Dev - Looking for Controls Feedback

[Stone Golem Studios]

Hey everyone!

I'm the dev of Chronomon and wanted to pop in because I saw a pattern in the reviews about the controls being subpar and have to admit, this is my first time developing for controllers.

The last time I really played a game with controllers (like really played) were the Gamecube days lol. So a bit rusty. In my off time, I'll be testing out more popular 2d titles but wanted to hear from all of you

The reviews were totally fair and I want to improve it! I’m digging in now to study and improve things, but I’d love to hear specifics from anyone who felt the controls were off.

Was it movement? Combat?

Gamepad layout?

Too floaty or stiff?

UI definently needs work but how exactly?

Anything helps, really. I just want to make it better. So if you’ve got thoughts, suggestions, or even comparisons to other games that felt right, I’m all ears.

It’s just me behind the scenes, but I’ll be working my fastest to give Chronomon a solid polish and get these updates out to you!

Appreciate anyone willing to chime in!

[Ladydias]

If you want games with good controller support and also in this genre, Stardew Valley is good. Nexomon also has good controls. Song of the Prairie gets a nod for assigning farm tools to a dedicated wheel instead of forcing you to put it on a hotbar. And Harvest Moon games have smart auto tool use so you aren't required to equip them to the hotbar either.

The UI needs better scaling. For example, I play on a Lenovo Legion Go which has a large screen for a handheld but the icons are still small.

Also, when you select things, the dark brown is a bad choice. It's the equivalent of graying out a button on a PC selection. It tells my brain that what I'm selecting is not valid.

Moving items from your inventory to the chest can be a little confusing.

And I cannot stress enough how much A should be confirmation instead of B.

Thank you for being transparent and taking feedback. I can tell that you put your heart into this game which is why I want to see it grow and improve. This game is loaded with good ideas.

PS, you should probably pin this thread to the top to gather feedback more efficiently.

[Stone Golem Studios]

Thank you Ladydias!

'A' will absolutely be changed, this was by far the largest concern. as well as making sure handheld PCs get the scaling that mobile gets (about x1.5 bigger).

Pinning as well, great suggestion. New to steam development so this is much apprecreciated =) I'll try and have controllers fixed in the coming week!

Originally posted by Ladydias:

If you want games with good controller support and also in this genre, Stardew Valley is good. Nexomon also has good controls. Song of the Prairie gets a nod for assigning farm tools to a dedicated wheel instead of forcing you to put it on a hotbar. And Harvest Moon games have smart auto tool use so you aren't required to equip them to the hotbar either.

The UI needs better scaling. For example, I play on a Lenovo Legion Go which has a large screen for a handheld but the icons are still small.

Also, when you select things, the dark brown is a bad choice. It's the equivalent of graying out a button on a PC selection. It tells my brain that what I'm selecting is not valid.

Moving items from your inventory to the chest can be a little confusing.

And I cannot stress enough how much A should be confirmation instead of B.

Thank you for being transparent and taking feedback. I can tell that you put your heart into this game which is why I want to see it grow and improve. This game is loaded with good ideas.

PS, you should probably pin this thread to the top to gather feedback more efficiently.

[Grandpa Dynamo]

Please allow us to remap controls. I've tried with a keyboard and mouse and a controller and don't like the way the game plays with hard set controls. I just want to be able to set controls to what I'm use to using.

[Stone Golem Studios]

Originally posted by Grandpa Dynamo:

Please allow us to remap controls. I've tried with a keyboard and mouse and a controller and don't like the way the game plays with hard set controls. I just want to be able to set controls to what I'm use to using.

Thanks Dynamo! I have it here on the list as well!

I know the controller needs work, what specifically did you not like about the keyboard/mouse setup that I can improve on? If nothing specific and just wanted remapping, you got it. (as soon as I can of course)

[Floof_McDweeb]

I'm finding movement to be *very* jerky. Kinda like bunny-hopping without being able to jump if that makes sense

[Stone Golem Studios]

Originally posted by Floof_McDweeb:

I'm finding movement to be *very* jerky. Kinda like bunny-hopping without being able to jump if that makes sense

Do you think it's because the movement is tile based? Or something else? I was trying to stay true to form (original pokemon, dragon quest etc). I think modern gamers really want free movevment tbh haha

[Nightshade]

is there going to be some way to interact in chat? having to use a mouse for just that is kind of tedious. a simple up/down interact option would go a long way as well.

[Stone Golem Studios]

Absolutely. I'll have that in for sure.

Originally posted by Nightshade:

is there going to be some way to interact in chat? having to use a mouse for just that is kind of tedious. a simple up/down interact option would go a long way as well.

[Grandpa Dynamo]

Originally posted by Stone Golem Studios:

Originally posted by Grandpa Dynamo:

Please allow us to remap controls. I've tried with a keyboard and mouse and a controller and don't like the way the game plays with hard set controls. I just want to be able to set controls to what I'm use to using.

Thanks Dynamo! I have it here on the list as well!

I know the controller needs work, what specifically did you not like about the keyboard/mouse setup that I can improve on? If nothing specific and just wanted remapping, you got it. (as soon as I can of course)

I'd have to look over controls again. Most games I play it's either E or F to interact with something and Space is used for jumping. Using space to interact is strange to me.

With a controller and being tiled based not having 8 way directional movement makes using a toggle a pain in my opinion. On keyboard and mouse it's not bad because you don't have the full ROM that a toggle has and it makes sense.

[Grandpa Dynamo]

Do you have a timeline for allowing control remapping? I keep checking daily with the updates for it and I'm eagerly awaiting it. I know you have a lot on your plate with this.

[Stone Golem Studios]

There is a rough timeline schedule for control work, I wanted to fix all of the major bugs first then hop over to controls and UI work (since it def is a detractor from the game).

I'll very likely be working on it this week, all the bug reports coming in now seem to be smaller ones.

So far I have change interact to south button, remapping and redo menu navigation. Let me know if i'm missing anything else and i'll get it in.

Thank you for being patient with me!

Originally posted by Grandpa Dynamo:

Do you have a timeline for allowing control remapping? I keep checking daily with the updates for it and I'm eagerly awaiting it. I know you have a lot on your plate with this.