One of my best friends was just caught in an unfortunate explosion, and he has lost his left arm.
He's pretty into gaming, and i think recently he switched form Xbox to PC. He mentioned to me that gaming is something he'll really miss, and i've told him "No, way - we can work something out!"
Could anyone suggest what to start looking at? I've been thinking about a Joystick with secondary feet controls maybe? Any info/help would be awesome!
edit - Thanks everyone for replying to this! I came straight here when i started thinking of it because i trust hn community and the power of group think!
- Also i think he has been playing mostly FPS stuff.
- Razr Naga is coming up a bit so that could be a good starting place.
- Age of Empires Series
- Command and Conquer series (aka Red Alert Series)
- Stronghold Series
I am sure there are modern equivalent of these. Isn't starcraft in this genre?
There is a player who plays Starcraft at a moderately high level with no hands though, http://videosift.com/video/OMG-he-plays-Starcraft-WITH-NO-HA... .
With one hand you can still switch between mouse and keyboard for the most basic (grouping) shortcuts. Maybe there's even computer mice with some extra keys that you can configure to act like key presses.
I often play Advance Wars Dual Strike on an emulator on my phone with one hand when standing on public transport.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxgP1UVQyZpm5-1eIjRZd...
Take the Razer Naga for example (http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga). It has 12 configurable buttons on the side of the mouse, as well as 5 on top.
In League of Legends, you only require the following default key bindings on the keyboard:
(The following are crucial)
1. Q [champion ability]
2. W [champion ability]
3. E [champion ability]
4. R [champion ability]
5. D [summoner ability]
6. F [summoner ability]
(The following are less crucial, but almost required)
7. 1 [activate item 1]
8. 2 [activate item 2]
9. 4 [activate trinket]
10. B [teleport back to base]
Pressing numbers 3 and 5 through to 7 on the keyboard, by default, are to activate additional items, but it is very rare that you would have the need to activate more than 1 or 2 items in the game. I would say they are not required to be bound at all (or at least, I never press them).
Other useful keys to use in the game are Ctrl, Alt and Shift. They are modifier keys, which when pressed with the other key bindings or mouse clicks, allow the player to perform different tasks.
Of course, not all of this functionality needs to be bound to a key. Everything can be clicked with the mouse on the game's UI if need be. However, clicking the UI is rather slow, and I think it would be safe to say that a mouse similar to the Razer Naga would allow you to play League of Legends at a rather competitive level, with only using the mouse.
http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/28vkxa/fina...
Nimbus, Desktop Dungeons, Cogs, Osmos, Papers Please, Peggle, Bejeweled, World of Goo, Any poker game..
Maybes:
Machinarium, Evil Genius, World of Goo, Civilization V
With a controller like the G13 there's many more which could be programmed to playable state: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-G13-Programmable-Gameboard-Di...
I spent years devoted to it. It has endless depth, it's the best game ever invented, and one hand is one more than you need to play it well.
Geeking out in one-day fantasy might be a good alternative.
You should let your friend know that they are not alone and they almost certainly can still have plenty of enjoyable gaming ahead of them.
[1] - http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/video-games/disabled-gamer-shows...
[2] - http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/120per/ama_...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrMivdZ-mbI
http://www.dailydot.com/geek/ken-worrall-twitch-diablo-warcr...
Sorry to hear about your friend, chrissyb. Some great suggestions in this thread; only thing I would add is that so many PC games are getting optimised for controller these days, so the number of keys is small enough that a Naga may well be all you need to play them.
Unfortunately I don't know of anything in the way of custom joysticks/setups that might be helpful, but maybe I can offer some reassurance for your friend. Even with the standard input devices (mouse/keyboard, controller) people[1][2] have been able to adapt to very extraordinary circumstances. Anything's possible.
For PC FPS i would try a mouse with a lot of buttons on the left so you could put wasd on 4 buttons on the left so he could control the shooter enirely by mouse.
Depending on how much use he has with his left arm he could also probably build a simple custom Joystick to replace wasd movement keys...
Also i would get some One-Handed Keyboards for fast Typing with one Hand.
Hope he gets adjusted quickly!
Thanks for that!
I couldn't google any of this device, but I saw one in university lab. It was circular board - much larger than usual pedal-size with 4 springs at edges. It may be possible that it was custom built though.
edit: I mean, hell, dance dance revolution sort of does that already and the savants that play that can do crazy speed with their feet.
There was a girl at my school a couple of years above me who was born with no arms. She could write reasonably well, feed herself, etc. via her feet by using her toes like fingers. I was always impressed with just how able she was. She ended up getting her drivers license and everything with a steering wheel that she can use with her feet.
You're definitely on the money with your reference to the girl from your school too, our feet's dexterous movements are surely only limited by use/practice.
What type of games does he play?
Ben Heckendorn is known for very clever console modifications and has forayed into accessible controllers in recent years. He sells a custom made one-handed controller for a few hundred dollars, and this may be worth a look!
Something like a Razer Naga[1], a mouse with a ton of side buttons, could allow him to play other games with one hand. Probably not FPS though[2]. Other manufacturers will sell similar mice, I just thought of that one first and have no idea if it's the best.
You could get an IPAC[3] or other arcade control board (I've used X-Arcade kits[4] with success for other projects) and build some kind of custom control surface, maybe using a trackball or joystick and some big arcade buttons.
Final idea, if you're crazy: Bolt WASD onto a mouse, and wire in as extra mouse buttons or to a keyboard controller.
[1] http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga-epic
[2] Maybe sensors or pedals for movement? Seems like it would be hard to WASD with the side buttons on the mouse. That way you could get good enough mouse fidelity for aiming and still have enough buttons to do stuff.
[3] http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html
[4] http://www.xgaming.com/store/arcade-parts-and-accessories/pr...
I have no special knowledge on the subject, but I did a quick Google search. I'm sure you might have run across some of these before, but I wanted to share them since I'm pleasantly surprised by the depth of things that are out there.
* http://www.gamespot.com/articles/modder-creates-single-hande...
* http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/1/AGS/AGS-bespoke.htm
* http://kotaku.com/he-built-a-custom-controller-to-help-disab...
* http://www.game-accessibility.com/index.php?pagefile=motoric
My initial thought is there has got to be some kind of foot pedals for the left handed controls. If you can't find one, take an old keyboard and eliminate all the keys except the ones needed for gaming. Then attach foot pads to the gaming keys he needs. It will probably take some time, but he'll eventually get used to it.
Many of them were built for the PS2, so you need an adapter to play with something like the XBOX or Playstation, try http://xim4.com/.
Also check out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/70308014/kings-assembly...
I recommend the Razer Naga, or Razer Naga Hex. The hex has 6 extra buttons while the original Naga has 12 I believe. Both mice are in the $60-$70 dollar range but are well worth the purchase.
I stopped in to comment ( my first comment actually ) because games are a big part of my life, and I couldn't imagine a world without games. I'm a game developer by day and player by night. My best wishes go out to him and I hope he continues to keep playing games!
He ran 3D Studio by pushing the trackball and hitting keys with a stick gripped in his teeth...and with a pen, he could kick most of the studio's ass sketching - so long as someone set the sketchbook on his lap...he used that as a pickup line with the ladies.
Your friend is grieving. You can't fix that. But it will work itself out.
Looking for alternative controllers might be nice, finding some way to make do with the standard one could also help him gain more agility with the one hand he has left, which will be useful for many other things in his life.
There are also mice with a lot of buttons, like the Razer Naga: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004AM5RAM
Voice commands in games is becoming real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmsuTiuRaog
[1] http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-keyboards-keypads/razer-orbw...
