[xarx]

Many games are better controlled with relative mouse than with the absolute one. But the main game area is often surrounded with plenty of static buttons that call for being clicked directly. Is there any widget in MagicBox that allows this? I’ve spent quite a lot of time by figuring how to do that, but found only one extremely laborious way.

For instance, Jagged Alliance or Steel Panthers. In Steel Panthers, there are about 25 buttons. It works if you cover every of these buttons with a Target widget, but the result is fragile (can loose precission when migrating the game config to another device), and it’s a lot of work.

It would help, if all the buttons could be covered with a single widget that would send mouse click at the place of finger touch. Exactly like the Target widget, but the Target point wouldn’t be fixed, it would use the finger coordinates instead.

As a bonus, it would be nice if the widget leaves the mouse cursor at the same place it was before. Or optionally, when the click opens a menu, it moves it at a fixed position.

Edit: I’ve found that almost every game that uses relative mouse could take advantage from such a widget. For instance, SystemShock1 has a very complicated interface with lots of buttons. Or HeroesOfMightAndMagic1, though in this case the functionality could be mostly done the “laborious” way.

[admin]

Hi,

If you need only click then I can new option to target widget. I must check it. But v58 is closed and almost ready for release, so it must wait for further release.

Probably you need mouse navigation widget

Btw, why not use telescope widget with streaming mode, it supports absolute mouse.

[xarx]

The Telescope widget is exactly what I was looking for, thank you! I couldn’t find the streaming functionality as the widget is not documented (on the web). The only thing I would ask you for is to add an option into the widget that would set the streaming source selection identical to the size and position of the widget.It turns out to be difficult in the graphical interface to align the source exactly with the widget; and when you resize the widget, you have to make the aligning procedure again.

The telescope streaming is a very powerful feature, it surely can have many uses. It’s a pity that such great functionality is burried somewhere deep under the non-descriptive name of the widget.

Edit: No, the Mouse navigation widget (as it is now) doesn’t have the functionality. But the Telescope widget does. 🙂

[admin]

add an option into the widget that would set the streaming source selection identical to the size and position of the widgetl
Sorry, I dont understand 🙁

Yes website is out of date, but will try fix it during christmas time.

If you are interested in streaming widger then chceck video on main page

If you press navigation widget then current mouse can be changed to absolute for a time while you hold widget

[xarx]

The Mouse navigation with Duration set to “until button down” might work and be even simpler than the streaming. But I can’t figure out how to make it work :(. When I press the widget, nothing seems to happen, no click is issued anywhere. The widget probably needs to be combined with another widget, but how?

All I want is to press a widget and the widget to make a mouse click at the exact position I pressed the screen. Even when mouse is in relative mode and the mouse pointer is elsewhere.

[xarx]

OK, after watching some of your videos, now I understand how the “Mouse navigation with Duration set to ‘until button down’” works. It’s just a modifier key, like Alt.
So no, this is not what I need.

Edit: An analogy: Every widget can be set visually transparent. But concerning clicking, every widget swallows the finger touch and performs an action. What I need is to set a widget “transparent” for clicking, but currently there seems to be no widget that allows this. There are two candidates where this click-transparency can be implemented: either the Telescope widget which I was describing above, or the Mouse widget. The Mouse widget could be a better candidate, but the Telescope widget already provides the functionality, though not ideally. Below I’m trying to explain how to implement it in the Telescope. End of edit

Back to the Telescope widget streaming, then. I’ll try to explain better what I was asking for. Maybe it would be better if I sent you a .mgc file?

The streaming works exactly like I need it, but the adjustment of the widget is too complicated and fragile for the purpose of what I want to do. Normally when you use the widget, you stream image from source location to a diferent target location. And clicks are transfered in the opposite direction, from target to the source:

   source                   target
    ---                      -----
   |   |   ---- image --->  |     |
    ---    <--- clicks ---  |     |
                             -----

(Target is the widget area, source is the Selection area.)
But I’m interested only in those clicks, hence I have set the vidget invisible. Moreover, I’ve set source and target identical, which has the effect that clicks occur at the exact point where finger touched the screen. And this is what I’m trying to achieve all the time. And I know no simpler method of doing that than this.

So, I’m asking you for a new option in the streaming setup, where the source is kept identical to the target, insread of being set manually as the Selection area. This would substantially simplify doing what I’m trying to achieve. If it is still unclear, I’ll try to make some screenshots, or I can send you the .mgc file.

[admin]

But if target widget is what you need that what is wrong with this widget? I am still a bit out…please can you explain it in other way ? 🙂 Sorry for my dumbness

You said :
>the result is fragile (can loose precission when migrating the game config to another device), and it’s a lot of work.
No, magic dosbox remembers universal coordinates, they are device independent

EDIT : Ah ok, now I understand, it makes sense. I must think about it. Sounds like “excluded relative mouse area”.

[xarx]

Yeah, you can consider it “excluded relative mouse area”, or “abdolute mouse area”. I’m looking at it from another perspective, so we were not able to meet.

[Author]

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