A2 Movement Handling

[BMA]

Having played A3 and BoA, I had downloaded A2 & had begun playing it. To my deep disappointment, the movement controls for the keyboard (the arrow keys) were different from the ones I was used to.

 

To be precise, my party moved in perpendicular to the directions in BoA. You can use the mouse of course, but it's not as comfortable as the keyboard.Does anyone know how to work around this problem / can it be changed in the game settings?

 

(PS : I'm on a Windows, though I doubt that matters)

[BMA]

hey, isn't there anybody here who has tried out both the games ?

 

Please help, I really want to play it.

[Jerakeen]

It must be a Windows thing; in the Mac version, movement is the same in all three of the first trilogy and BoA: 1,3,7 and 9 move you in the cardinal directions (toward the corners of the window) and 2, 4, 6 and 8 move you toward the sides of the window. The arrow keys will also move you in the cardinal directions.

 

There doesn't seem to be a way to change that in the settings, sorry.

[BMA]

Thats the thing; I don't move to the corners, but to the sides. It makes movement difficult, as with the isometric game setup the doors are located in the directions pointing to the corners.

 

Thanks anyway.I guess I'll wait for the Windows remake.

[Earth]

it'll be a while until A2 gets remake, if Avadon 2 (mac) comes out for xmas then Avernum 2 (mac) might be out xmas after that so 1.5 years for mac and Windows version comes few months later so 2ish years.

[BMA]

I do hope not, 2 years is eons ahead. You've no idea how frustrating it is to see all these screenshots & videos, and dicussions going on in the forums but not being able to play the game.

SW should have put more effort into ensuring the release dates of the Win & Mac coincide. Or at least that the difference doesn't exceed a month or two. Then we would all play the game together, and everyone is happy. What's happening now is the Win users are always left feeling secondly-placed. The more so because, in the forums everyone is clubbed together irrespective of the OS.

 

Windower: "Hurray! The new version is out! Can't wait to play!"

Maccie: "Huh? But the new version only gets released next month."

Windower: "Actually, I was referring to Avernum One."

Maccie: "Oh, that.But of course, you're on a Windows (sympathetic expression).Well, happy playing and all, but let me tell you that Avernum One is nothing compared to Avernum Three Hundred And Fifty Five, which I just finished yesterday.In fact, why don't you take a look at the screenshots...........?"

Windower: (starts to cry)

 

Forgive the exaggeration, but you get the idea.

[Randomizer]

It takes 4 months to beta test the Mac version, then it's now the iPad version starting after Jeff gets to hear how regular players feel about the game. About a month after the iPad version starts testing, then the Windows version starts testing. At least it takes less time to test the iPad and Windows versions to make sure no error have crept in that only occur on their operating systems.

[The Mystic]

What Randomizer said. And actually, despite being a Windows user, I don't mind the wait too much.

 

The way I understand the process, the vast majority of bugs are found and taken care of thanks to Mac beta testers. Therefore, by the time Jeff ports the game for us Windows users, the code should be a lot less buggy, making things easier (at least in theory) for the Windows beta testers.

[BMA]

Of course, I didn't mean to sound grouchy. Its not that I dislike SW (far from it), its just that I love the games too much and I'm a big fan. And I was, um, temporarily unhinged to hear that we would have to wait 2 years.

[Earth]

2 years is minimum if no big problems encountered, if Jeff makes Avadon 3 after Avadon 2 then its at least 3 years (if no etc).

[Slawbug]

2 years is the most likely wait. There have been times that Jeff has released games a bit faster. In particular, Avernum and Avernum 2 both came out in 2000, if I have my dates right.

[Randomizer]

The time between games will probably be a little shorter since both Avadon 2 and Avernum: Crystal Souls will be using game engines that exist and won't need as much programming to create and test unlike Avadon and Avernum: Escape from the Pit. Also most of the scripts for Avernum: Crystal Souls already exist for the dialog.

 

I can see the next game coming out in late November instead of December for the Mac version.

[Tyranicus]

The Windows versions of the original trilogy do indeed have diagonal movement with the arrow keys. If you have a keyboard with a numpad, you can use that to moved in all eight directions. If not, you can buy a fairly inexpensive USB numpad or use the mouse to move.

[BMA]

Thanks. My keyboard does have a numpad, and I've got used to using it instead of the arrow keys (using the mouse is too boring - one of the reasons i like the games so much is that you can almost entirely rely on the keyboard).