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AudioGames.net Forum → General Game Discussion → The role of the mouse in audio games.
Hi there,
I am currently researching the roll of the mouse as an input device in audio games. I would appreciate any input on the subject.
Do you prefer mouse or keyboard input during your audio games, and why?
Is your preference genre based?
Is the mouse used often in audio games according to your experience?
What, in your opinion, can mouse input add to audio games if it was used more often?
Thank you for your answer,
Brian, author of the mouse driven "sightless" experimental audio game.
i honestly don't really like the mouse in audio games (perhaps because i used a laptop for so long which had a really bad mouse, though). there's this screen on laptops, but i disabled it is for it was rather annoying. i had to use the mouse with a little thing that could be moved near the h key.
problem too is with the mouse you can click on things that you don't want to click on. I'd preferably want mouse support to be either optional or at least a way to play with the keyboard. at least complex games wise. some simple games like 'ratjeprak' I've got no trouble with but yeah, I'm going to have to get used to mice.
I much prefer using a keyboard. I am totally blind and thus far have no true use for a mouse. My viewpoint is that since there's almost nothing you can't do with a keyboard, then there's really no reason that a mouse is 100 percent necessary for an audio game if you know how to interface it correctly.
hi,
i am personally a keyboard kinda guy.
i've always had a certain prejadis against the mouse, as my experiences with it is that it normally when nudged ever so slightly takes me away from what i am doing.
another problem is that it isn't compatable with my screen-reader window-eyes and so i only see it as really the sighted person's prefference.
however, i do know of one small game that uses the mouse, the mouse targetting demo by alchemy games studios.
just go to
www.alchemygamestudios.com
i have tried it, as a game i don't really like it as it is hard to target with the mouse as it is tempremental, and my mouse is in the habbit of whenever a zombie comes towards me i try to target and i'm suddenely transported to my desktop while the zombie kills me.
best regards
hh
Well, as everyone has already said, the mouse for general Pc use is a fairly major no no.
However, I can see it having possibilities in games, sinse it offers a much finer level of control than the keyboard (it has been used apparently in main stream fps and sim games for a long while for this reason).
However, it is more difficult to opperate in most situations, whether menues or a game itself.
Personally, while my mouse has actually been completely out of batteries for the past year, simply because I didn't use the thing, but sinse more audio games are taking advantage of it, I'll certainly be dusting it off again.
As far as mice go, it'll be interesting to see what Rale racer does with the mouse, sinse that's shaping up to be an extremely major commercial audio game, and the developer has already stated that even though keyboard support is optional, mouse control is heavily recommended. for more info see the blind adrenaline site
I think the mouse is great. if a game is coded correctly, there is no problem with windows being clicked on. Judgment day has mouse support for the game portion of it. And I thin kit really adds a lot to the game. For some reason, it seems to be more exciting if you can move your hand and line up shots. I'm not sure why, but I feel liek I get more of an adrenaline rush by actually moving something around while playing a game. I would be interested to see if intendo Wii gamers receive more stimuli from using a device they can move. Maybe someone will do one of those professional studys.
Hi there, and thank you for all of your answers, you helped me out. Here you have a long post with lots of answers to answers. 
i honestly don't really like the mouse in audio games (perhaps because i used a laptop for so long which had a really bad mouse, though). there's this screen on laptops, but i disabled it is for it was rather annoying. i had to use the mouse with a little thing that could be moved near the h key.
Even sighted people hate those little things near the h. I haven't seen a single modern laptop that still uses them and most of them are frustrated by the touch pad mouses as well.
Problem too is with the mouse you can click on things that you don't want to click on.
That is not really a problem. As Liam pointed out, if the game is coded properly there is no way to click on things that close or exit the game by accident. And the real power in audio games with mouse input is in the analogue movement, not in the clicking.
My viewpoint is that since there's almost nothing you can't do with a keyboard, then there's really no reason that a mouse is 100 percent necessary for an audio game if you know how to interface it correctly.
You are right that everything can indeed be done with a keyboard in theory. Interfaces and gameplay can be so simplified that you could in theory build complex games that use only one button. But it greatly reduces the speed and flow of the game. Some games simply don't need it, but I think there are ways to enchant the gameplay of audio games greatly by using the mouse.
Examples:
dark empathy points out the analogue use of the mouse:
However, I can see it having possibilities in games, sinse it offers a much finer level of control than the keyboard (it has been used apparently in main stream fps and sim games for a long while for this reason).
The difference in speed (there were the keyboard keys only have one speed) can greatly increase gameplay possibility's.
Liam points out an important second use of the mouse:
For some reason, it seems to be more exciting if you can move your hand and line up shots. I'm not sure why, but I feel like I get more of an adrenaline rush by actually moving something around while playing a game.
This is what game designers call "Immersion" or "Suspension of disbelief." (My game design teachers love those terms). It's a hot issue in game design and it's simply about the fact that if the player feels as if he is actually there, it will increase adrenaline because it tricks the mind into believing you are actually in a dangerous or exiting situation.
I
I personally agree with you Brian, I like the mouse, too. I like both, keyboard and mouse but in some
situations, you can be faster with a mouse in an audiogame than with a keyboard.
Most blind people seem to have a closed-mind to most things which seem to be geared specifically towards sighted people (mice, for instance). I don't think they realize how the mouse works - all most games can detect is how fast the ball is being spun, so something like judgment day pays attention to how fast you are moving it and in which direction it is going rather than where it is on the screen (like Liam said the cursor can be turned off). I think mice in audiogames is a great idea - I find it more satisfying to use the mouse in Judgment Day. I think the mouse can simulate the feeling of movement (targeting and aiming) a lot better than a keyboard since you can actually feel the mouse move in relation to your desk or the mousepad (which may make it easier for some people to picture what their character is doing in the virtual world).
Hmmm Brian, I'm highly interested in the immertian question. As just about all of my gaming up until a year ago was on consoles, by far my favourite games playing device (especially in Mortal Kombat and similar beat em ups), is a good arcade joystick that can take the appropriate amounts of hammer!
So I do very much take the point about mouse immertian in games, and I think I'll go and buy batteries for it today!
I do think ConspiraZ has a point (though I probably wouldn't have put it like that), adapting to different game devices is a learning process. When I started gaming on the Pc, I found using the keyboard to play games rather difficult, and there are stil games (like beat em ups), that I find I simply cannot play with it. Therefore I think people need to use a litle persistance here.
Btw,As I said Rale racer is going to feature heavy use of the mouse, and on the options menue of the game is a setting to play with your mouse's sensativity, ---- perfect for people with cluttered desks.
i agree with andy. I'm used to the keyboard. I like playing with keyboards. i might play with a mouse sometimes but i agree that mice should be optional, or for a game that uses the mouse keyboards should be optional as well. i might switch to mouse but yeah right now it is true that if it is slightly nudged it moves, although this can probably be changed.
the thing I'm concerned about is the reflexes. i mean. for example in super liam. can you shoot as fast as you can when clicking the momuse button as using the control key to fire, it doesn't support mouse but any of those examples. my reflexes on keyboards are rather bad already, actually - at least i have seen people who could bring out a burst of laser shots in sl. but how about the mouse? will you be able to shoot as often? this is important in games like sl and the troopanum land your ship bonus round for example.
A mouse button is in no way different than a keyboard button (appart from its size.) So yeah, you will be able to click as fast as you can push the left Ctrl key.
I have mixed feelings about it
I do half to agree with liam and that guy who I think his name was james
that the mouse is sometimes good thing to have in an audio game, but sometimes I try to turn the mouse but my curser doesn't go with it
so mice in audio games?, I think should exist, but should at all times be optional
Hi,
Next week a new bunch of Experimental Audio Games will be available for free download from the Experimental Audio Games section. Several, like Underwater (read this forum thread for more information on Underwater), feature a mouse (only) interface. More news about that later!
Greets,
Richard
Great! I'll look forward to it. My mouse has now been gifted with working batteries, so I'll be able to try my mouse out properly and give some feedback.
Yeah, I might even name those experimental games in my research, if they are better than what we produced when our class tried. 
Hey, now that you mention it, it depends on the type of keyboard. I tested it on a laptop keyboard, and you don't have to push the keys that far on them. I clicked roughly the same times as that I pushed.
But in most sighted games this will not make a difference as there is a delay time in which you can't shoot after your last shot. I am surprised two audio games seem to be missing this delay, it's quite a basic game design protocol, but I guess it works well on both games. (I only tested it on Super Liam though.)
Yes, I've noticed the rate of attack etc thing in main stream games myself, and there have even been situations, ----- as in the Dile-a combos of Mk games, that I've found I've had to slow my fingers down to allow the game time to catch up.
For Pipe2 and superliam though, I love the fast firing method. I didn't actually realize until I heard Raul gillegos walkthroughs of the game, just how fast you could swing the hammer, and the only way I found to get that speed myself was by using both ctrl keys.
well... i tried using them at once and it actually went slower for me... well audioQuake does have them but yeah that's based on real quake as well. i can notice it in shades of doom (but automatic weapons shouldn't have any reload time), shown with the nailgun/supernailgun in aq.
I can't speak for Audio quake, but I believe in shades the weapons various rate's of fire were fairly carefully regulated, ------ or otherwise what would be the point to the automatic and semi-automatic bolt guns (you could just hammer Ctrl with the normal one).
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