, thanks a lot for the report and the photo, it really helped!

Both things are in the next update:

Resolution scaling: the game now fills any screen size or aspect ratio, 4:3 included, with no black borders. On small screens like 640x480 it starts in fullscreen automatically and uses the whole display at a crisp 1x.

Directional Aiming: there's a new option in Options → Controls → "AIM WHERE YOU WALK". With it on, you attack in the direction you're moving, so you don't need a mouse or a right stick. The wand's arcane circle lands a few steps ahead of you, in the direction you're walking. All the keys can be rebound on the same page to fit your handheld's buttons.

Let me know how it runs on your device. I'd love to hear if anything else feels off on handheld!

RetroPort3 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks so much for the quick reply! It's amazing how fast you implemented everything, I really appreciate it.

I have three small feedback points and ideas for handheld play:

Menu Navigation: Would it be possible to navigate through all menu items using only the directional keys / D-Pad (without needing a mouse cursor)?

Weapon Switching: To save hotkeys on handhelds, a single button to cycle through weapons (similar to how potions work) would be awesome!

World Zoom: I don't know if this is easy to implement, but would it be possible to add an option to zoom in/out on the character and surrounding world, while keeping the UI/HUD at its normal size?

kindlegames3 days ago

Thanks a lot, for the reply!

Some of this is already in the game, just not in a way that reaches your device. From your photo, your buttons are being sent to the game as keyboard and mouse (I can see the mouse cursor), so the game doesn't know it's being played on a controller:

Menu navigation: With gamepad input, every menu already works with only the D-pad or stick (A to confirm, B to go back, no cursor). I'll make the arrow keys do the same, so it works with your setup too.

Weapon switching: Controllers already cycle weapons with LB/RB, the same way potions cycle. Keyboard only has the 1/2/3 hotkeys right now, so I'll add bindable previous/next weapon keys.

World zoom: This already exists. CTRL + mouse wheel zooms the world in and out while the HUD stays the same size, and the zoom level is saved. I'll add an easier way to do it that doesn't need a mouse wheel.

I'll also look at how the game reads on small screens like yours and at performance on lower-end hardware, and generally make it better for handhelds. If your port lets you pass the buttons through as a gamepad instead of keyboard/mouse, menu navigation and weapon cycling should already work today. Thanks for the detailed feedback, it really helps!

RetroPort3 days ago

I've now tested the controller setup, and everything is working smoothly just as it should! However, I actually prefer using keybindings so I can stay more flexible with custom hotkeys. Also, it seems I completely missed the zoom feature earlier! I'm really looking forward to the upcoming adjustments for small screens and the simplified gamepad zoom feature. It's a great game, keep up the good work! I would love to port the game to PortMaster after your next updates and would like to ask for your permission via email, but I can't seem to find your email adress. :)

itch.io

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