Button Scheme

[Kdeeze]

This may seem a little stupid and may have been asked before but what is the button layout for the Pandora?

Like the DS,Xbox,or GP2X?

And I've been lurking this forum for about a year now. I just made an account now!

 

[DdlyArcher]

Just check the main page

 

[Kdeeze]

Just check the main page

-extreme facepalm-

And I haven't noticed this why?

Thanks anyway!

 

[Spirit]

Because it is the OpenPandora you will be able to change the key bindings as you like anyways.

 

[DeadName]

After looking at the button configuration, I couldn't help but wonder how that came to be. By that I mean, the letters used, and in the order they are set. After imagining it, I couldn't help but feel it was a bit awkward. This is really just because I'm used to the layout of the DS's buttons. I wondered for a moment why that wasn't used. I came to the conclusion that Nintendo must own a patent or some kind of copyright on that particular layout, and thus, couldn't be mimicked.

After studying the buttons for a few minutes, I actually noticed something rather peculiar. Well, maybe it's just me. I am a bit...different in my thoughts than most...but I digress. The layout used on the Pandora reminds me much of the SONY layout. Maybe you'll see it also if I explain myself: the normal configuration for the Playstation controller is of course, X, O, /\, []. Now look at the letters on the Pandora, which are the same letters used as a Nintendo device. The order... on the Pandora, the X is in the same position as the X button on a Playstation controller. Above that is Y. One could argue that the Y is very much triangular in shape. Why really, it is a the triangle, upside down and it's base segment placed vertically below. To the right, we have the B button. The letter B is comprised of two circular formations placed on top of one another. To the left, we have the A button. One could argue that an A is very much like a square. The top segment is removed entirely, and bottom segment removed and placed higher, causing the two side segments to collapse together like so. Don't you see it? The buttons are arranged perfectly as such to mimic a Playstation controller, using the base letters we are all used to! I can't help but believe that this was not a mere coincidence. The likeness is uncanny!

Then again, maybe I'm just thinking about it too hard. Or maybe, I just wanted to see if anyone here would actually take the time to read all that I've typed out here. Well...have you? Was this all merely a ploy to garner attention? Or perhaps this was a sad attempt to have you all believe I am smarter than I really am. Or maybe I'm just plain crazy. Or could it be this wall of text is the embodiment of my insomnia? (It is 6:00am here, and I've yet to go to sleep.) Whatever the reason, I do believe I am right about what I've said.

Your thoughts? Am I not the only one who has noticed this? Or am I really just looking too far into things?


Edited for typos. Lack of sleep certainly causes weird things to happen.
Weirder things have happened.

 

[tristan.clark]

IIRC the button layout is the same as the GP32. I think you're right regarding patents, thats why the Pandora can't use exactly the same layout as Sony.

 

[-Tj-]

One could argue that an A is very much like a square.

In so much the same way one could argue that an O is very much like a star? :huh:

Then again, maybe I'm just thinking about it too hard. Or maybe, I just wanted to see if anyone here would actually take the time to read all that I've typed out here. Well...have you? Was this all merely a ploy to garner attention? Or perhaps this was a sad attempt to have you all believe I am smarter than I really am. Or maybe I'm just plain crazy. Or could it be this wall of text is the embodiment of my insomnia? (It is 6:00am here, and I've yet to go to sleep.) Whatever the reason, I do believe I am right about what I've said.

Maybe it' your insomnia speaking... that's crazy talk. :lol:

I think Wookiee's right, looks like it's the same layout as the GP32, GP2X, and GP2X Wiz. Personally I never gave the button layout much thought; I never really think about the button names till I have to assign emulator buttons to them. Otherwise I usually go by memory (SNES format, Genesis format, PSX format... etc...). I'd have much preferred the buttons be named the way they are in the drivers (?), like how some PC controllers have numbers instead of letters or symbols, but I'm not going to complain about it at this point.

Of note: some of the early version photos have the buttons in different configurations, like Y X on top left, B A on bottom right. Hard to see in some of the photos and renders, but it looks like the buttons may be interchangeable. So if the configuration doesn't suit you, maybe you can just switch them around. This will probably mess with Pandora-specific games though. ("press A to start"... doh! it's ... what was it now? B? X? gah!).



... you know, Pandora's Box being a Greek myth... Greek symbols might have been pretty cool. Alpha, beta, and so on. Might make a neat personal project, actually... [puts in on the list of potential Pandora to-dos]

 

[craigix]

You can just (carefully) open the case and move the buttons around if you want to. We tried to use a layout which had not been used by any other big consoles. Remember that if you do move them you might have to adjust any software which names the buttons.

 

[Yigguth]

who looks at the buttons anyways

 

[emil10001]

who looks at the buttons anyways

Exactly, I can never see them as they are always sitting under my thumb.

Also, if any game requires you to hit a specific key at a specific time, then you probably don't have enough time to stop, read the buttons and press one. You're going to get to the point where you know which button is which in the different emulators and games, and at that point, you won't need labels anyways.

 

[WizardStan]

Also, if any game requires you to hit a specific key at a specific time, then you probably don't have enough time to stop, read the buttons and press one. You're going to get to the point where you know which button is which in the different emulators and games, and at that point, you won't need labels anyways.

Actually, that is a problem for me. When I play a game, I generally don't think of it as "this button is A, this button is B", it's "this button is jump, this button is attack", and when something comes up and says "push the B button as fast as you can" I have to stop and think which one is the B button again. It's less of a problem now, but that's only because a lot of games have started using the "push * button now" type game play, enough so that my brain actually has attached the letter to the button, not just the action it performs. Someone less familiar with video games might still have the problem of having to look at the button to hit the right label. Or have some kind of cheat sheet handy. First while I played PSX emulator, anytime one of these "hit the O key now" things came up, I had to call down the key bindings to remember which was the O button. To me, they were "accept, cancel, menu, inventory" or whatever, not "triangle, circle, square, ... and the other one"

 

[droneb]

OMG, Hope they dont start popping out Jap and EU/USA versions cuz they will make you tap B instead of X to accept, and X will become cancel.

that kept me nuts while playing the diferent games i sometimes failed to save the game because of that.

(ye ye yeah i know that for Jap O (maru) does go for the correct/yes and X goes for Wrong/no dont go yelling at me something like that later)

anyway im still looking forward for the xtra shoulder buttons, it would be odd to try to use throttle or rudder with any other buttons,
(never got used to play a flight simulator on the PSP for the Ace Games.)

then i remembered the enable analog on the PSX controlers, that was really annoying, i kept thinking the controler got busted for some time until i recall the button and i laugh for a while. this was also a good joke on the fighting games, so when someone paused and left the room you could just turn his analog off so when they started again they would be stuck for some moments.

then while writting this i remembered that i also love the only sole Power Shovel simulator i like so much that i looked and found my old dusty disk so im leaving this forum folks and get some sand loaded (yes i need those L2/R2 buttons for this babby too.

C you next time when the cases are produced and received maybe in two months(tm)?

(OMG srry my bad, ill pray for that lil' kitten)

 

[PoisonedV]

what the fuck did you just say

 

[(naw)mcx]

what the fuck did you just say

lots of words.

i think.

EDIT: Not all of them are words.

 

[j6cubic]

You can just (carefully) open the case and move the buttons around if you want to. We tried to use a layout which had not been used by any other big consoles. Remember that if you do move them you might have to adjust any software which names the buttons.

We could just handle this through a config file. /etc/pandora/buttons is a text file containing the names programs use for the buttons. The first line is for button 1, the second is for button 2, etc.

That way, you can do whatever you want to your buttons and compliant games will always get it right.

Might be a bit of overengineering, though.

 

[Gary13579]

what the fuck did you just say

I think he's talking about how for the US Sony series, X is okay and O is cancel, but in Jap games, O is okay and X is cancel. Technically, Japan is correct, since they made the bloody console, but idiots still want to argue and disagree about it.

The only system it ever should have affected would be the PSP, since every thing else is region locked? And there's hacks to change that on the PSP.

 

[S-r-ex]

Say Craig, why would one ever switch the positions of the face buttons? It would be more exciting to cut the keymat into individual keys and rearrange them into dvorak. Damn, that reminds me, I'll have to make use of my makeshift dvorak keyboard....

 

[Alibobar]

^ I am wondering about this actually.I'd like to re-arrange the keyboard as well.

Dvorak should work fairly well using two thumbs. (much better than qwerty imho, but I'm used to it).

Are the keys separate or on a large keymat? And if so, are they all exactly the same size so you could switch them around if you want?

I would probably change only the letters and keep the Fn-layout the same. Is this part of the bios or is the layout in a config?

 

[God Ginrai]

^ I am wondering about this actually.I'd like to re-arrange the keyboard as well.

Dvorak should work fairly well using two thumbs. (much better than qwerty imho, but I'm used to it).

Are the keys separate or on a large keymat? And if so, are they all exactly the same size so you could switch them around if you want?

I would probably change only the letters and keep the Fn-layout the same. Is this part of the bios or is the layout in a config?

Keymat: http://pandorapress.net/2009/09/22/photo-the-final-keymat-2/

-God Ginrai

 

[jlepley]

This seems to use the DS/SNES layout of buttons.