Move around table using mouse alone while zoomed out?

[YorkyPudsy]

I'm noticing that (especially with the various tweaks recently) the game is pretty much entirely playable using just the mouse, without having to touch the keyboard. It's even nicer if your mouse software allows mapping the new Q+E keys to control cue angle & spin.

Except... when you zoom out the view (click MMB), I don't think it's possible to turn the camera (move the viewpoint left/right around the table) using the mouse alone? Mouse scroll wheel up/down does allow moving towards/away from the table, but I have to use A/D or cursor keys Left/Right to move around the table.

Am I missing some combination of mouse buttons? (because I didn't notice I could hold-LMB then click RMB to zoom in while aiming for quite a while!).

Or perhaps something could be added to allow the mouse to move the view left/right around the table while zoomed out? Although I appreciate the mouse already has a lot of carefully crafted functions mapped to it, so it could prove tricky to add anything else!

I suppose the obvious might be to allow hold-LMB & move the mouse to rotate the view, since you can't aim while zoomed out anyway. Perhaps just left/right or would that be weird? Up/down could move you in/out as well, but that would duplicate the mouse wheel function?

Although I note that eg. when the AI is taking it's turn, left-clicking brings up the menu. So that might not be possible in combination with the new feature where we can now click MMB to zoom out during AI or online opponent turns. But it's less important to be able to check precise shots/angles/etc. when your opponent is at the table. So maybe it would be sufficient if hold-LMB+move only worked during your own turn (or when the game is waiting for a response after a foul, now that we can move the view during that dialog).

Anyway, just some thoughts on a convenience feature from a lazy player :)

With a wireless mouse, it can make for more comfortable play if you can sit back & don't have to keep reaching for the keyboard. Especially if you are playing local multiplayer and/or on a big screen/TV, it's easier to just pass a mouse back & forth if everything can be done without the keyboard.

[Bulldog Interactive]

This is an interesting area and we're always supportive of mapping controls from keyboard to mouse where it makes sense. Possibly allowing LMB plus left/right movement during your own turn would be a quick way to rotate the view when zoomed out, with mouse wheel controlling in-out zoom. We can look at adding this for a future update for sure. Thanks for the idea :)

[YorkyPudsy]

Yeah, it shows that a lot of thought has gone into the mouse controls/mappings, so wouldn't want anything crammed in to ruin it for anyone.

Even something seemingly simple like RMB to back out one level of any menu/sub-menu (without hunting for a potentially tiny 'back' button) massively improves usability/accessibility, and is something that could benefit various other games where you spend a lot of time in nested menus & similar.

As an aside, beyond just the button mappings, it feels really nice shooting with the mouse in 'Manual' mode & you can develop a natural feel for the strength of your shots & the speed of the table too.

Thanks for looking into it anyway.

[Bulldog Interactive]

We have just added a small update with the LMB control added to rotate the table view when zoomed out in 3D mode. It seems to work quite well, happy to hear everyone's thoughts on this?

Yes, the RMB to go back a level in the menus was something we borrowed from the original Cue Club and really helps speed up navigation.

Pleased to hear the manual cueing method is working well for you. We know some players prefer a power bar and some prefer to push / pull with the mouse, so decided to offer both solutions.

[YorkyPudsy]

Had a very quick test & it's working great for me, thanks! :)

Hopefully other people find it as useful.

As an added bonus which I hadn't expected, you can move left/right slowly & precisely, or you can whip your mouse quickly to speed round the table way faster than was ever possible using the keyboard. So it's great for quickly checking a few different sight lines.

[Marcin2677]

Very good function, you can see situations quite quickly with the mouse, good work, guys, good ideas and implementation, that's what it's all about :)