Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Gortef on November 11, 2009, 05:06:15 am

Title: The Mouse
Post by: Gortef on November 11, 2009, 05:06:15 am
Now here's a mouse for ya...

(http://www.openofficemouse.com/branding/images/OOmouse_model.png)

Source:
http://www.openofficemouse.com/pr110609.html



I can't stop laughing :lol:

But seriously, without actually trying it it's not fair to judge but damn it looks so... so... unpractical.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Sushi on November 11, 2009, 08:47:33 am
That's not a mouse.

It's a keyboard mounted on an optical sensor.

EDIT: With a piece of gamecube controller stuck on the side for good measure.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Thaeris on November 11, 2009, 10:10:26 am
If FSO had better mouse control support, that might be an interesting control device to try out...

   ...You'd literally have most of the conrols at your fingertips!
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Topgun on November 11, 2009, 12:42:01 pm
I love the joystick on the side, would be great for fps games, but that is way too many buttons.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Colonol Dekker on November 11, 2009, 01:45:46 pm
Stupid render is stupid.
 
Although i'd like a go for novelty sake.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Nuke on November 11, 2009, 03:10:26 pm
i think any more than 8 buttons on a mouse is ridiculous. but i find that on mice with a lot of non standard buttons, half of them dont work without installing some bloated software on your comp, and even then most of them never get used. my current logitech bluetooth laser mouse for example, i can use maybe 5 of the 8 buttons in most games, though the middle button is hard to use most of the time. two of them mirror the function of the scroll wheel and the other one doesnt work without installing the software. while the sidescroll works in some applications, its completely unbindable in games. i might open it up and rewire the buttons so that i can use that 3rd thumb button as middle mouse, and the scroll wheel button can be the useless button you cant use without the crappy software.

if i were to design a mouse, id give it a 4 pack of buttons up top (2 each side), about 3 thumb buttons and id eliminate the scroll wheel in exchange for a ministick (which can be configured either as a joystick or 2 axis scroller). that or id go with 2 thumb buttons put the ministich down theire for the thumb, and include a simple scroll wheel. though microsoft has been doing experiments where the top of the mouse is essentially a touchpad with areas that can be sliced up and mapped out as buttons, axes, whatever. while its cute i still think a mouse needs to click.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on November 11, 2009, 05:51:30 pm
Better have a don't try to use if you have big fingers disclaimer. 
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: CP5670 on November 11, 2009, 06:09:58 pm
I wouldn't mind a mouse with that many buttons, if they were actually placed ergonomically. That one looks like it would be very uncomfortable to use. I often find that my 8-button (6 in practice, as two are used for sensitivity changes) MX518 doesn't have enough of them.

Quote
my current logitech bluetooth laser mouse for example, i can use maybe 5 of the 8 buttons in most games, though the middle button is hard to use most of the time.

You can use the Logitech driver to remap them to keys, which can be detected by games. I do that in almost every game where I use the mouse.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Stormkeeper on November 12, 2009, 12:45:55 am
The mouse amuses me.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Gortef on November 12, 2009, 04:30:13 am
though microsoft has been doing experiments where the top of the mouse is essentially a touchpad with areas that can be sliced up and mapped out as buttons, axes, whatever. while its cute i still think a mouse needs to click.

Yea I've seen those videos where they show off some of their experimental controllers. Indeed most of them are pretty cute and neat... but I dunno.

I'm happy with my Razer Lachesis. Though... Razer Naga could be fun to try out.
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga/
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Mongoose on November 12, 2009, 02:04:37 pm
I'm kind of content with two buttons and a scroll-wheel myself.  Though having horizontal scrolling might be useful.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Janos on November 12, 2009, 02:29:25 pm
The obvious answer to this is a mouse with no buttons but a great marketing and slightly retro-futuristic look

we could call it...


iMouse
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Thaeris on November 12, 2009, 03:47:10 pm
Actually, it's called the Mighty Mouse.  :rolleyes:

It has but one [main] button, two side buttons which are generally inconveniant (and not terribly noticable), and an omnidirectional scroll wheel.

... ... ...

I wouldn't mind having a Mac, but I need my two-button mouse...
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Admiral LSD on November 12, 2009, 08:16:31 pm
It'll be a hit with the open source crowd, but when nobody else buys one (because it's overly complicated and hard to use) they'll crack a huge sad and blame it on the proprietary software conspiracy.... :rolleyes:

I wouldn't mind having a Mac, but I need my two-button mouse...

Uhh... Mac OS has supported multi button mice for over a decade now, MS even make Mac drivers for their range of mice. Not only that, but once you get used to it, the single button isn't that big of an issue. The UI and well-designed apps all take the single button into account. I bought a two button mouse to go with my MacBook two years ago and I almost never use it, it just stays in the bag.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Locutus of Borg on November 12, 2009, 10:56:09 pm
That's a similar argument to why not cut off your legs so that you can use a wheelchair
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Admiral LSD on November 13, 2009, 12:07:59 am
Not every OS becomes near-unusable over the loss of a single button. The overwhelming majority of people that crap on about the single mouse button don't understand that because they either haven't used Mac OS at all or haven't used it long enough for it to fully sink in. I know, because I used to be one of them. Once I was able to use Mac OS for more than a few minutes at a time I found a large number of the UI conventions I complained about in the past were either fixed or just weren't that big of a deal. Mind you, there are still a couple I find mind-numbingly retarded (Command+O to open stuff and Enter to rename, for example) but even those aren't terribly difficult to adapt to.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: FreeSpaceFreak on November 13, 2009, 12:55:17 am
:lol: @ mouse
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Thaeris on November 13, 2009, 11:17:08 am
Not every OS becomes near-unusable over the loss of a single button. The overwhelming majority of people that crap on about the single mouse button don't understand that because they either haven't used Mac OS at all or haven't used it long enough for it to fully sink in. I know, because I used to be one of them. Once I was able to use Mac OS for more than a few minutes at a time I found a large number of the UI conventions I complained about in the past were either fixed or just weren't that big of a deal. Mind you, there are still a couple I find mind-numbingly retarded (Command+O to open stuff and Enter to rename, for example) but even those aren't terribly difficult to adapt to.

I grew up on Mac OS. And no, the single button mouse is not unbearable, but I do prefer the two-button mouse. That second click makes technical programs much easier to work with. And I always thought that the "command-[letter]" functions always made sense... But that's just me.  ;)
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Nuke on November 13, 2009, 08:22:32 pm
I wouldn't mind a mouse with that many buttons, if they were actually placed ergonomically. That one looks like it would be very uncomfortable to use. I often find that my 8-button (6 in practice, as two are used for sensitivity changes) MX518 doesn't have enough of them.

Quote
my current logitech bluetooth laser mouse for example, i can use maybe 5 of the 8 buttons in most games, though the middle button is hard to use most of the time.

You can use the Logitech driver to remap them to keys, which can be detected by games. I do that in almost every game where I use the mouse.

unfortunately this is one of the rare cases where the hardware works better without the software. it would require me to use logitech's ****ty bluetooth stack, which makes me reconnect my mouse and keyboard every 6 seconds and it doesnt work for wiimotes. it also prevents the keyboard from working in the bios screen. even then im limited to the few keys it lets me select in the dropdown box. no thank you. id rather get the soldering iron out and rewire the damn thing.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Enigmatic Entity on November 14, 2009, 04:23:15 am
One good use for that mouse is "Most Clicked Button". You'd probably get banned because the guy would think youwere using a macro. I got banned because I used "Mouse Keys" and it was able to make use of the "repeat" function that keyboards have... :drevil:

One of the good uses for additional functions on mouses/mice can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K15GdheA6Sc

;)
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on November 14, 2009, 10:03:23 pm
The old Macintosh mouse is a bit unwieldy, even if you know that it has two buttons to the side and that the little ball at the front can be clicked with some difficulty.

This is why I still prefer my standard three-button mouse ... which was made by Microsoft. :p
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Nuke on November 15, 2009, 08:51:33 am
i liked old macs. its amazing what you can do with an os that fits entirely on a single floppy disk. the one button mouse didnt bother me because thats how the os was designed. windows was designed for a 2 button mouse and so its a requirement there. but from a gamers perspective you want between 4 and 8 functions on that mouse (8 being about the maximum you can use comfortably). i dont know why windows doesnt have a keymapping utility built in where you can assign any function to any control on any input device. i think linux can do that by editing config files. not sure about osx.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Pred the Penguin on November 15, 2009, 08:59:21 am
Have any of you guys checked out apples new mouse?
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on November 15, 2009, 12:31:48 pm
Oh yeah, I read a little about it on the Apple website. They call it the Magic Mouse, and from how I look at it, it has zero buttons. :wtf:

http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: redsniper on November 15, 2009, 12:39:49 pm
Hrm... I still like being able to click and get some tactile feedback...
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on November 15, 2009, 12:44:28 pm
Same here. Just like James May finds it weird to steer a car using twist-squeeze throttles and brakes on the steering wheel, I'm very certain that I'll feel a lot less secure using the Magic Mouse.

It might make an interesting topic at a computer geeks' party, though. "Hey, check out my zero-button mouse from Apple..."
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: SpardaSon21 on November 15, 2009, 12:51:30 pm
Huh.  This "magic mouse" might actually be useful if the marketing is correct.  Or it could just be an overpriced attempt to add useless features that no one will ever use in an attempt to make Macs look more modern than PC's.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Nuke on November 15, 2009, 02:47:26 pm
you took away my knobs and now you want to take away my buttons? **** YOU!
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Janos on November 15, 2009, 02:54:50 pm
goddamn my satire was obsolete from the beginning
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Admiral LSD on November 16, 2009, 12:16:44 am
Huh.  This "magic mouse" might actually be useful if the marketing is correct.  Or it could just be an overpriced attempt to add useless features that no one will ever use in an attempt to make Macs look more modern than PC's.

As much as I like the multi touch scroll gesture on my MacBook (I have the right click gestures disabled because the standard one kept getting in the way of the scroll and it won't let me have two fingers + click while tap to click is enabled. My particular MacBook doesn't support the rest.), I'm not sure how it would work on a mouse. Looking at the reviews, they've altered some of the gestures in order to more closely replicate standard mouse actions. For instance, the scroll gesture is triggered with a single finger meaning you move to the centre and scroll like you would with a normal wheel mouse without thinking about it.

I'm not sure how well the multifinger gestures would work in that situation though. They may get uncomfortable after a while due to limited mobility of the fingers as a result of not being able to use the arm or wrist (which would be tied up holding the thing steady). Their software for ignoring accidental input would have to be pretty good as well since the entire surface is multitouch. If it can't adequately discern between genuine input and things like people resting their hands on it or minor movements of the fingers on the "buttons" then no matter how well the gestures work otherwise, it'll be too annoying to use.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on November 16, 2009, 12:19:50 am
Perhaps they use the iPod's touchscreen technology, which is working well for me so far.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Nuke on November 16, 2009, 08:00:46 am
touchscreen technology is nothing new, itd been around for at least a couple decades. frankly i always thought it was a bad idea to encourage users to poke at their lcds.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on November 16, 2009, 08:17:23 am
I agree. Wouldn't touching the screen make the liquid crystal layer uneven?
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Mongoose on November 16, 2009, 08:15:56 pm
Plus, you wind up getting greasy fingerprints all over the thing. :p
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Nuke on November 17, 2009, 06:06:10 am
^this
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Pred the Penguin on November 17, 2009, 08:47:45 am
Actually, I think the Magic Mouse can still... click.

It's interesting, but I'm okay with my PC mouse... that I use on a Mac.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Nuke on November 17, 2009, 07:21:35 pm
so they put a pizo in the thing to emit a clicking sound when you touch a button area.
just not the same.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Topgun on November 17, 2009, 07:22:45 pm
or it does like those phones and vibrates.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Nuke on November 17, 2009, 07:25:22 pm
ewww, thats discusting, but leads to intresting cyber sex possibilities  ;7
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Topgun on November 17, 2009, 07:28:41 pm
mouse porn  :nervous:
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on November 18, 2009, 10:46:57 am
/me is reminded of a Wii sex video that (probably) once existed on YouTube.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Pred the Penguin on November 19, 2009, 07:05:07 am
Sure... if that's your thing.

But what I mean is a traditional click... Ah what the hell, let's go with the vibrating sex mouse.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Ziame on November 19, 2009, 07:52:43 am
So they put a touch in your mouse so you can touch while you mouse?
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Pred the Penguin on November 20, 2009, 07:52:10 am
That's the essence of it...
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on November 21, 2009, 01:59:01 am
/me has successfully mindscrewed Androgeos.

:snipe:
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Goober5000 on January 22, 2010, 06:01:48 pm
:bump:

Thanks to yours truly, this mouse now has a custom profile (http://www.warmouse.com/game_list.html) for FreeSpace. :drevil:
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: SparK on January 22, 2010, 06:19:54 pm
This one is for the guy who made the collision detection code:

http://www.snenug.org/networkfun/stupida.pdf
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Gortef on January 23, 2010, 12:55:50 pm
:bump:

Thanks to yours truly, this mouse now has a custom profile (http://www.warmouse.com/game_list.html) for FreeSpace. :drevil:

Wonder how that would work out... ... ... anyone wanna be a guineapig and try it? :p
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Pred the Penguin on January 24, 2010, 07:55:01 am
I think I'd hurt my hand.
Title: Re: The Mouse
Post by: Klaustrophobia on January 25, 2010, 09:44:00 am
That's a similar argument to why not cut off your legs so that you can use a wheelchair

sorry to bump, but i couldn't let that go.


so full of win!  :D