Idea: Auto-display of default controls for DOS games \ VOGONS

Idea: Auto-display of default controls for DOS games

Topic actions

First post, by iiiirrrrqqqq

Posted on 2015-03-14, 17:29

iiiirrrrqqqq Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: 2015-03-14, 17:21

MAME has control-panel images associated with each game that can automatically show you the controls before and/or during play.

PC games, more than any other system, desperately need this.

If you're lucky a splash screen will tell you the controls, more often you'll have to check in the 'config' menu then try to remember, at worst you have to Google for pdf manuals to learn that "Insert=up, DEL=down, F=Fire". It’s not a big deal to do for just a handful of your favorite games, but if you want to explore and discover lots of titles, it can really drain the fun out it.

My programming/Dos-Frontends knowledge is too crude to lead a project like this, but if any person/group took this on I’d gladly volunteer to keep chipping away at making the corresponding “controls” images.

Thoughts?

Last edited by iiiirrrrqqqq on 2015-03-16, 22:51. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 3, by leileilol

Posted on 2015-03-14, 22:47

leileilol Offline

Rank l33t++

Rank: l33t++
Posts: 12382
Joined: 2006-12-16, 18:03

DOS games doesn't work like MAME drivers. I can't see how this can work in DOSBox itself.

The best is just to use a frontend and have your control reference cards scanned added with their profile images.

long live PCem

Reply 2 of 3, by iiiirrrrqqqq

Posted on 2015-03-15, 13:09

iiiirrrrqqqq Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: 2015-03-14, 17:21

True, I was assuming it would be done for a frontend. There are already some nice sets of 700+ DOS games with artwork and history attached to each. Even without the secondary display idea, it would be great to have easily accessible references handy to glance at before opening the game....
Convenience is the goal. It seems a shame that there are currently multiple ways to automatically display e.g. an Atari 2600 game’s box art on a secondary monitor, but DOS controls, which are badly needed, are scattered across menus / the internet, which is a barrier to checking out DOS games en masse.