Buttons (And the Things They Do)

Okay, we have to start thinking about how the player is going to control everything.

Right now, we have two buttons- left and right. These control the carriage's movement (and most likely the player's when they exit the vessel as well).

We are planning, so far, on having a few "positionable" parts- ones that the player can move with the cursor. These include the vacuum (used to suck up body parts/powerups, which then appear as icons in the fuel tank), the plow (which is the player's "hand," used to push shit around that needs pushing), and the spotlight (used to show machine gunners where to shoot).

[quick aside: powerups would be a good way to get screen-clearing explosions in the game]

[another quick aside: can we make it so the machine gunners can tell what is lit up and what isn't, Tom?]

What do we still need to have controls for?

1. The cannon. We could have it controlled by the mouse as well (repositioned by dragging with the cursor) and work in Chandon's "hold and release" idea, too: Hold down the mouse button (or another button, I suppose, like spacebar) to build up launching power, then release. Then we could do tricky stuff like using arcs of fire to shoot at bosses (so we could have the player aim at legs and other weak points).

However, because the cannon is a central control element, we should consider mapping it to the keyboard. It's unlikely the player would have to move the carriage and aim and fire the cannon both at once, so we could do something like use 'A' and 'D' to move the carriage, 'Q' and 'E' to turn the cannon, 'Spacebar' to fire the cannon, 'W' to jump (when the appropriate upgrade is unlocked), and 'S' to exit the carriage (unless you guys think this would get in the way too much). Then the player's free hand could be used to manipulate the other parts with the mouse.

2. The character (outside of the carriage). He needs to have big, big titties. Wait- I mean a control scheme. It should be as similar as possible to the carriage's. I suggest:
'A' and 'D' to move, 'W' to pick something up, 'S' to drop something, and 'Spacebar' to fire/interact (when near a character). The mouse could be used to reposition your tiny flashlight, perhaps.