Multitouch Joystick
Virtual joysticks are often used in mobile games to allow the player to control a character, spaceship or vehicle. It acts as a real "analog" joystick where the thumb of the player, or another finger, moves the joystick on the screen. The mouse cursor can also be used to move a joystick. When the joystick is depressed, it comes back to its initial position.
While a virtual joystick could be created manually with a mix of objects and events, it's often simpler to use a virtual joystick offered in the Asset Store. They also come with behaviors allowing to easily move an object with it.
Add a joystick from the Asset Store to a game
The Multitouch Joysticks asset pack of the asset store contains free and read-to-use joysticks.
Create a joystick from scratch
A joystick object can also be created from scratch. It needs an image for the border and another one for the part that follow the player finger.
Move a character
While events can be used to check if a joystick is pressed and in which direction, it's often simpler to use a behavior that will directly read the joystick value and move the object in the appropriate direction.
The behavior to use depends on which movement and type of game you're creating.
Move a top-down character
The "Top-down multitouch controller mapper" behavior can be added to the character to make the character move according to player touches automatically. The default configuration will work without any change for single player games.
Note
Learn more about the Top-Down Movement behavior.
Move a platformer character
The "Platformer multitouch controller mapper" behavior can be added to the character to make the character move according to player touches automatically.
Add a button for the jump
A multitouch controller button can be created in a few steps:
- Create a sprite object - Attach a "Multitouch button" behavior to it
The multitouch button behavior allows to choose a button name. The same name must also be set in the mapper behavior for the jump.
Note
Learn more about the Platform Character behavior.
Move a character with a custom movement
Joysticks and buttons can be used for any movement in a very similar way than real gamepads. Interactions of each player can be checked with the conditions on the following screenshot.
Similar conditions can also be used on the joystick object and button directly.
Note
The Gamepad extension can be used with this extension to handle both touch screens and physical gamepads.
Handle several players on the same device
One joystick object can be created for each player. This allows to choose a different player number and eventually a different color for the joystick to help players tell them apart.
