Keyboard input in Sierra AGI games

guido · Post by **guido** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:07 pm

First of all, the Android port of ScummVM is simply amazing. Ever since I got my cheapo 7" tablet in the summer I've been on a quest to re-play all the old adventures without having to sit in front of a computer. ScummVM on a notebook is great, but on a tablet it's simply wonderful.

There are only two major problems, both which concern the old Sierra AGI games with the text interpreter. The first has been adressed a couple of times before - there is no portrait mode and the keyboard takes up at least half of the screen, making the games practically unplayable. There has to be a way to enable the Android port to go to portrait mode to allow a keyboard on the lower half of the screen.

I thought I had this problem solved after I got a little usb keyboard for my tablet. But there's a second hindrance: the keyboard input doesn't exactly behave like the original games - specifically the cursor keys don't move the character figure, but the mouse pointer! The AGI games should be completely keyboard-controllable and even in the SCI games the cursor keys should move the character and not the mouse. Are there plans to fix this in future versions? Most Sierra AGI games are also playable with DOSBox ports (with correctly working cursor keys), but ScummVM runs the games smoother.

Apart from these admittedly minor issues ScummVM is really a marvel on Android and I appreciate the hard work that has gone into the program very much! If I could fix the cursor-key problem myself I would do it, but I simply don't have the knowledge to do it. It would be really great if someone from the developer team could work on this.

Harley77 · Post by **Harley77** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 6:13 pm

I will second this one. Same exact issue as described by guido on my Galaxy S3. Portrait mode and correct cursor key mapping would be awesome.

Harley77 · Post by **Harley77** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:10 pm

After posting the above I came across an alternate build of ScummVM here: http://anddev.at.ua/load/scummvm_svn55436/1-1-0-7

It gives you a lot of options to change how scummvm works including mouse and keyboard controls. By disabling "Move mouse with joystick or trackball" in Advanced features, native cursor keys on USB keyboards work perfectly. You can also have it use relative touchscreen movement to allow positioning the cursor all the way down on the screen.

No Portrait mode, but this port at least makes it all playable.

guido · Post by **guido** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 8:29 pm

Thanks, Harley77 - I'll check this build out! It seems that it can be installed besides the normal ScummVM version, so there's no need to delete anything.

HunterZ · Post by **HunterZ** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 4:23 pm

Thanks, I'll have to try this. It sounds like it may fix the annoyance of not being able to control SCI0 character movement with the cursor keys on my bluetooth keyboard due to the fact that the official ScummVM Android builds seem to permanently bind the cursor keys to moving the mouse cursor instead.

QuinnHQ · Post by **QuinnHQ** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 12:45 am

I know this is an old thread- but still having this issue with the official build (1.7.0) on a Samsung Galaxy 3 tablet. Any way this can be fixed or implemented? Specifically the ability to move the character with the cursor keys?

SOLVED: Sorry- didn't realize the link is for an updated version, it works awesome. Highly recommended for anyone with a keyboard.