Suggestion: Hardware vehicle control

tcupistcupis Join Date: 2017-06-12 Member: 231080Members
edited June 2017 in Ideas and Suggestions
Now this may seem a little odd but I would really like the idea of using my tablet/phone to toggle certain controls while in a vehicle. My proposed idea is to have a remote app that would allow the user to toggle lights/manage inventories - I can imagine it being like a hardware PDA. This would be a very unique selling point for the game as well as allowing committed players to setup real life battlestations to control their ships etc...

This would be possible as if you look at other programs like FL studio and Logic Pro they have an external app that allows users to control the program, audio levels as an example.

This would engage players and really allow their creativity to explode I feel. More examples of its use would be while in the cyclops you would be able to view some of the other cameras on your external device. Or while in the prawn suit control the light intensity of your lights with a neat slider or something.

An issue I can feel arising is latency, and this shouldn't be a problem as the basic control the hardware would give you would not need to be instant, I'm not saying that a death excuse could be created because of this but it should allow easier control and monitoring of yourself and/or your vehicles.

Any thoughts of your own are wanted!

Comments

  • gamer1000kgamer1000k Join Date: 2017-04-29 Member: 230121Members
    Depending on how open the game is to modding, it may be possible to write a mod that would enable this. I know something similar to this idea was done with Kerbal Space Program. If the appropriate mod hooks are there, someone could write the mobile app and a helper program that would pass data between the mobile device and the mod.

    Ultimately it would be quite a bit of work, and while it would be cool to see it work from a technical standpoint, I'm not sure what the gameplay benefits would be.

    As far as a unique selling point, Nintendo has been experimenting with secondary screens like this since the Gamecube days. The dual screens on the 3DS and Wii U with the tablet screen are both more recent examples. It's a cool idea, but in practice it divides your attention between two screens so it doesn't really improve the gameplay experience outside of a few rare use cases.
  • tcupistcupis Join Date: 2017-06-12 Member: 231080Members
    I would have to disagree, the idea that you could have an IPad nearby to toggle controls would be a really handy feature. Being able to monitor stats and other data would be really unique and interesting.
  • WiirlakWiirlak Blaton Join Date: 2017-05-26 Member: 230772Members
    gamer1000k wrote: »
    Ultimately it would be quite a bit of work, and while it would be cool to see it work from a technical standpoint, I'm not sure what the gameplay benefits would be.
    That's my point of view too.
    gamer1000k wrote: »
    As far as a unique selling point, Nintendo has been experimenting with secondary screens like this since the Gamecube days. The dual screens on the 3DS and Wii U with the tablet screen are both more recent examples. It's a cool idea, but in practice it divides your attention between two screens so it doesn't really improve the gameplay experience outside of a few rare use cases.
    I have a Wii u and a lots of games dont use correctly both screens, making it an hassle.
    While some games did an awesome job, why ? The game was created from the beginning to work with both screens.
    This game is not.
  • tcupistcupis Join Date: 2017-06-12 Member: 231080Members
    But this is different to a Nintendo Wii U or DS, if you have ever used a remote app for an audio application then you would see the benefits
  • gamer1000kgamer1000k Join Date: 2017-04-29 Member: 230121Members
    tcupis wrote: »
    But this is different to a Nintendo Wii U or DS, if you have ever used a remote app for an audio application then you would see the benefits

    An audio application doesn't generally have fast-paced realtime survival gameplay where you need stay aware of your environment. Also, I'm assuming that the audio software generally uses a separate tablet as a virtual soundboard/mixer which makes sense to split off on a separate screen given the number of extra analog controls required.

    Subnautica and nearly all other games don't have anywhere near enough control complexity to make this worthwhile. I can see this being neat for something like a flight simulator where you can put a cockpit panel on a second screen or have it behave like a real life multifunction display, but the sub controls in Subnautica have been simplified enough that this really isn't necessary, although I will admit that it would be cool to play around with if someone did make a mod for this.
  • WiirlakWiirlak Blaton Join Date: 2017-05-26 Member: 230772Members
    as @gamer1000k said, a sim cockpit .. like star citizen, with high complexity having easy to read infos on a tablet and/or extra controls.
    But not subnautica.

    But maybe if anyone make a mod, I may give it a try.
  • EvilSmooEvilSmoo Join Date: 2008-02-16 Member: 63662Members
  • DragoWhoovesDragoWhooves UK Join Date: 2017-05-30 Member: 230836Members
    are you kinda talking like the fallout 4 pip-boy companion app?
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