WITP-AE on touch-screen?

[BBfanboy]

I am considering buying a laptop and have been impressed with the quality of touch-screens these days.
Has anyone tried to play the game on a touch screen laptop or tablet? My concern is whether it is too hard to select things with a finger touch when there are, for example, multiple TFs in a hex. I know you can expand the view of the hex but that seems like a PITA to do frequently.
What about scrolling the screen - arrow keys only?

I am quite willing to use a mini-mouse connected by RF plug-in (have one on my PC now) when I have a surface to mouse on, but thought the touch screen would help when traveling.

[wdolson]

I'm not sure how to do a right click with a touch screen. You also can get a lot of information hovering the mouse over something.

I'm not sure if a touchscreen would work at all, and if it did, it would probably limit what you can do.

Bill

[Yaab]

With a standard screen you use a mouse.

With a touch screen you need a cat.

[oaltinyay]

Tried it on a Yoga, the screen size is the key - even for small guy with with small hands like me it's very difficult. U constantly zoom in and out using the win10 functionality.

Nothing beats a large 27 inch , 2880 pixel wide screen. U can see all the way from Tokyo to Borneo (almost )

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

I'm not sure how to do a right click with a touch screen. You also can get a lot of information hovering the mouse over something.

I'm not sure if a touchscreen would work at all, and if it did, it would probably limit what you can do.

Bill

Right-click is touch and hold until the right-click kicks in (avoid the tendency to press too hard!). I've never sorted out how to do a mouse-over.

[HansBolter]

Touch screens....truly a backward step in human/computer interfaces!

Can't wait for someone to try to develop a touch screen interface for CAD drafting.......

I'd rather go back to pencils, triangles and T-squares.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

I'm not sure how to do a right click with a touch screen. You also can get a lot of information hovering the mouse over something.

I'm not sure if a touchscreen would work at all, and if it did, it would probably limit what you can do.

Bill

Will it purr if I touch the right spot? [;)]

[Yaab]

ORIGINAL: oaltinyay

Tried it on a Yoga, the screen size is the key - even for small guy with with small hands like me it's very difficult. U constantly zoom in and out using the win10 functionality.

Nothing beats a large 27 inch , 2880 pixel wide screen. U can see all the way from Tokyo to Borneo (almost )

There should be dedicated tablets like Hitachi Chrysantemum or Sony Arisaka for this game. Olive drab color, heavy-duty, cooled with salt water and can go into saving mode unitl year 2073 when the last Japanese side PBEM player surrenders on some god-forsaken island...

[Korvar]

I haven't played WITPAE on a touch screen device, but a few thoughts come to mind:

1. Of course, make sure the tablet is running an operating system that WITPAE supports. No Android, Windows RT, etc. Make sure that it has enough graphics memory (more applicable to older tablets, but double check anyway). The above applies primarily to tablets, but the double-check is valid for laptops as well.

2. Get a model that has good stylus support. That means a stylus that is comfortable and there is good responsiveness and accuracy with it on the screen (see #4). The stylus will be your true mouse replacement. Don't count on being able to use finger touch to perform all functions.

3. Related to the above, write out a specific POU (purpose of use). Technology aside, what are you expectations for how you will be able to use this device? Do you expect to almost never have to use an external keyboard/mouse? What kind of battery life do you need? Where do you intend to use it most (airplane? hotel room? coffee shops?) It's not that these expectations will be set in stone (unfortunately, individual desires don't dictate what technology is capable of), but it will at least make it clear to yourself what you prioritize most in a game of compromises. And believe me, even the best equipment will involve compromises; it just depends to what degree and if you're willing to live with them given the specific benefits the device provides weighed against the money spent to acquire it.

4. By all means test out the device at a retailer, friend's, etc. if any are available. My first thought would be to see if there is a Microsoft store anywhere near you. They are modeled after the Apple stores in that they are set up for you to play with the products. If you came in the store with a printed POU for a potential purchase stating that WITPAE must be usable on the device given specific conditions (touch only, touch/stylus only, etc.) and also brought a flash drive with all the install files (including DirectX and such just in case), I bet there is a fair chance they'd let you fire it up on one of the demo units - IF you demonstrate that you're serious about buying and not just looking to kill time while your wife sweeps the department store next door as would an ASW TF with a hot track outside the fleet's home port.

The Microsoft Surface Pro series should be one of your considerations, specifically the Pro line. They are not without their potential problems (some overheating issues) but they have a lot of what I've outlined above. At the very least they would be able to inform you about what you do and don't like so you can find a product that is a better fit.


For at home / desktop applications of touch screens, I like the Wacom Cintiq series. Note these are not full-blown computers, but are better described as monitors with touch screen capability. I have one myself and use it to write on my planning map while playing WITPAE (however, not its only use) - it's like having a plotting board with the map as the background. And a digital grease pencil. [:D]

That said, I have a stylus-only version and have never played WITPAE directly on it - the graphics engine in WITPAE doesn't refresh on secondary monitors, and I've never had the inclination to troubleshoot it as I only want the game on my primary monitor anyway.



Overview:




Close-up of Ellice / Phoenix Islands:



Edit: made image sizes more forum-friendly.

[Korvar]

Just as a quick follow-up to my above post - while I was writing it up I decided to perform a quick experiment and ran my Wacom as my primary monitor. WITPAE ran just fine with my default windowed configuration, but it had some issues tracking while in full screen. In windowed mode, the stylus worked just as a mouse would - I was able to select small objects and move the map as well.

Unfortunately I can't perform a 'fat fingering' test for you (no finger touch capability on my tablet), but the point is this - device-specific testing is very important, and the overall concept does show some promise.

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

I'm not sure how to do a right click with a touch screen. You also can get a lot of information hovering the mouse over something.

I'm not sure if a touchscreen would work at all, and if it did, it would probably limit what you can do.

Bill

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Will it purr if I touch the right spot? [;)]

Don't know, but we do have two kittens who do. Heck they purr if you just get close to them.

Bill

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

ORIGINAL: wdolson

I'm not sure how to do a right click with a touch screen. You also can get a lot of information hovering the mouse over something.

I'm not sure if a touchscreen would work at all, and if it did, it would probably limit what you can do.

Bill

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Will it purr if I touch the right spot? [;)]

Don't know, but we do have two kittens who do. Heck they purr if you just get close to them.

Bill

Kittens are definitely cute little guys, but when they get to the feline equivalent of teen-age years they get attitude! Any attempt to teach them what NOT to do makes you the enemy.

[oaltinyay]

ORIGINAL: Yaab

ORIGINAL: oaltinyay

Tried it on a Yoga, the screen size is the key - even for small guy with with small hands like me it's very difficult. U constantly zoom in and out using the win10 functionality.

Nothing beats a large 27 inch , 2880 pixel wide screen. U can see all the way from Tokyo to Borneo (almost )

There should be dedicated tablets like Hitachi Chrysantemum or Sony Arisaka for this game. Olive drab color, heavy-duty, cooled with salt water and can go into saving mode unitl year 2073 when the last Japanese side PBEM player surrenders on some god-forsaken island...

Panasononic Toughbook Type 93 'long battery'....Optional Type 01 Nambu Add-on 4g Modem....

[oaltinyay]

La Sublime Porte

Ps. I saw where I was having breakfast when I wrote the above message : Polonezköy.. world is small.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonezk%C3%B6y

[Yaab]

Breakfast, you say? Smacznego! [:)]

[littleike]

The only way to play witpAE on a touch screen is to use a wacom screen pc!!
No capacitive screen can do what you can do with the wacom pen.

I tried WitpAE on a Fujitsu ST6012 tablet pc with windows 7 and the game is fully playable
in windowed mode.
When you have to address map or menu item you use the pen as you were using the mouse.
When you have to input alphanumeric characters (as modifiyng TF name or set some map option)
you can use the virtual keyboard that appears when you close the pen to a side of the screen.

The only issue i have found using the pen instead of the mouse in the scrolling of the map closing the pen to the side of the screen.
It function well for up laft and right but bottom not always function because it overlap the menu bar that appears when you
go to the bottom.

Another issue is that i cannot have a fixed menu bar because it cover tke last line of the screen so if i select a base who has
five row of information i only see four.

When i tried to set the game in full screen mode i lost the virtual keyboard. After the game start and the first screens something block the virtual keyboard
from appairing when needed. (Other games such command operations etc. play well in full and windowed mode.)

So my suggestion is not to buy a ipad like capacity screen pc because fingers are too big for witpAE interface. Instead with a wacom pen you have the same resolution as you were using a mouse. Furthermore you can rest the hand on the screen when you use the pen because the screen is sensible only to the pen.

[BBfanboy]

My thanks to all who posted suggestions or experiences with the touch-screen idea. It seems it is possible to use a touch screen on specific machines with specific tools to make it work, but I am a pretty old dinosaur and learning a new interface is not in my plans. There will be enough of that getting a Win 10 machine.
I am still leaning toward an Alienware laptop because my Alienware Tower has served me so well for about five years now. They build them pretty solid and I like ruggedness in anything I move around. Also great cooling - I don't want a hot battery on my lap in the car during a long trip! (No, I will not be driving while playing WITP-AE ... but I might be making plans while driving!)

[Yaab]

...and then, out of sheer desperation, I kamikazed my fat finger into the End Turn button...

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Kittens are definitely cute little guys, but when they get to the feline equivalent of teen-age years they get attitude! Any attempt to teach them what NOT to do makes you the enemy.

These two are 4-5 months, one born April 4 and the other April 16. I've always had a fair bit of success training cats. These two have learned to stay off hard surfaces and mostly only scratch in the right places. Both are brilliantly smart. The younger one was complying with the household rules within a couple of days. It took a little longer for the older one, but we were being easy on her because she had a traumatic 3 weeks.

These are Siberian Forest Cats. My SO wanted them because she liked the descriptions of their personality plus they are hypo-allergenic. She has a mild cat allergy. Siberians can range from extremely low allergens to near normal. My SO is fine with one tick below normal. The breeder tests the kittens at 12 weeks and doles out the kittens on the wait list based on allergen level. We got the younger one right off because she was one tick below normal. I was happy because she was one of three that were really drawn to us when we went to visit them.

The older one initially went to someone in Oakland, CA because she tested the lowest of all the 2016 kittens. The husband had a reaction to her, so she went to Alaska where they had a reaction to her there too. By the time she got to Portland she had been in 4 homes (including the breeder and ours) in three weeks and had 3 aircraft trips. She was pretty haunted for a week or so. She hissed and growled at the other kitten for a week, but by the end of the first week she was best buds with the other kitten and they are now inseparable. She started warming up to us the second week and she's bought into the house hold rules now.

I would have been happy with a pound cat, but my SO wanted the low allergen cats and the personality of Siberians is like a very smart dog. They greet you at the door, learn quick, even can learn to do tricks like fetch, and they are very friendly. The youngest is one of the most aggressively friendly cats I've ever seen. Her attitude is "you're going to like me damn it!" It went a long way towards cutting the ice between the two of them. When the older kitten growled and hissed she just looked bewildered like anyone not liking her was as alien as calculus.

They are entertaining and while they play hard, bouncing off the walls, they are fitting in well.

Bill

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

My thanks to all who posted suggestions or experiences with the touch-screen idea. It seems it is possible to use a touch screen on specific machines with specific tools to make it work, but I am a pretty old dinosaur and learning a new interface is not in my plans. There will be enough of that getting a Win 10 machine.
I am still leaning toward an Alienware laptop because my Alienware Tower has served me so well for about five years now. They build them pretty solid and I like ruggedness in anything I move around. Also great cooling - I don't want a hot battery on my lap in the car during a long trip! (No, I will not be driving while playing WITP-AE ... but I might be making plans while driving!)

Get a Tesla. [:D]

A bit more seriously, I have a giant cooling fan for my laptop. It's as big as the laptop's footprint and has a 23 inch fan that turns very slowly (quiet) but keeps the bottom of the thing very cool. It plugs into the USB for power. I highly recommend one for anyone who spends much time on a laptop. It protects your body from the heat while keeping the computer cooled down. With electronics, heat kills.

Bill