I played all of the older King's Quest games on an Atari ST, and they all supported the mouse. At some point, new games in the series only supported the mouse.
Is it just me, or was there actually NOT a big outcry over Mirror's Edge having a 16:9 aspect ratio, even on the PC?
Well, Mirror's Edge has a different target audience, I'd assume more of them migrated to widescreen displays already. Personally, I won't buy that one before it either has a 4:3 patch or I buy a bigger monitor
No, it really was pretty bad. Turning corners and selecting things with that engine was terrible, and the only options for how the arrow keys mapped were camera-centric and person-centric, which, given the environments they chose, translated to bad and worse.
Hmmmm, seem to recall the cornering problem - although it was pretty funny sometimes. Had no problem with interaction, though - not after the first five minutes. Now I'll definitely try it
Well, Mirror's Edge has a different target audience, I'd assume more of them migrated to widescreen displays already. Personally, I won't buy that one before it either has a 4:3 patch or I buy a bigger monitor
Hmmmm, seem to recall the cornering problem - although it was pretty funny sometimes. Had no problem with interaction, though - not after the first five minutes. Now I'll definitely try it
Well, when you get used to one control scheme, it can be hard to get used to another when it changes.
I was wondering - is it in any way possible to make the mouse emulate the the movement keys? So that you move the mouse to move the character... maybe there are some applications for stuff like this?
I really want to play these games but I cannot keep keys pressed down like this game requires, which is the main reason I *really* dislike this control scheme.
Or maybe there is some way to map a joystick (not a gamepad, can't use those for the same reason I can't use a keyboard to play), so that you could move the character around with a joystick.
I'd love to play this and the following games, but these damn controls makes it really hard for me.
Adventure games was really one of the last genres I love that I can play, and it really sucks how even an adventure game will use keyboard controls now
And the worst part about it is that it makes me worry I might not be able to enjoy future Sam & Max titles. The things I suggested here (which are the only possible ways I could kind of enjoy playing this game) are far from practical and playing will to some degree become a chore.. but these controls leave me with little option. So if they decide to change Sam & Max to use these controls, then I'm not sure what I'll do.. might have to write Telltale off and forget all about these games.
Now, I obviously don't expect them to base their decision on what control scheme to use on the very few people with 'hand disabilities' (or whatever you'd call it), I'm just giving you the perspective of one guy affected by that.
Or maybe there is some way to map a joystick (not a gamepad, can't use those for the same reason I can't use a keyboard to play), so that you could move the character around with a joystick.
The game supports gamepads, so I'm not sure if it wouldn't also work with a joystick, but if it doesn't there's XPadder if you want to map a joystick to keys.
And the worst part about it is that it makes me worry I might not be able to enjoy future Sam & Max titles. The things I suggested here (which are the only possible ways I could kind of enjoy playing this game) are far from practical and playing will to some degree become a chore.. but these controls leave me with little option. So if they decide to change Sam & Max to use these controls, then I'm not sure what I'll do.. might have to write Telltale off and forget all about these games.
They said several times now that they chose these controls because of the cinematic camera views used in the game where you often don't even have areas on the screen you could click on for moving around.
I doubt the same is going to happen in a new season of Sam & Max.
Well, I tried using an old Amiga joystick (using an adapter I have) and it works. Still quite a bit more trouble than I'd have using the mouse, but I've already said that a million times so it's getting redundant by now
Well, when you get used to one control scheme, it can be hard to get used to another when it changes.
OK, I dug up Grim Fandango. Now I remember - the camera relative option was a no-go due to the behavior when changing cameras, and the character relative option really felt strange at first. However, it took me only a few minutes to get used to it (I actually played halfway through the first year ), there's a good rhythm to it, and it would even feel convenient - if it wasn't for the game's damn stupid collision control. Whenever I hit an object, Manny bounces off, turns seemingly at random, and it plainly breaks the game's rhythm, I need to regain footing, and that becomes frustrating quite fast in narrow spaces. So all in all, that system doesn't work really well, I have to agree...
Well, I tried using an old Amiga joystick (using an adapter I have) and it works. Still quite a bit more trouble than I'd have using the mouse, but I've already said that a million times so it's getting redundant by now
Anyway, better than nothing, I guess.
Hah, seriously? That's awesome that it works. I guess the joystick is so old that it basically inputs keyboard controls. Nifty!
Oh, no - I forgot to mention that I had to use Joytokey (a freeware keyboard to joystick mapper) for it to work. But yes, it's cool that it works perfectly this way.
Only wish Amiga joysticks had more than one fire button
if you look at our previous games like Sam and Max or homestar, the cameras for navigation (the playable bits) are farther back and less cinematic to incorporate space for players to click on the ground because that's the only way they can get around environments. You might also notice that those games look a lot more "gamey." A DP for a movie wouldn't shoot shots like that because it wouldn't make sense to and its not very exciting. We are trying to stay true to a license known for amazing cinematics.
That's the best explanation so far
In my case, I don't have a problem with the controls since I play with my gamepad (luckily my old Logitech pad is natively supported), but the game should maybe have better support for other brands, since it seems other people are having to do relatively complex things such as keyboard mapping to get their joysticks/gamepads working.
In my case, I prefer using gamepad over the mouse, since I have some problem in my hands/arms and clicking the mouse buttons hurts (that sucks!) but gamepad buttons are softer so I have no problem.
You're the exact opposite of me! I don't have much trouble using a mouse, but using keyboard keys tire my fingers out in seconds. And my thumbs are pretty useless so there's no way I can use a gamepad.
Anyway, it really does suck, doesn't it; painful fingers when playing games
In my case, I prefer using gamepad over the mouse, since I have some problem in my hands/arms and clicking the mouse buttons hurts (that sucks!) but gamepad buttons are softer so I have no problem.
Ouch.
But if your mouse is some months old you might want to open it up and look at the microswitches for the buttons - I've had more than one mouse where the small piece of plastic pressing the switches had made a "groove" into the microswitch so it needed more and more force over time to register a click...
Sticking a small piece of paper between switch and mouse button does wonders in such a case...
You can play through the game with just keyboard. There are many different keys for cycling which things Wallace/Gromit is looking at (eg if you're playing with WASD you can use Q and E to page around between hotspots on screen), and many different keys for interacting with objects, including space or enter.
Jake, is there a keyboard equivalent to the right mouse button? (Required for the zoomed-in "Right Click to Exit" sections)
And while in that zoomed-in mode, W and S make a sound as if the inventory is cycling, but it seems only to select a single item when I have many in the inventory. Is this how it's supposed to work?
Other than that, the keyboard controls are quite comfy
I would really appriciate mouse controls in style of Sam & Max. Keyboard+mouse is just awkward, not needed layer in adventure game while playing it on PC. I really enjoy being able to play adventure game just by one hand on the mouse, its more convenient and casual.
Now, I agree with some of the earlier posters - this control scheme is nowhere near as broken as Grim Fandango's was. And having paid for the entire game, I really don't have a leg to stand on when it comes down to complaining. But here goes:
Sam and Max was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Fantastic game, well put together, easy controls, and puzzles and dialog that kept you laughing for days on end. Absolutely brilliant, brilliant game. Am I foaming at the mouth?
SBCG4AP: Not so much. Not sure whether it was the IP, the look, or what-have-you, it just didn't turn my crank the way Sam and Max did. Possibly because I don't find Homestar Runner as amusing as I find Sam and Max.
Wallace and Gromit: Brilliant game, again, absolutely fantastic implementation of Aardman's IP and beautiful to boot. Except for one teeny, tiny thing - the control scheme. And small as the irritation factor is, it continues to niggle at me, gradually becoming the plank in my eye.
Yeah, I know, it's been said. The controls are awkward, but the best that could have been achieved given Aardman's IP stipulations. But did anyone actually sit down with Aardman and discuss this in detail? Could any negotiation have been done on this? Because these controls are wack, man, utterly wack.
I don't expect to be frigging around with the keyboard playing an adventure game, it ruins the immersive qualities of the genre. I especially hate running into obstacles I can't see because the camera angle doesn't present me with a good perspective on the room or area I'm in. Now I know these camera angles are important to Aardman, but in the end, whats more important? A game that succeeds because it allows the user to do what they need to do with a minum of fuss, or a game that is 100% true to the IP but has a cripplingly bad control scheme? And it's a shame, too, because in *all* other respects I would say W&G is Telltale's best work to date.
Someone needs to sit down with Nick Park and the lads and lasses at Aardman and explain to them that while their precious camera angles are important to their IP, they may have to compromise a bit; otherwise, they are inhibiting the success and enjoyability of their licensed product. Nobody's saying the cinematic camera angles will have to be done away with entirely, it's just that insisting on them to the exclusion of user-friendliness is going to cost in terms of reviews and sales. The ultimate arbiter of every computer product is UX, and frankly, the keyboard controls are a killer in that respect.
Tried using Joy2key or something similar? Worked fine with my old Amiga stick
Mmm. I ended up mapping the left control stick to the arrow keys, and held the controller in my left hand, and just used the mouse as normal with my right hand. Worked out pretty well that way
You can play through the game with just keyboard. There are many different keys for cycling which things Wallace/Gromit is looking at (eg if you're playing with WASD you can use Q and E to page around between hotspots on screen), and many different keys for interacting with objects, including space or enter.
Thanks for the info. Is all this mentioned in the tutorial? It wasn't mentioned in the demo and I assumed the tutorial was simply the demo.
We just talked about the standard controls in the tutorial. The thought was that if we went in and said "To open your inventory, press shift. Or R. Or I. Or +. Or Center Mouse. or just scroll through the items using the mousewheel" people would get overwhelmed and confused.
We just talked about the standard controls in the tutorial. The thought was that if we went in and said "To open your inventory, press shift. Or R. Or I. Or +. Or Center Mouse. or just scroll through the items using the mousewheel" people would get overwhelmed and confused.
I can easily understand that.
However it would be nice if there was some cheat sheet to customize one's control method with the available keys.
If I had known that it was keyboard controls in this game, I probably wouldn't have bought it. Stupid as I was I bought the whole season without testing. Keyboard controls really doesn't fit with adventure games, it feels awkward to have to run around. It feels totally unnecessary nowadays and it was one of the reason I stopped playing lucasarts games. I don't buy the whole cinematic view excuse, you could as easily have made every surface clickable and made the characters walk as close as possible.
I still haven't played WG all the way through yet, despite always, always playing adventure game non-stop when I get them.
I really hope this doesn't happen with S&M, since I would really not want to stop playing with my favorite cartoon bunny and dog.
Will, is there a similar table listing gamepad controls?
No, each gamepad tends to have different controls, and we haven't done custom mapping for them. You just kind of need to poke around and figure out what does what. It shouldn't take more than a minute or two though.
Ehm, my point is that my gamepad does NOT work, if I poke it, it stares me back blankly and vaguely perplexed...
I used xpadder to map keyboard controls to it, and I already have a working configuration, but I'd like to try the controls TT designed and intented for the gamepads.
For example, what do supported pads use to cycle selectable objects? Hat's (d-pad's) left & right? Upper left & right triggers? Right upper & lower triggers? Two of the (usually) four right-side "fire" buttons?
How about something as simple as a small on-screen compass that pops up at the cursor if you hold the mouse button down for a second or 2. Then as you drag the mouse around the circle, they move in that direction the same way the keys would work. The compass would reain on the screen for a couple seconds after releasing the mouse button, just so you can easily pick another direction if stuck in a corner or something.
Something like this poorly drawn picture.
You could even make their eyes follow the cursor. :rolleyes:
How about something as simple as a small on-screen compass that pops up at the cursor if you hold the mouse button down for a second or 2. Then as you drag the mouse around the circle, they move in that direction the same way the keys would work. The compass would reain on the screen for a couple seconds after releasing the mouse button, just so you can easily pick another direction if stuck in a corner or something.
We toyed around with this idea and several other novel control concepts, and they're terribly unintuitive. Also as our CEO mentioned in a recent interview, driving the characters around directly provides a more immersive experience than any sort of mouse movement could provide.
I played all of the older King's Quest games on an Atari ST, and they all supported the mouse. At some point, new games in the series only supported the mouse.
Two things on that note.
The early King's Quest/Space Quest/Leisure Suit Larry games were games that involved you to type commands to perform actions. So it really didn't make sense to have it point and click. In King's Quest 4, they added a point and click movement interface, but when you still had to type so much... it wasn't used.
Secondly, fan bases have recreated King's Quest 1-3 (there could be more classic Sierra games by now) with full point and click interface and even voice. Even Sierra did it with some of their older games.
driving the characters around directly provides a more immersive experience than any sort of mouse movement could provide.
It really doesn't... I wish it did...
If anyone here played SWG... I'm pretty sure the said that about the NGE controls too... and look how that turned out!
I also find it weird that there is so much emphasis put on the diversity of the new control system. Clearly there's been a lot of work put into it, but why not just throw the die-hard old school players a bone?
A small, optional addition, that puts this game in a similar, familiar playing field with your other games.
Clearly there's been a lot of work put into it, but why not just throw the die-hard old school players a bone?
I would have liked to whip up a point-and-click option for you guys. But as I've mentioned already: choosing point-and-click for a control scheme imposes draconian restrictions on how your scenes and cameras look.
- W&G has a control scheme that allows you to experience the game world.
- Point-and-click games have a game world that fits within the constraints of the control scheme.
I would have liked to whip up a point-and-click option for you guys. But as I've mentioned already: choosing point-and-click for a control scheme imposes draconian restrictions on how your scenes and cameras look.
After having played through like 40% of the game, I have a hard time believing that. I often play for minutes without using the keys - I just interact my way through the scenes, as the interaction commands make the characters move to the spot. It's not even intentional - it just feels natural this way, and I snap out of this mode only after clicking the floor several times before realizing I need to use the keys.
I can accept this control method, and sometimes it does add to the immersion (morese when controlling Gromit), but I just don't see it as necessary.
WASD in my opinion only works well if the environment moves with the camera (like in FPS). With W&G Camera angles change between rooms/scenes and WASD doesn't stay consistent (at least how I picture the spaces) between scenes.
Yes, I would like adventure games to stay with the mouse, because it works very well.
Well, I bought the game, since I played through both Grim Fandango (me favourite) and Monkey Island 4 with absolutely no problems whatsoever apart from breaking three computers in frustration. On the fourth, I managed alright.
And while I do understand all these "camera limitations" and stuff, I sincerely hope you're telling the truth, and it had nothing to do with the xbox, or the playstation, or the master system, or something like that... if it DID, however... well, I gotta ask... are you turning into LucasArts? Or Metallica, or whatever? Turning your back on everything that made you AFTER you turned into something worth noticing?
Edit: Crap, Deja Vu. I just read this quote and you know what it reminds me of?
Also as our CEO mentioned in a recent interview, driving the characters around directly provides a more immersive experience than any sort of mouse movement could provide.
"The controls put you smack in Manny's world", or whatever similar sh*t LucasArts was spewing around at the time.
"The controls put you smack in Manny's world", or whatever similar sh*t LucasArts was spewing around at the time.
The problem with Grim Fandango was implimentation not the underlying idea (which actually in fundamentally different as this uses the mouse to select objects not the location of the character). The problems with Manny not focusing on the desired objects, or walking off in odd direction when the camera jumped just don't apply here.
Plus this game actually takes advantage of the freedom of keyboard movement, Wallace's house actually feels like a home not a theatre set, with a few props around the edges. Its also more intimate as they don't have to show the ground all the time there are close ups, allowing dialogue to bend in more seamlessly with exploration (which fits in with the streamlined dialogue system).
Either they'd have to sacrifice that for everyone or have two sets of camera angles, and some of the locations (I can't see the front room, with the table in the middle working with point and click) so people can choose.
I didn't like it when I heard about it, but as a package everything fits together neatly, and I think it feels more natural.
Comments
I played all of the older King's Quest games on an Atari ST, and they all supported the mouse. At some point, new games in the series only supported the mouse.
Well, Mirror's Edge has a different target audience, I'd assume more of them migrated to widescreen displays already. Personally, I won't buy that one before it either has a 4:3 patch or I buy a bigger monitor
Hmmmm, seem to recall the cornering problem - although it was pretty funny sometimes. Had no problem with interaction, though - not after the first five minutes. Now I'll definitely try it
Well, when you get used to one control scheme, it can be hard to get used to another when it changes.
I really want to play these games but I cannot keep keys pressed down like this game requires, which is the main reason I *really* dislike this control scheme.
Or maybe there is some way to map a joystick (not a gamepad, can't use those for the same reason I can't use a keyboard to play), so that you could move the character around with a joystick.
I'd love to play this and the following games, but these damn controls makes it really hard for me.
Adventure games was really one of the last genres I love that I can play, and it really sucks how even an adventure game will use keyboard controls now
And the worst part about it is that it makes me worry I might not be able to enjoy future Sam & Max titles. The things I suggested here (which are the only possible ways I could kind of enjoy playing this game) are far from practical and playing will to some degree become a chore.. but these controls leave me with little option. So if they decide to change Sam & Max to use these controls, then I'm not sure what I'll do.. might have to write Telltale off and forget all about these games.
Now, I obviously don't expect them to base their decision on what control scheme to use on the very few people with 'hand disabilities' (or whatever you'd call it), I'm just giving you the perspective of one guy affected by that.
They said several times now that they chose these controls because of the cinematic camera views used in the game where you often don't even have areas on the screen you could click on for moving around.
I doubt the same is going to happen in a new season of Sam & Max.
np: Sten - Daylight (The Essence)
Thanks for the suggestion btw, I'll try that (but first need to buy a joystick).
Anyway, better than nothing, I guess.
OK, I dug up Grim Fandango. Now I remember - the camera relative option was a no-go due to the behavior when changing cameras, and the character relative option really felt strange at first. However, it took me only a few minutes to get used to it (I actually played halfway through the first year
Hah, seriously? That's awesome that it works. I guess the joystick is so old that it basically inputs keyboard controls. Nifty!
Only wish Amiga joysticks had more than one fire button
That's the best explanation so far
In my case, I don't have a problem with the controls since I play with my gamepad (luckily my old Logitech pad is natively supported), but the game should maybe have better support for other brands, since it seems other people are having to do relatively complex things such as keyboard mapping to get their joysticks/gamepads working.
In my case, I prefer using gamepad over the mouse, since I have some problem in my hands/arms and clicking the mouse buttons hurts (that sucks!) but gamepad buttons are softer so I have no problem.
Anyway, it really does suck, doesn't it; painful fingers when playing games
But if your mouse is some months old you might want to open it up and look at the microswitches for the buttons - I've had more than one mouse where the small piece of plastic pressing the switches had made a "groove" into the microswitch so it needed more and more force over time to register a click...
Sticking a small piece of paper between switch and mouse button does wonders in such a case...
Jake, is there a keyboard equivalent to the right mouse button? (Required for the zoomed-in "Right Click to Exit" sections)
And while in that zoomed-in mode, W and S make a sound as if the inventory is cycling, but it seems only to select a single item when I have many in the inventory. Is this how it's supposed to work?
Other than that, the keyboard controls are quite comfy
Mouse only option please...pretty please?
Sam and Max was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Fantastic game, well put together, easy controls, and puzzles and dialog that kept you laughing for days on end. Absolutely brilliant, brilliant game. Am I foaming at the mouth?
SBCG4AP: Not so much. Not sure whether it was the IP, the look, or what-have-you, it just didn't turn my crank the way Sam and Max did. Possibly because I don't find Homestar Runner as amusing as I find Sam and Max.
Wallace and Gromit: Brilliant game, again, absolutely fantastic implementation of Aardman's IP and beautiful to boot. Except for one teeny, tiny thing - the control scheme. And small as the irritation factor is, it continues to niggle at me, gradually becoming the plank in my eye.
Yeah, I know, it's been said. The controls are awkward, but the best that could have been achieved given Aardman's IP stipulations. But did anyone actually sit down with Aardman and discuss this in detail? Could any negotiation have been done on this? Because these controls are wack, man, utterly wack.
I don't expect to be frigging around with the keyboard playing an adventure game, it ruins the immersive qualities of the genre. I especially hate running into obstacles I can't see because the camera angle doesn't present me with a good perspective on the room or area I'm in. Now I know these camera angles are important to Aardman, but in the end, whats more important? A game that succeeds because it allows the user to do what they need to do with a minum of fuss, or a game that is 100% true to the IP but has a cripplingly bad control scheme? And it's a shame, too, because in *all* other respects I would say W&G is Telltale's best work to date.
Someone needs to sit down with Nick Park and the lads and lasses at Aardman and explain to them that while their precious camera angles are important to their IP, they may have to compromise a bit; otherwise, they are inhibiting the success and enjoyability of their licensed product. Nobody's saying the cinematic camera angles will have to be done away with entirely, it's just that insisting on them to the exclusion of user-friendliness is going to cost in terms of reviews and sales. The ultimate arbiter of every computer product is UX, and frankly, the keyboard controls are a killer in that respect.
Mmm. I ended up mapping the left control stick to the arrow keys, and held the controller in my left hand, and just used the mouse as normal with my right hand. Worked out pretty well that way
Thanks for the info. Is all this mentioned in the tutorial? It wasn't mentioned in the demo and I assumed the tutorial was simply the demo.
I can easily understand that.
However it would be nice if there was some cheat sheet to customize one's control method with the available keys.
Will you perhaps consider a adding General Cancel/Close button for the left-hand configuration?
So to be able to configure xpadder to mimic as closely as possible the originally intended gamepad experience with a not-supported pad.
Thank you.
I still haven't played WG all the way through yet, despite always, always playing adventure game non-stop when I get them.
I really hope this doesn't happen with S&M, since I would really not want to stop playing with my favorite cartoon bunny and dog.
No, each gamepad tends to have different controls, and we haven't done custom mapping for them. You just kind of need to poke around and figure out what does what. It shouldn't take more than a minute or two though.
I used xpadder to map keyboard controls to it, and I already have a working configuration, but I'd like to try the controls TT designed and intented for the gamepads.
For example, what do supported pads use to cycle selectable objects? Hat's (d-pad's) left & right? Upper left & right triggers? Right upper & lower triggers? Two of the (usually) four right-side "fire" buttons?
Something like this poorly drawn picture.
You could even make their eyes follow the cursor. :rolleyes:
Just a thought.
We toyed around with this idea and several other novel control concepts, and they're terribly unintuitive. Also as our CEO mentioned in a recent interview, driving the characters around directly provides a more immersive experience than any sort of mouse movement could provide.
Two things on that note.
The early King's Quest/Space Quest/Leisure Suit Larry games were games that involved you to type commands to perform actions. So it really didn't make sense to have it point and click. In King's Quest 4, they added a point and click movement interface, but when you still had to type so much... it wasn't used.
Secondly, fan bases have recreated King's Quest 1-3 (there could be more classic Sierra games by now) with full point and click interface and even voice. Even Sierra did it with some of their older games.
It really doesn't... I wish it did...
If anyone here played SWG... I'm pretty sure the said that about the NGE controls too... and look how that turned out!
I also find it weird that there is so much emphasis put on the diversity of the new control system. Clearly there's been a lot of work put into it, but why not just throw the die-hard old school players a bone?
A small, optional addition, that puts this game in a similar, familiar playing field with your other games.
I would have liked to whip up a point-and-click option for you guys. But as I've mentioned already: choosing point-and-click for a control scheme imposes draconian restrictions on how your scenes and cameras look.
- W&G has a control scheme that allows you to experience the game world.
- Point-and-click games have a game world that fits within the constraints of the control scheme.
Each has their place.
After having played through like 40% of the game, I have a hard time believing that. I often play for minutes without using the keys - I just interact my way through the scenes, as the interaction commands make the characters move to the spot. It's not even intentional - it just feels natural this way, and I snap out of this mode only after clicking the floor several times before realizing I need to use the keys.
I can accept this control method, and sometimes it does add to the immersion (morese when controlling Gromit), but I just don't see it as necessary.
Yes, I would like adventure games to stay with the mouse, because it works very well.
And while I do understand all these "camera limitations" and stuff, I sincerely hope you're telling the truth, and it had nothing to do with the xbox, or the playstation, or the master system, or something like that... if it DID, however... well, I gotta ask... are you turning into LucasArts? Or Metallica, or whatever? Turning your back on everything that made you AFTER you turned into something worth noticing?
Edit: Crap, Deja Vu. I just read this quote and you know what it reminds me of?
"The controls put you smack in Manny's world", or whatever similar sh*t LucasArts was spewing around at the time.
I'm packing my bags, just in case.
Plus this game actually takes advantage of the freedom of keyboard movement, Wallace's house actually feels like a home not a theatre set, with a few props around the edges. Its also more intimate as they don't have to show the ground all the time there are close ups, allowing dialogue to bend in more seamlessly with exploration (which fits in with the streamlined dialogue system).
Either they'd have to sacrifice that for everyone or have two sets of camera angles, and some of the locations (I can't see the front room, with the table in the middle working with point and click) so people can choose.
I didn't like it when I heard about it, but as a package everything fits together neatly, and I think it feels more natural.