Is there a expected set of button mappings games commonly use?

Posted by Scott Chamberlain on Game Development See other posts from Game Development or by Scott Chamberlain
Published on 2012-10-20T05:23:07Z Indexed on 2012/10/20 11:22 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 578

Filed under:

movement

|

controllers

|

user-experience

|

xbox-controller

I am making a game that will support a XBox 360 controller but I would like to try and keep the default button mappings to be what is expected from a user's past history from playing other games. Is there a set of guidelines from Microsoft on what should map to what (Do you use A for fire or left trigger?), or has the gaming community picked up a common set of controls that is just not written anywhere, everyone just "knows" it (like WASD for movement).

The hardest thing for me is I have walking movement, vehicle movement, and airplane movement. I plan on allowing custom configuration of each, but I don't know what to set as the defaults.

© Game Development or respective owner

Related posts about movement

Comparing a saved movement with other movement with Kinect

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
I need to develop an application where a user (physiotherapist) will perform a movement in front of the Kinect, I'll write the data movement in the database and then the patient will try to imitate this motion. The system will calculate the similarity between the movement recorded and executed. My… >>> More
Time based movement Vs Frame rate based movement?

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
Hello there, I'm new to Game programmming and SDL, and I have been following Lazyfoo's SDL tutorials. My question is related to time based motion and frame rate based motion, basically which is better or appropriate depending on situations?. Could you give me an example where each of these methods… >>> More
Top Down RPG Movement w/ Correction?

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
I would hope that we have all played Zelda: A Link to the Past, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I want to emulate that kind of 2D, top-down character movement with a touch of correction. It has been done in other games, but I feel this reference would be the easiest to relate to. More specifically… >>> More
How do i translate movement on the Canvas3D to movement in the virtual 3D world

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
My goal is to move a shape in the virtual world in such a way so that it ends up where the mouse pointer is on the canvas. What i have: -mouse position (x,y) on a Canvas3D object -Point3d object of where a pick ray starting from the Canvas3D viewport intersects with the first scene object. (point… >>> More
How to do 2d vector movement

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
my onscreen object has a var rotation (in degrees). how do i fix it so when i push up arrow it move forwards and not just x++ and y++? >>> More

Related posts about controllers

Move Domain Controllers Back To the "Domain Controllers" Container

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
All of our Domain Controllers were moved out of the "Domain Controllers" container. We would like to move them all back to the the default container, but are worried about the side-effects. I am looking for feedback - thanks. >>> More
Domain Controllers group not reflected in domain controllers credentials

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I set up a small testlab in vbox consisting of four servers. Two domain controllers dc01, dc02, one offline root ca and one online enterprise sub ca, ca01. All servers are based on Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard. Everything works as excpected except one thing. If I issue a certificate template… >>> More
How to Use an Xbox 360 Controller On Your Windows PC

as seen on How to geek - Search for 'How to geek'
The keyboard and mouse might be a good fit for many native computer games, but it feels downright weird to play emulated games that way. Whether you want to play Super Mario with a proper gamepad or try out a new PC title like Diablo III in comfort, we’ve got you covered. Today we’re taking a look… >>> More
Action button: only true once per press

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
I'm using SFML2.0 and am trying to make a wrapper class for my controller/joystick. I read all the input data from my controller and send it off to my controllable object. I want to have two types of buttons per button press, one that is continues(true false state ) and one that is an action and… >>> More
Is there a expected set of button mappings games commonly use?

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
I am making a game that will support a XBox 360 controller but I would like to try and keep the default button mappings to be what is expected from a user's past history from playing other games. Is there a set of guidelines from Microsoft on what should map to what (Do you use A for fire or left… >>> More