04-10-2006, 02:02 PM
While everyone would like to play Warcraft on a screen that big or try out voice recognition with video games, I was not very impressed by that demo. All they had was a touch pad tied into the mouse input and a few basic voice commands tied into keyboard inputs.
For example, it looked like they had "attack" tied into the "A" key, "build" tied into "B," "farm" tied into "F," etc. All the unit labeling and control is built into Warcraft 3, they just added some voice commands. Really it looked like they were using War3's nice interface to make it look like they had accomplished more than they had.
Sure the touch interface was well done, but I don't see any advantage over a mouse for an RTS game. The special selection technique demonstrated is also built into War3 and is very easy to use with a mouse, IMHO.
Where touch interfaces shine is where the environment or workspace is not keyboard/mouse-friendly, and where you need a simple system that's easy to use (like the self-checkout lanes popping up in grocery stores). Gamers and techies need more buttons, not less. I still miss my Top Gun joystick with 50 different triggers and doodads!
For example, it looked like they had "attack" tied into the "A" key, "build" tied into "B," "farm" tied into "F," etc. All the unit labeling and control is built into Warcraft 3, they just added some voice commands. Really it looked like they were using War3's nice interface to make it look like they had accomplished more than they had.
Sure the touch interface was well done, but I don't see any advantage over a mouse for an RTS game. The special selection technique demonstrated is also built into War3 and is very easy to use with a mouse, IMHO.
Where touch interfaces shine is where the environment or workspace is not keyboard/mouse-friendly, and where you need a simple system that's easy to use (like the self-checkout lanes popping up in grocery stores). Gamers and techies need more buttons, not less. I still miss my Top Gun joystick with 50 different triggers and doodads!