Amnesia Demo - No cursor visible while interacting with objects

[hiben]

As you may know if you read my - now rather embarrassing - post in the discussion forum:

Whenever there is interaction with objects (turn wheels, pick up chairs, ...) the cursor just disappears. This is only a problem when turning things as there is no feedback for how to turn further.

I already tried switching to lowest / highest quality levels but this did not change anything (BTW: the game still looks awesome on low quality )

I'm using drivers from NVIDIA on a GeForce 9500 GT on a 64 bit system.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Thomas]

Check options->game and see so "show cursor" is checked.

[hiben]

(04-25-2011 07:24 PM)Thomas Wrote:  Check options->game and see so "show cursor" is checked.

Hmm... there is no such option. The closest one is 'Show Crosshair' and that one is checked.

The funny thing is that I see a hand cursor when I can pickup an object. but as soon as I click the cursor vanishes (and comes back when I release the button).

[jens]

What you described is the intended behavior!

[hiben]

(04-26-2011 06:24 AM)jens Wrote:  What you described is the intended behavior!

ok, now I am confused...

I was complaining about this behaviour in the general discussion forum and there users told me that they see a cursor while interacting with objects. So I thought this would be some graphics issue...

My problem is that I am using a Trackball - well, that is not really my problem but it seems to be an 'incompatible' input device for Amnesia.
This Trackball is of the kind where you roll a large ball with your thumb while your fingers control the buttons. I can play FPS and other fast paced games very well with it - there is always the feedback loop that tells my thumb what to do next - in the good old observe-evaluate-plan-execute way.

The 'observe' state is kind of suboptimal in Amnesia because I can only observe something after I executed something...

Sorry for this half-rant... I am a HCI guy...

So what I get is: 'Deal with it!'/'Mouse or GTFO!'

[hiben]

I solved this the Linux way and wrote a small LD_PRELOAD SDL hack to bring back the OS cursor while clicking.

Maybe for the next game these kind of user interface decisions should have more choices on the user side. Just my two cents...

I guess I'll still buy Amnesia within the next hours even though I disagree with the UI... :-)

[Urkle]

Hmm. that's strange.. As I myself only use a trackball (logitech wireless trackman :-D) and have for > 12 years. Yes the "hand" disappears once I grab something (door, can, etc..) but I never had issues as the object I was interacting with moved with my mouse ball. And the behavior is the same whether you have a trackball, mouse, or touchpad.. So I believe it's more of an issue with the expectation of how the input works.

[hiben]

(04-27-2011 02:26 PM)Urkle Wrote:  Hmm. that's strange.. As I myself only use a trackball (logitech wireless trackman :-D) and have for > 12 years. Yes the "hand" disappears once I grab something (door, can, etc..) but I never had issues as the object I was interacting with moved with my mouse ball. And the behavior is the same whether you have a trackball, mouse, or touchpad.. So I believe it's more of an issue with the expectation of how the input works.

Maybe I'm just a nut...

What kind of Trackball is your device ? There are two variants, the one were you use your thumb on the ball (like mine) and the one were you use - I suppose - index and/or middle finger. Making the cursor go in a circle with my thumb is physically like 90° wrong... more like operating a fishing rod...

Maybe the thing that set me on the wrong track is that the first object you have to rotate in the game is the stuck wheel in the refinery... So my first lesson was: things you want to rotate do not rotate at all... when it was unstuck it took me ages to fiddle around with the rotation until it was open...
The interaction was very unintuitive for me... but maybe that is just me being me...

[Urkle]

My mouse is this baby right here.

[Tanshaydar]

Creepy.
That red ball looks like an eye, if it can be lit, then it's more scary.