Playin' sudoku without the joystick

[David78]

Hi,

I'd like to navigate in the grid with the numbers instead of the joystick (2:up - 8:down - 4:left and 6:right)
and to switch to the small numbers mode without pushing on the joystick.

What I suggest is to use left menu button (the one use for statistics) to switch between the different mode.
Each time you push on the menu button it swich to the next mode...(insert number, then insert small numers, then mavigation mode)

The * or the # may also be used for it... (example * to insert numbers and small numbers and # to chose the navigation mode)

Anyone interested by this request ?

[David]

Interesting idea.  Thanks, David78!

It seems like you would be pressing the left menu button quite often to switch modes.  If there are three modes, you'd have to press it once, enter a number, and then press it twice to be ready to navigate to another cell.  That's four keypresses for one entry, with three of them farther away from the keypad than the joystick.  Are you sure you'd like this?

I'm very curious about why you don't like using the joystick.  Is the problem that you have a device with a lousy joystick?  (Wouldn't happen to be an Audiovox SMT5600, would it? )  Or do you just prefer not to move your thumb off of the keypad an up to the joystick, e.g., because it's less movement and therefore more efficient?

If I know exactly what it is that you don't like about the current implementation, it will help me to figure out the best way to fix it.

Thanks!
-David

[David78]

I want to play without joystick, because I play too much with the smoresoft sudoku game...  and, with the time, playing too much with the joystick may "brake" it.   
There's a lot of people who have problems with their joystick...

I agree with you, switching from one mode to an other may need a lot of pushes on the menu button.   
...But it will not brake the joystick...

(PS : instead of menu button, * or # may also be chosed)

My second idea may be interesting too :
* to chose enter number / enter small number
# to switch to navigation mode and switch back to enter mode / enter small number

I'm open to other suggestions 

[David]

I've been thinking about this and I have a couple of ideas I'd like to try out.  I'll see if I can get them into the next preview release.

[David]

You can get a sneak peek of the keypad navigation feature in 1.3 Preview 3.  It's not finished yet (it needs some polish and I don't have a way to turn the new mode off yet), but I'm interested in your feedback.

With this preview release, you can navigate around the grid with the keypad.  Press "5" to display the input box for the selected cell.  When the input box is displayed, you can press a number to enter that value in the cell, or press the "Back" key to dismiss the input box without making any changes.

If the selected cell contains a given value, you can't enter anything in that cell so the input box will not be displayed.

You still have to use the joystick to switch between pen and pencil mode.  I will probably move that to the left softkey and make the Enter key (also the joystick key) bring up the input box (the same as pressing "5" in keypad navigation mode).

I also plan to test a "goto" function which will allow you to press the box number and then the cell number to jump to a cell anywhere on the grid.  More on that in the next preview.

-David

[David78]

Hi,

Thanks thinking and working on my request.

I've tried the new navigation mode, and I like it, that's what I wanted.

But when you push on 5, I don't like the big square with the 9 numbers (I don't like this, because it hides what you're doing).

I suggest you :
1) to put a small sign in the down right corner of the square, showing you're in input mode. For example, a "goin' down arrow" or a small triangle like in the pencil mode.
2) And to make disapear the selection lines (like it's already done). It's a good idea you had !

I've thinking about switching between pencil and pen mode :
By playing with the 1.3.3 version, I've seen that when you're in navigation mode, if you push on "0", you delete the numbers written in your case.
It's not logic, because you're in navigation mode and not in input mode.

So, in the navigation mode, "0" may be used to swich between pencil and pen mode.

What do you think about this ? I hope these suggestions will help you in  your work.

Thanks

[David]

Thanks for the feedback! These are all good ideas that I'll include for the next preview release.

Just as a note, I plan to use the big input square for pen input in a future release. I was experimenting to see if it could be used for keyboard input as well, but I agree that it didn't work so well.

Thanks,
-David

[David78]

Ok, now, I understand why you put this big input square.
But, for the moment, you only have 1 to 9 in your big input square, don't forget that you'll also need to have the "0"... It's interesting to clear all the values of the selection square...

I have a question about this square, will it also appear if we don't play with a pen ?

Is there an other problem you're working on for my request ? I may also try to think about it... If I can help...

Thanks again

[David]

Thanks for the offer, David78!  I'll remove the input square and make it for pen input only.  I'm on vacation for the next week, so the next release will probably be delayed for a while.

[David]

Hi again, David78!

I've removed the input box in Preview 4 and made the keypad navigation mode an option in the game settings dialog.  "0" toggles between pen and pencil mode now, and the "5" key switches to the usual number input mode for the next keypress.  (As always, you can hold down the digit key in pencil mode to enter a pen value so you don't have to keep switching between pen and pencil mode.)

Let me know what you think.  And thanks for your patience while I was on vacation and couldn't get to this feature!

-David