@shingi_70
Xbox One and PS4 have Smartglass and Vita, though. Any sort of second screen function that works on Wii U, would work on PS4 and Xbox One, as long as people have said device.
The Division isn't even going to be on Wii U, as far as we know, and it has a second screen feature.
Well I mostly mean very gameplay heavy items. A third party game like Nintendo land would be harder to do than simple HUD information.
I know, but there are still things Smartglass and Vita can do. They don't have as advanced as motion controls, but PS Vita still has its own processor and the screen is still near the buttons. A tablet would be missing the buttons, but still probably fit under the same motion capabilities as Vita.
FWIW, it's rumored that Nintendo is heading for support of multiple GamePads on the Wii U. I don't know if that would be a feature that lots of people will use, since the prices I've seen for that upcoming separate GamePad are high. Getting a separate Wiimote would be very cheap in comparison, and anyone upgrading from Wii would have Wiimotes. And there are also games using both the GamePad and the Wiimote as a combo (such as Wii U Sports Golf) you might want to study.
The Wii U port of "Stick it to the Man" had a simple but nicely implemented GamePad feature, where the gaming mode switched when the GamePad was held horizontally compared to vertically. That was just an extension of the "old" button interface of the game, where the other game mode is accessed by holding down the L key. It wouldn't make sense in all games, but perhaps that could be an idea to build on for your own games?
Both "Pikmin 3" and "Lego City: Undercover" use similar user interfaces for the GamePad ("LC:Undercover" goes further in its implementation than "Pikmin 3"), where they use it as a communication device, map, inventory list and so on. When the GamePad is used as a communication or scanning device, the sound going to the GamePad is difference to the sound in the game on the TV. This might be overkill for a small studio, but the important thing here is that even when the GamePad functions quite different from the TV it's never required to keep track of both the GamePad and the TV at the same time in any of those 2 games. That's part of why their GamePad playing experience becomes so great.
With the stick it to the man example, (without having played it / just going by your description) it sounds like it doesn't take advantage of the analogue nature of the movement. If you swap a light switch for a dimmer, but then the dimmer just has two settings (on and off), you've just complicated something for no reason. Reading up on what other, successful motion controlled games have done, their designers all say to avoid the two-state, on/off button analogy. There's a whole spectrum of movement, and your game should be using that. (ref: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/203365/harnessing_the_p... )
The lego city: undercover stuff is great, and definitely the right direction. But way too complex for any indie to ever pull off professionally / make work and still have a good user-experience.
Conversely, the maps and inventory stuff is dead easy to implement (at least in Unity). I'd disagree though about being required to keep track of both TV and gamepad simultaneously. Obviously, you can't watch both at the same time, nor be forced to transition between them in rapid succession.
But, taking the maps idea. In game, you work your way into a spot where you're safe, and can spend a moment to check the map on the other screen. I.e. you've purposely put yourself in the position where you can concentrate on just one screen for as long as you like. However, at that point, you might as well just have a single screen, have that switch to a full screen map view. And that's not a new trick. It's been done by single screen games since forever.
Or maybe you're never quite 100% safe, and that creates the tension. By getting the player to physically move their eyes to a second screen, it feels a little more realistic, because just as in real life, you can glance up quickly if you see something coming. But single screen games get around that by having the map not entirely cover your view. You still have the peripheral vision. So second screen maps are a marginal gain at best. You're not going to sell a whole game on that being the "hook".
The game should be about the interplay between screens and how the player switches their attention between them. It's getting the middle ground. I'll give you an examples of a game idea I had to try and work that:
You're a spider. Spiders have eyes in the backs of their heads, so one screen shows your vision looking up into the sky to spot airborne predators, and the other, down at the ground beneath you to spot food or cracks in the rock you can hide in. To move forward though, you need to see ahead of you. So you turn the gamepad screen to point towards the TV to simulate moving your head (rotated 90 degrees around the y-axis. Or held like a shotgun pointing at the TV). You can then, on the TV, see half ground and half sky (just like a normal FPS view). But since the gamepad is side-on, you can't see the behind-you view on it. That makes movement risky, because you can only see half the world. But standing still makes you easier to get picked off by flying enemies. Or sometimes you need to perform actions looking straight at the ground / while not moving, but you can see the predators circling above you when you glance at the other screen / in your peripheral vision, and you have to hold your nerve.
There are a few problems though. Firstly, it's really hard to describe in words. Probably half or more of the people who just read that description will be like "erm what....?" Secondly, it still to an extent requires that rapid switching between screens, or holding the gamepad at funny angles and swishing it about (which invariably leads to it getting dropped). Thirdly, it's taking the map-tension idea to the next level, but it's still pretty novelty feature.
The real solution though probably lies in just trying some of these ideas. Just doing a game jam session one weekend to see if that idea above works, or something unexpected comes out of that.
With the stick it to the man example, (without having played it / just going by your description) it sounds like it doesn't take advantage of the analogue nature of the movement. If you swap a light switch for a dimmer, but then the dimmer just has two settings (on and off), you've just complicated something for no reason. Reading up on what other, successful motion controlled games have done, their designers all say to avoid the two-state, on/off button analogy. There's a whole spectrum of movement, and your game should be using that. (ref: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/203365/harnessing_the_p... )
Stick it to the Man actually use the analogue spectrum of the GamePad in the "scanning mode", but not when the GamePad lie flat in the "map mode".
Conversely, the maps and inventory stuff is dead easy to implement (at least in Unity). I'd disagree though about being required to keep track of both TV and gamepad simultaneously. Obviously, you can't watch both at the same time, nor be forced to transition between them in rapid succession.
But, taking the maps idea. In game, you work your way into a spot where you're safe, and can spend a moment to check the map on the other screen. I.e. you've purposely put yourself in the position where you can concentrate on just one screen for as long as you like. However, at that point, you might as well just have a single screen, have that switch to a full screen map view. And that's not a new trick. It's been done by single screen games since forever.
Or maybe you're never quite 100% safe, and that creates the tension. By getting the player to physically move their eyes to a second screen, it feels a little more realistic, because just as in real life, you can glance up quickly if you see something coming. But single screen games get around that by having the map not entirely cover your view. You still have the peripheral vision. So second screen maps are a marginal gain at best. You're not going to sell a whole game on that being the "hook".
A map on a second screen is perhaps not a selling point, but to me it's almost a requirement for a "well-designed" Wii U game. The map in Pikmin 3 is also a tool for directing the "troops", not just a visible map.
In a game like Stick it to the Man, which has both a GamePad map and the primary-screen-toggle version of the map (such as when using a Pro Controller), I personally think the the GamePad map solution is much much better.
I personally don't like when games put the map (or non-vital score info or icons) on the primary screen (even if it is just in a corner). A clutter-free game screen where only the gameplay appears is a huge gain to me.
The game should be about the interplay between screens and how the player switches their attention between them. It's getting the middle ground. I'll give you an examples of a game idea I had to try and work that:
You're a spider. Spiders have eyes in the backs of their heads, so one screen shows your vision looking up into the sky to spot airborne predators, and the other, down at the ground beneath you to spot food or cracks in the rock you can hide in. To move forward though, you need to see ahead of you. So you turn the gamepad screen to point towards the TV to simulate moving your head (rotated 90 degrees around the y-axis. Or held like a shotgun pointing at the TV). You can then, on the TV, see half ground and half sky (just like a normal FPS view). But since the gamepad is side-on, you can't see the behind-you view on it. That makes movement risky, because you can only see half the world. But standing still makes you easier to get picked off by flying enemies. Or sometimes you need to perform actions looking straight at the ground / while not moving, but you can see the predators circling above you when you glance at the other screen / in your peripheral vision, and you have to hold your nerve.
There are a few problems though. Firstly, it's really hard to describe in words. Probably half or more of the people who just read that description will be like "erm what....?" Secondly, it still to an extent requires that rapid switching between screens, or holding the gamepad at funny angles and swishing it about (which invariably leads to it getting dropped). Thirdly, it's taking the map-tension idea to the next level, but it's still pretty novelty feature.
What you describe sounds a lot like the scanning mode in LC:Undercover and some game play mode in Wind Waker (it was a while since I played that game now, but I remember moving the GamePad around a lot at some stages).
Btw, for potential GamePad ideas for your game, I think NintendoLand and Game & Wario have the most of them.
Yeah, I had NintendoLand pretty much top of my list of games to try for seeing how the gamepad works. I think for maps, obviously better to use the second screen when available, just that it isn't an especially revolutionary idea.
Yeah, I had NintendoLand pretty much top of my list of games to try for seeing how the gamepad works. I think for maps, obviously better to use the second screen when available, just that it isn't an especially revolutionary idea.
If you have actual friends/family who enjoys gaming, Nintendo Land is a freaking blast. Get a group of 5 and you'll see yourself screaming and yelling
Only one? 3DS. TONS of awesome games. Although the Wii U has some pretty awesome first-party support as well (along with a few great Ubisoft titles and the best version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate).
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
Yeah, I had NintendoLand pretty much top of my list of games to try for seeing how the gamepad works. I think for maps, obviously better to use the second screen when available, just that it isn't an especially revolutionary idea.
If you have actual friends/family who enjoys gaming, Nintendo Land is a freaking blast. Get a group of 5 and you'll see yourself screaming and yelling
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