Palm just showed us the Unreal Engine 3 running on webOS, which apparently took a couple weeks to port over to the platform using that fancy new PDK. It runs at a pretty smooth clip, with just a tiny bit of artifacting in our enemy's death animation. As an added bit of wow factor, Palm has it currently setup to demonstrate the game at 1 fps when in card view. Like most touchscreen shooters, this doesn't really solve the problem of simulating dual analog sticks, but it's still a fun and good looking engine for a mobile device. We're still unaware of any games that have been built for the mobile engine, which has now been shown for iPhone, Tegra 2, and will be headed to the iPad as well, but we have to assume we'll be seeing some before too long. Check out the webOS video after the break.
Quick note: There were 15 seconds of painful loading, after which the app crashed, and then it loaded again for another 15 seconds, and we cut all that out. It's a blank black screen, you aren't missing much.
Slowly but surely for a company so small compared to the big boys... They are putting out a product slicker & more refined.... Complete that with a new Hardware product or 2 to refuel the fire & Palm is good to go!... I'm pulling for them, & even if ur not a fan of theirs, competiton breeds innovation...
The selling feature of gaming on the Pre is that the thing has a FULL KEYBOARD to its disposal. I would rather play games that way.
Palm made it extremely easy for iphone devs to port their software and thats great for building the catalog, but what they need are some exclusive things now. "Only Palm can do this!" Although it will notify me of an email and let me pause the game to read it...
I hope they make a landscape slider with that crazy morphing/scrolling keyboard engadget showed off.
And 10 bucks a pop for all these openGL games is a bit to steep if you ask me. The only one that has tempted me is Earthworm Jim, but touch controls suck.
@S4Rs Be happy you didn't buy Earthworm Jim. The controls make it pretty much unplayable.
That being said, I'm not sure games using the keyboard will be any better. While I think the keyboard is great, and I've never had any issues typing on it, I think gaming on it would be a different story.
On a PC keyboard for gaming, I think most people put their middle finger on W, pointer on D, and ring finger on S, unless that's just how I do it. There's no way that's going to be possible on the Pre's keyboard. Instead, you have to just use your thumbs, and treat it as a D-Pad. However, if you're trying to go up and right, for example, you'd be mashing down on W, D, and E. The other option is to have a dedicated key for up and right, maybe the E. However, then you need to move your thumb entirely to another key. The best d-pad controls are when you can rock your thumb in a direction, instead of having to move it onto another button, and then constantly keep resetting it on the middle.
Looks interesting. We're seeing a lot of hype about these great looking games on these phones but you have to wonder how far out they are. With Windows Phone 7 looming on the horizon these companies have a limited amount of time to strike while the iron is hot and they have to give us more than just some quality games.
That said, this does look great and I will definitely keep an eye on it to see if it's worth picking up to keep me from having to wait on WP7. Microsoft better get on the ball before they lose all the interest they've generated in the last month or 3.
@DerekUGA If Windows Phone 7 Series phones were out today they wouldn't be wildly ahead of the competition in any meaningful way (if at all). WM7 is not coming out until the end of this year. Microsoft is the one that is failing to strike while the iron is hot.
"Like most touchscreen shooters, this doesn't really solve the problem of simulating dual analog sticks"
Who the hell would want to simulate dual analog sticks when God clearly intended us to play shooters with a mouse and keyboard?
Touchscreen + keypad shooter control (as on the DS) is much closer to decent than analog sticks, I reckon. Controlling a shooter with analog sticks just feels like playing with a hand tied behind your back.
@AdamWill Actually it's nothing like controlling on the DS.
First of all, you still need a virtual joystick for movement, which is horrible to control with, and then if you wanted it to control like a mouse for look/aim, you'd need to cover pretty much the entire screen. And that's not to mention the onscreen buttons you might need to switch weapons, jump, anything like that.
On the DS, you get the d-pad, which while not analog, is still better than a virtual joystick. Then, when you use the touchscreen for aiming, you get to look at the second screen. By using the touchscreen to aim, you don't impede your view of the action at all.
So unfortunately, dual virtual joysticks is probably the best solution on a single touchscreen, and real joysticks would be even better. It's really just the only way to not cover too much of the screen and still give you the control you need.
@AdamWill You said "Touchscreen and keypad control (as on the DS)". I assume you mean touchscreen for aiming, and so my point still stands. You can't use the touchscreen similarly to a mouse, as you suggest, because you still have to be able to see the action. Using it similarly to a mouse works well on the DS in Metroid Prime Hunters, for example, because you have the second screen to watch the action on while you use the touchscreen below.
As for using the keyboard for directional control, I mentioned this in a different comment on this page, but I'm not convinced that's the solution either:
"On a PC keyboard for gaming, I think most people put their middle finger on W, pointer on D, and ring finger on S, unless that's just how I do it. There's no way that's going to be possible on the Pre's keyboard. Instead, you have to just use your thumbs, and treat it as a D-Pad. However, if you're trying to go up and right, for example, you'd be mashing down on W, D, and E. The other option is to have a dedicated key for up and right, maybe the E. However, then you need to move your thumb entirely to another key. The best d-pad controls are when you can rock your thumb in a direction, instead of having to move it onto another button, and then constantly keep resetting it on the middle."
Agreed. Clearly the author of the article is from the ps3 generation. It's sad that people think something like dual analog sticks is as good as it gets. Unreal has been the premiere engine for fps games on the PC for many, many years and was only recently (past 5 years?) ported to consoles. It's almost insulting to Unreal's legacy to point to dual analog sticks as the way the game is "meant to be played."
Seriously if you're going to be a gaming column writer, L2P
So IF this ever gets ported to Android, there is going to be some flashing "BREAKING" banner on the top of the page.... it gets ported to WebOS and it barely gets any press.
Yeah, no bias. Nope. None at all.
(for further proof, just look at the top of the page concerning smartphone marketshare. WebOS is only 1% less than Android, and both of them are dwarfed by Apple and RIM, but if all you read were the headlines on here and other blogs you'd think that Android owned the market)
I wan't a webOS phone so bad.. I just want one with a landscape keyboard and a D-pad/optical mouse. WebOS seems to be getting pretty awesome for gaming, and I really want a phone with physical buttons for that.
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posted March 11th 2010 6:20PM
Slowly but surely for a company so small compared to the big boys... They are putting out a product slicker & more refined.... Complete that with a new Hardware product or 2 to refuel the fire & Palm is good to go!... I'm pulling for them, & even if ur not a fan of theirs, competiton breeds innovation...
Did he say Jeb Bush? I wondered where he was these days....
The selling feature of gaming on the Pre is that the thing has a FULL KEYBOARD to its disposal. I would rather play games that way.
Palm made it extremely easy for iphone devs to port their software and thats great for building the catalog, but what they need are some exclusive things now. "Only Palm can do this!" Although it will notify me of an email and let me pause the game to read it...
I hope they make a landscape slider with that crazy morphing/scrolling keyboard engadget showed off.
And 10 bucks a pop for all these openGL games is a bit to steep if you ask me. The only one that has tempted me is Earthworm Jim, but touch controls suck.
@S4Rs Be happy you didn't buy Earthworm Jim. The controls make it pretty much unplayable.
That being said, I'm not sure games using the keyboard will be any better. While I think the keyboard is great, and I've never had any issues typing on it, I think gaming on it would be a different story.
On a PC keyboard for gaming, I think most people put their middle finger on W, pointer on D, and ring finger on S, unless that's just how I do it. There's no way that's going to be possible on the Pre's keyboard. Instead, you have to just use your thumbs, and treat it as a D-Pad. However, if you're trying to go up and right, for example, you'd be mashing down on W, D, and E. The other option is to have a dedicated key for up and right, maybe the E. However, then you need to move your thumb entirely to another key. The best d-pad controls are when you can rock your thumb in a direction, instead of having to move it onto another button, and then constantly keep resetting it on the middle.
bring this to android OS and ill care.
I want a WebOS Tablet. I think it's a natural.
Cool I can already do this but better on my iPhone.
@thrash1256
But nothing else at the same time lemming boy.
It looks a little leggy when he kills something its like a black box or something.
How about unreal 3 for linux? anyone?
Is it really that hard to carry around a PSP?
Devices that try to do everything are usually not good at anything..
@dataninja
and a camera... and a GPS.... and a phone... and a PDA.... and a mediaplayer
Yeah, no thanks. I rather carry around ONE thing than have my pockets full of gadgets.
Looks interesting. We're seeing a lot of hype about these great looking games on these phones but you have to wonder how far out they are. With Windows Phone 7 looming on the horizon these companies have a limited amount of time to strike while the iron is hot and they have to give us more than just some quality games.
That said, this does look great and I will definitely keep an eye on it to see if it's worth picking up to keep me from having to wait on WP7. Microsoft better get on the ball before they lose all the interest they've generated in the last month or 3.
@DerekUGA If Windows Phone 7 Series phones were out today they wouldn't be wildly ahead of the competition in any meaningful way (if at all). WM7 is not coming out until the end of this year. Microsoft is the one that is failing to strike while the iron is hot.
"Like most touchscreen shooters, this doesn't really solve the problem of simulating dual analog sticks"
Who the hell would want to simulate dual analog sticks when God clearly intended us to play shooters with a mouse and keyboard?
Touchscreen + keypad shooter control (as on the DS) is much closer to decent than analog sticks, I reckon. Controlling a shooter with analog sticks just feels like playing with a hand tied behind your back.
@AdamWill Actually it's nothing like controlling on the DS.
First of all, you still need a virtual joystick for movement, which is horrible to control with, and then if you wanted it to control like a mouse for look/aim, you'd need to cover pretty much the entire screen. And that's not to mention the onscreen buttons you might need to switch weapons, jump, anything like that.
On the DS, you get the d-pad, which while not analog, is still better than a virtual joystick. Then, when you use the touchscreen for aiming, you get to look at the second screen. By using the touchscreen to aim, you don't impede your view of the action at all.
So unfortunately, dual virtual joysticks is probably the best solution on a single touchscreen, and real joysticks would be even better. It's really just the only way to not cover too much of the screen and still give you the control you need.
@jhoff80 I, uh, didn't say *this* was anything like the DS. I just said I find good DS shooter controls much better than dual sticks.
I didn't watch this video. But the Pre has a keyboard, right? Why not just use the touchscreen plus the Pre keyboard?
@AdamWill You said "Touchscreen and keypad control (as on the DS)". I assume you mean touchscreen for aiming, and so my point still stands. You can't use the touchscreen similarly to a mouse, as you suggest, because you still have to be able to see the action. Using it similarly to a mouse works well on the DS in Metroid Prime Hunters, for example, because you have the second screen to watch the action on while you use the touchscreen below.
As for using the keyboard for directional control, I mentioned this in a different comment on this page, but I'm not convinced that's the solution either:
"On a PC keyboard for gaming, I think most people put their middle finger on W, pointer on D, and ring finger on S, unless that's just how I do it. There's no way that's going to be possible on the Pre's keyboard. Instead, you have to just use your thumbs, and treat it as a D-Pad. However, if you're trying to go up and right, for example, you'd be mashing down on W, D, and E. The other option is to have a dedicated key for up and right, maybe the E. However, then you need to move your thumb entirely to another key. The best d-pad controls are when you can rock your thumb in a direction, instead of having to move it onto another button, and then constantly keep resetting it on the middle."
@AdamWill
Agreed. Clearly the author of the article is from the ps3 generation. It's sad that people think something like dual analog sticks is as good as it gets. Unreal has been the premiere engine for fps games on the PC for many, many years and was only recently (past 5 years?) ported to consoles. It's almost insulting to Unreal's legacy to point to dual analog sticks as the way the game is "meant to be played."
Seriously if you're going to be a gaming column writer, L2P
Just AMAZING......
So IF this ever gets ported to Android, there is going to be some flashing "BREAKING" banner on the top of the page.... it gets ported to WebOS and it barely gets any press.
Yeah, no bias. Nope. None at all.
(for further proof, just look at the top of the page concerning smartphone marketshare. WebOS is only 1% less than Android, and both of them are dwarfed by Apple and RIM, but if all you read were the headlines on here and other blogs you'd think that Android owned the market)
make a horizonal keyboard with a lil analog stick and palm can lock the mobile gaming world. common!
I wan't a webOS phone so bad.. I just want one with a landscape keyboard and a D-pad/optical mouse. WebOS seems to be getting pretty awesome for gaming, and I really want a phone with physical buttons for that.
WebOS is awesome in ways that people don't even know yet and it just keeps getting better at an incredible rate!!
Well Palm has freedom to come out with any form factor they want. They could come out with a product that has an analog stick of some sort.