Few suggestions

[Pinnacle [Aldo]]

Hi guys,

I don't know if this has been discussed before but what I'd like to see:

- Link commands (e.g. "Actions > Punch" + "Actions > Kick" = "Actions > Throw"). So if "punch" is mapped to button A and "kick" is mapped to button B, pressing A + B will result in a throw. So instead of shifted modes it's directly linked to the underlying commands and also not tied to a button.

- The same goes for the behaviour modifications like "sticky", "Shift mode" etc. In my opinion it would be great to be able to link it to a command instead of a button.

- Comments on profile and config-level would be great too (with some more functions like hyperlinks, bold, etc).

Thanks for the hard work!

[Pinnacle [Alec]]

rehab I have mentioned it before Here and someone posted a possible way of doing it that I never got tound to trying after all this time.

alec100, take this trick:
Assign a Cycle command to each of the triggers.
The first command of the Cycle command of RT points LT's Cycle command to its second command, that is "kick". Do this with Cycle pointers. And viceversa.
You know?
LT - Cycle command:
1.- (cycle pointer)point RT's cycle command to 2nd command
- (cycle pointer)point itself to 1st command
2.- kick
RT - Cycle command:
1.- (cycle pointer)point LT's cycle command to 2nd command
- (cycle pointer)point itself to 1st command
2.- kick

You may have some problems with the cycles; let me know if you do. Generally if you just press the two buttons at the same time, and you release them then, no problems, but better don't mess with pressing one, pressing the other, releasing it, pressing it again... while the first is pressed.

tell me if you achieve somethin

EDIT--

sorry, I didn't remember, you can do this with normal buttons but I think it's not possible with triggers -unless they are not axes-, since axis commands can't have cycle commands assigned inside

But I agree rehab this should be a built in feature with better support.

[Pinnacle [Aldo]]

Thanks Alec,

I got the same effect using shifted modes, but it seemed way easier to me to use some kind of built-in support.

[Pinnacle [Rob]]

Yea, the multiple triggers is something planned for someday but there are some other things to probably come first... the stuff that is coming next will be monumental for PGP, and hopefully it will go to beta testing soon! I think the cat is already out of the bag, but soon PGP will be able to modify the built-in gamepad support for games, something I've been trying to figure out for well over 3 years! After that a lot of new features will be rapidly coming down the line, including new event steps for applying behavior modifications as you mentioned above and others have requested. The event steps are going to be catagorized then because there are already so many and there are tons of new ones that are planned for the near future. As for notes on the profile-level, well there are those already but they are not as prominently displayed as the command notes are... that is yet another thing planned for the future to make them more visible. But to add & display notes to the profile you can click the icon in the lower-right corner of the main launcher window, you might have overlooked it which is the problem. I might try to have a balloon appear but the notes there are expected to be much longer so that might not be the best way.

[Pinnacle [Aldo]]

Yea, the multiple triggers is something planned for someday but there are some other things to probably come first... the stuff that is coming next will be monumental for PGP, and hopefully it will go to beta testing soon! I think the cat is already out of the bag, but soon PGP will be able to modify the built-in gamepad support for games, something I've been trying to figure out for well over 3 years! After that a lot of new features will be rapidly coming down the line, including new event steps for applying behavior modifications as you mentioned above and others have requested. The event steps are going to be catagorized then because there are already so many and there are tons of new ones that are planned for the near future. As for notes on the profile-level, well there are those already but they are not as prominently displayed as the command notes are... that is yet another thing planned for the future to make them more visible. But to add & display notes to the profile you can click the icon in the lower-right corner of the main launcher window, you might have overlooked it which is the problem. I might try to have a balloon appear but the notes there are expected to be much longer so that might not be the best way.

Ah yes Rob, I really overlooked that ability to add notes on a profile-level. I guess I expected them in edit-mode . All planned features sound great!

Thanks again.

[Kaboof]

Seeing this thread I also have some suggestions, mainly aimed at the Event Steps/Commands.
I think it's a too long way to Edit the steps from Actions (Game Profiles --> Edit Configuration --> Edit Commands). Especially when debugging some Commands it's very annoying to open (and close) that many windows. There should be either a "test mode" to run the Configuration without closing the Edit window or a Edit Commands button at the Game Profiles window (or both). Also why do I have to click "Edit Steps" at the Edit Commands window? Could be built right in there.
And a resizable window (or edit Steps field) would be great (hard to keep an overview with this little window).
Also the Repeat loop isn't perfect this way. How about giving us the ability to use brackets? And a field to fill in how many repeats (slider is hard to get the exact value often).
Oh and when u press on the MouseGoToCoordinates you can't see which coordinates are filled in (like when you click on a pause). Same for the repeat loop, can't see how often.

I also think it would be great to have the Configurations not bound to a Game Profile but available in all Game Profiles (I normally change just a few buttons..), same for the Commands, available in all Configurations (and Game Profiles) please.

Don't understand me wrong, it's a great software (and the support in this forum is awesome) and I am really happy it exists (and it's far away from "not usable" without this changes), but these are suggestions I found using it a bit more the last few days and I think it would be great to be implemented (and most of them shouldn't be too hard to implement).

Feel free to ask if something is hard to understand.

[Pinnacle [Marco]]

I think all your suggestions are good, Kaboof. I especially agree that it's a bit of a bear to jump in and out of a game and dig so deep into PGP just to change one thing. That's said, it's not an easy thing to change. The interface will be streamlined at some point in the future, but for now it's taking a backseat to adding new functionality. Some of these smaller suggestions, however, might appear in the not too distant future, some perhaps as workarounds until the core interface issues can be addressed.

Here are a few specific responses: (added after original response)

We've talked about a number of ways to implement a "test mode". One possible implementation will be a simulated demonstration of the emulations without actually doing any of the emulations. This would give you the opportunity to see what the output would be without applying the profile. Anyway, it's an improvement we'd like to add at some point, but its implementation will be tied to other related future changes, so it's yet to get onto the development schedule.

The separation of the Commands and Steps is probably something that won't be addressed until the UI is overhauled. We do want profile creation and editing to be less labor intensive, and we're considering other ways to consolidate to streamline workflow. It's not something that we want to attack piecemeal though, and introducing too many temporary enhancements to the existing interface only delays the long term, overall improvement.

I share your frustration with the size of the event steps elements. It's not as easy as it could be to see commands composed of many steps. Resizing the window in the interim is something we've considered. In the meantime, however, if you're not already aware, you can toggle between a horizontal and vertical display of the steps. This makes working with more complex commands a bit easier. The control to do this is located to the left of "Command Events" on the Edit Event Steps screen. When toggled, it also affects the display of the steps on the Edit Commands screen.

When you say brackets, I assume that you mean in the command names. That limitation may be a holdover prior to the underlying system introduced with v5.0. It's a question for Rob to address. These naming limitations, however, may not be removed until the interface is revamped (and you're given the ability to put the same command in more than one folder).

I agree that the slider is hard to stop on the exact value for loop back repeats. Unlocking the textbox is a good suggestion. The number of times it repeats, however, is displayed in the command events. I'm not sure what you mean when you say you "can't see how often". I also see the coordinates for mouse goto coordinates steps under command steps, so I don't think I've understood what you were saying.

As for not binding the configurations to a profile, it's a concept we're probably going to stick with. We have, however, discussed the ability to create global commands (e.g.,Teamspeak push-to-talk, Xfire screenshot, system volume adjustments, etc.) that could be inherited by new profiles upon creation. That'll solve the problem you've expressed and keep with the existing structure. (The profile is the parent of commands, hotkeys, and configurations. Configurations are were commands are assigned to specific controllers.)

Anyway, with this response I'm hoping to shed a little light for you on our development strategy. In the short-term, we're focused on adding new functionality. Once it's there, we're going to back up and make it all easier to use.

Thanks for taking the time to offer suggestions.

[Pinnacle [Alec]]

Rob, I mean no offense but how soon is soon i mean you seem to use it a lot sometimes meaning a week sometimes meaning 6 months. So could you give us a sort of indication wheather this will go into beta testing in the forseeable future (next couple of monthsor less) or the slightly more distant future (about a year or longer). I say again I mean no offense and I know it is not easy to tell with programing but a slightly better guide to when it will be other than just soon, would be appreciated. Bearing in mind anything you say at this stage would not be final of course.

[Pinnacle [Marco]]

The same goes for the behaviour modifications like "sticky", "Shift mode" etc. In my opinion it would be great to be able to link it to a command instead of a button.

Behavior modifications are intended to modify Pinnacle's interpretation of a control's state, which not only offers easier ways to do old tasks, but it also adds new capabilities that didn't previously exist. Besides, minus the shift-modes, all the current behavior modifications can already be applied at a command level with more granularly controlled steps (as you, of course, already know). We have discussed, however, what I've been calling "command templates" which might offer you an automated way of generating the equivalent event steps. That would save time in creating a complex command without the hassle of having to manually create so many steps across so many commands.

Take, for example, the equivalent of the sticky on the command side. Let's say "c" for crouch. A command template could generate all the underlying commands necessary for an intelligent command: normal crouch (standard = c down/up), crouch on (standard = c down), crouch off (standard = c up), crouch on/off (cycle), intelligent crouch (double = cycle + normal crouch). Hope that makes sense. What are your thoughts on that?

Rob, I mean no offense but how soon is soon i mean you seem to use it a lot sometimes meaning a week sometimes meaning 6 months. So could you give us a sort of indication wheather this will go into beta testing in the forseeable future (next couple of monthsor less) or the slightly more distant future (about a year or longer). I say again I mean no offense and I know it is not easy to tell with programing but a slightly better guide to when it will be other than just soon, would be appreciated. Bearing in mind anything you say at this stage would not be final of course.

Rob is working in earnest to modify built-in controller support, but it always takes longer than we think. This is a huge step in capabilities too, and it's hard to anticipate the time required to prepare for the beta. I don't think we can commit to any specific time frame at present. What if I started something along the lines of a developer's blog at the website to give you a feel for how things are progressing?

[Pinnacle [Aldo]]

Behavior modifications are intended to modify Pinnacle's interpretation of a control's state, which not only offers easier ways to do old tasks, but it also adds new capabilities that didn't previously exist. Besides, minus the shift-modes, all the current behavior modifications can already be applied at a command level with more granularly controlled steps (as you, of course, already know). We have discussed, however, what I've been calling "command templates" which might offer you an automated way of generating the equivalent event steps. That would save time in creating a complex command without the hassle of having to manually create so many steps across so many commands.

Take, for example, the equivalent of the sticky on the command side. Let's say "c" for crouch. A command template could generate all the underlying commands necessary for an intelligent command: normal crouch (standard = c down/up), crouch on (standard = c down), crouch off (standard = c up), crouch on/off (cycle), intelligent crouch (double = cycle + normal crouch). Hope that makes sense. What are your thoughts on that?

Yes, I know a lot can be done on command level (and I use it a lot) but as you also indicated it's far from efficient. The template you're suggesting would save a lot of work so I'm all for it! .

Rob is working in earnest to modify built-in controller support, but it always takes longer than we think. This is a huge step in capabilities too, and it's hard to anticipate the time required to prepare for the beta. I don't think we can commit to any specific time frame at present. What if I started something along the lines of a developer's blog at the website to give you a feel for how things are progressing?

I know this answer is not really meant for me but I think it is a great idea to have a developer's blog!