Touch Gestures for Visual Novels

[2dt]

Hello all. For those who aren't aware, I'm developing EVEN, a visual novel engine (info in sig below. first post kinda outdated though), and I'm in the process of incorporating programmable touch gestures into the interaction system. I've dreamt up many different scenarios, but I'm only one person and only have so much imagination:

What kind of touch gestures could you imagine using in a visual novel? It would help a lot if your format your response as:
(Gesture action) - (description of scenario where it would be used).

Example: Swipe - for navigating pages of entries in the save/load menu.

Please repeat the above if you're going to describe more than one. If it's something unusual, describe how one would perform the gesture. Even the basic ones, like swiping or double-tapping, describe what you'd like to use them for.

Sky is the limit.

Appreciate any feedback.

[Broodelin]

Press and hold -> skipping through dialogue/narration
(Press and hold -> deleting a save file???)

Swiping up -> going back through dialogue/narration that has already been seen

[Alte]

Hmm, I'll try to recall the touch gestures from a visual novel.

1 Finger Tap - Next / Select

2 Finger Tap - Config Menu

3 Finger Tap - Skip Message

Flick to Up - Back Log

Long Touch - Auto Play

Flick to Right - Skip Already Read Message

Flick to Left - Hide Message

[LVUER]

Since Visual Novels are basically like reading novels with pictures, we don't really need fancy gestures other than we usually use in tablet/desktop, like:
Tap -> Next message
Tap (or double tap) and Hold -> Skip previously read message (or unread too, depending on setting)
Swipe up/down (on textbox) -> Message log/history
Swipe left/right (on textbox) -> Message log/history
Pinch (two fingers) -> Zoom in/out (CG only, but could also be used on sprite)
Tap and drag -> drag pictures (only when zoomed in)

Additional gestures:
Swipe left (or any direction you like) with five fingers -> quick minimize/hide (for when ecchi/hentai scene and your boss/mom/gf suddenly coming closer ;P )

[Alte]

If I seen a visual novel with a CG/ Art gallery incorporated touch gestures, it would have.

Drag - Pan

Pinch - Zoom

Double Tap - Zoom/ Reset

This is an example from Dischan - Juniper's Knot.

===================================================

Recently I found an Touch Gesture reference guide (PDF), By Craig Villamor, Dan Willis, and Luke Wroblewski
Last updated April 15, 2010.

The possibilities seems endless yet I feel many of these gestures would go greatly for mini-games aesthetics.

What I would I like to see is a shortcut for save & loading yet obscure touch controls may not be necessary if there's menu interface that can replace them with a tap of a button during screenplay.

[DaFool]

Can the coordinates of a finger push be sent back to the program, so a sprite that is touched would feel it and respond to the player (if there's Live2D or poking capability)

[Greeny]

Swiping across the screen causes dramatic wind to blow, blowing the characters' hair in the wind. (Complete with dead leaves flying across the screen)

[2dt]

Swipe left (or any direction you like) with five fingers -> quick minimize/hide (for when ecchi/hentai scene and your boss/mom/gf suddenly coming closer ;P )

This is an immensely useful feature. Good idea. I feel like developers should create a custom "innocent cover image" that shows immediately when you use that gesture.

Recently I found an Touch Gesture reference guide (PDF), By Craig Villamor, Dan Willis, and Luke WroblewskiLast updated April 15, 2010.The possibilities seems endless yet I feel many of these gestures would go greatly for mini-games aesthetics.What I would I like to see is a shortcut for save & loading yet obscure touch controls may not be necessary if there's menu interface that can replace them with a tap of a button during screenplay.

Thanks for the reference guide.

Can the coordinates of a finger push be sent back to the program, so a sprite that is touched would feel it and respond to the player (if there's Live2D or poking capability)

Yes. If you're talking about as an embedded VN, there are two ways to approach this:

• Write an event handler tied to the page object describing the sprite's changes, then have that event handler modify a progression, which will project desired changes onto sprite/scene.
• Do the same as above, only have that event handler call a custom javascript function YOU defined, passing to that function the event data and coordinates and stuff.

Which one you choose depends on what you're trying to achieve. If animating the sprite differently, best bet is to use 1. If dealing with your own game's logic, use either 1 or 2, depending on how deeply you've integrated your game with EVEN.

Apologies if a lot of this is flying over your head. I will explain in due time.

Swiping across the screen causes dramatic wind to blow, blowing the characters' hair in the wind. (Complete with dead leaves flying across the screen)

LOL. Sadly that's a lot more up to you than it is to me. I can give you the details of the swipe, but the hair and the leaves are up to you how you want to animate them. It CAN actually be done though.

[Greeny]

Oh, something that might actually be useful: Swipe down (with two fingers?) to hide the text box so you can look at just the sprites or CG. (with a slide down effect?)

[Alte]

Thoughts for the save/load menu & settings.

During screenplay:

Flick right - to access save/load menu.

Flick left - to access settings

On save/load menu:

Scroll up or down - to navigate slots

Flick left - return to screenplay

On settings:

Flick right - return to screenplay