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Thumby thing

Dynamic thumb gesture for touch screen video games
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Does any one play TinyWings, or WhaleTrail? I love those games. The lines you draw in your head when you play them are the same as when you dance, do action art, or play music. I call them (to myself), "swirly prediction lines", and i am sure that they are based on fluid dynamics and that there is a whole world of addectionados out there who have a shared language about these lines so that they can make cgi movies or come up with new games like these. in the games you touch the screen to exert a downward force and you untouch the screen to either stop exerting a force or to exert an upwards force. So it is like binary control of these swirles with timing being the complicating factor.

With all of these kind of games I find myself pressing too hard on the screen when I know that it is just a touch/not-touch that controls motion, but I can't seem to get out of the habit. It's like you really want the swirly line to be right so you press harder, knowing that the game is just hearing either yes I am touching the screen or no I am not touching the screen. So where are the games that give you a stronger downward force for the more of your finger-real-estate that is in contact with the screen? I would like to propose that ad a game feature.

JesusHChrist, Jul 29 2012


       I've not played those games but the problem is that most phones/touchscreen devices today have capacitive screens which cannot detect the amount of pressure. Resistive screens usually can - and it's a very useful feature for drawing. But usually this goes hand in hand with a less responsive feel to user interfaces; people dislike having to press hard just to flick through menus.   

       On many high-end tablet computers there are hybrid screens which have the best of both worlds, but until the technology filters down to casual devices there's just no market for games like this.
mitxela, Jul 29 2012

       //capacitive screens which cannot detect the amount of pressure// But, as [JHC] pointed out, pressing harder puts more of your finger in contact with the glass - can that not be detected?
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 31 2012


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