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iPad Controller Release: MMO Tap Play for Star Trek Online

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
***Special limited time sale to celebrate our appearance on Priority One Podcast***

Hey everyone,

Just here to let you all know about our new iPad application. I want to cover this by saying we're STO players first and foremost and believe is has genuine ability to add immersion and enjoyment to the game, hence why we're posting here. If this causes any problems I'd urge a moderator or dev to get in touch with me, however having checked the forum rules I think we're ok :-)

We call it Tap Play, and it's an exciting new way to control your
World of Warcraft, Star Trek Online or any other MMO, Action using your iPad.

Using just your iPad and a small server application on your Windows or
Mac PC you can control your spell casting and gain access to regularly
used commands at the touch of a finger. Think of all that finger stretching reaching to press Alt and 0 together - gone! Much faster game play for all those situations where speed really does matter - the difference between life and death in your next PvP match!


The app includes bound keys for items such as the different power trays, spellbook, bag access and many more. For Star Trek you have full impulse controls, firing phasers and torpedoes and other similar expected functions. It can also be used with a number of other MMO's (so long as they support key binding or key
reconfiguration) so why not check us out? We're also running a small competition on our Twitter at the minute so take a look
Any questions please give us a shout, we'd love to hear from you.


This is the creation of myself and my wife (who also plays) she's been testing it for the last month or so and loves it, makes controlling in space so much simpler, check it out.

Check our blog out for full details or search on Google (don't fee appropriate to post the direct link)


This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Cryptic Studios Forum Usage Guidelines and Cryptic Studios Infraction Policy ~WishStone
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Would this work for iPhone 4 since external apps such as java are now available? This would be cool!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Would this work for iPhone 4 since external apps such as java are now available? This would be cool!

    No. This is due to UI constraints, the iPhone 4 has a significantly smaller screen than the iPad, we are however planning an iPhone app to work alongside this to allow you to steer your ship on the iPhone and to fight using the iPad.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    I got it, clever idea remotely sending keyboard cmds.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Awesome, I am hoping to try this later.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    AtomicFB wrote:
    Awesome, I am hoping to try this later.

    Awesome to hear guys. We're really proud of it and hope you enjoy it. Follow us on twitter or facebook to keep up to date.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Very cool but if you want it to look professional I'd do 2 things: redo the video, and edit out your side profile. You have no chin and it shows (and I'm sure you don't want every person on You Tube to see that lol) and second you don't want to load into STO only to see your ship blown up from a Deep Space Encounter. For maximum efficiency you want to immediately show off your stuff instead of waiting for your ship to "respawn."

    Just my two cents - other then that fantastic. Oh, the interface on the iPad looks great but doesn't "feel" like the Star Trek LCARS yet... for example instead of just clicking a button to increase impulse, you should have a slider that you can slide up and down to change the speed of the ship.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    HEy... you guys found a way to make the iPad useful...

    Applauds...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Very cool but if you want it to look professional I'd do 2 things: redo the video, and edit out your side profile. You have no chin and it shows (and I'm sure you don't want every person on You Tube to see that lol) and second you don't want to load into STO only to see your ship blown up from a Deep Space Encounter. For maximum efficiency you want to immediately show off your stuff instead of waiting for your ship to "respawn."

    Just my two cents - other then that fantastic. Oh, the interface on the iPad looks great but doesn't "feel" like the Star Trek LCARS yet... for example instead of just clicking a button to increase impulse, you should have a slider that you can slide up and down to change the speed of the ship.

    Ok so to respond.

    First of all - I'm quite happy with my body thank you, though I do
    find your attempt to comment on my 'lack of chin' making it less
    professional a tad offensive in principal. Still regardless we do plan
    on reshooting the video with a better quality camera in the next week
    or so, the video was shot when we half expected Apple to shoot us down
    and didn't really expect to make it to final release (you'll notice
    the WoW has undergone a large cosmetic overhaul since and the STO one
    has had tweaks.) It's in the works and the sound and perspective have
    both been noted - funnily I've received more comments on the video
    than the app! Odd!


    Secondly - the slider's an interesting point and something we have
    considered before, the problem from a technical perspective is that
    other than using the mouse to control it, the speed control in STO
    isn't actually a slider, you can't hold down your throttle button, you
    have to repeatedly press it. The sliders a nice principle and
    something that may come in down the line if we can figure out a way to
    make it work and work well. Interestingly we tried this in the alpha
    phase and we couldn't get it to 'feel' right, it was buggy and jerky
    and ultimately this gave the greatest level of control over your
    speed.That said - if people ask for it enough we might put out a
    'Beta' layout in the next version so people can try it out and see
    what they think to it - just because we didn't feel it was right
    doesn't mean it was wrong - if you see what I mean? It's a tricky
    balance working on iOS, over network protocols and into Visual C but
    we're willing to work on feedback received. I'm interested - have you
    tried using it? What were your thoughts if you have?

    Any other LCARS based feedback? We aimed to show a sort of transition between DS9 and STO with colour and layouts.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    david26th wrote: »
    Ok so to respond.

    First of all - I'm quite happy with my body thank you, though I do
    find your attempt to comment on my 'lack of chin' making it less
    professional a tad offensive in principal.

    I apologize if you were offended but I would have said the same about myself or anyone if shooting a video - you want it to show off your positives and not your negatives, even when its just a video about an application. When making a video I feel it important to film it at the best angles, etc. and I wasn't trying to offend you. Same when making movies, every actor has "strong features" and "weak features" and you don't want the weak to be noticeable.

    Again I apologize if it offended you!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Very interesting i might try this ... BUT is this not a little high priced, isn't it? 5,50 Euros (thats 7 $) for a reduced introducing price does not sound right ;).

    EDIT2: I hope for this pice the 'iPhone'-App will be a universal app included to the iPad Version ;) or at least for free.

    EDIT: I havn't tried this jet so i don't know if it's already in. But perhabs you could ad a configuration to the iPad app where you can change the emulated key of these buttons on the iPad UI.
    So i could use my custom configured keybindings. And you could easly define which button is for Teamspeak, Ventrilo or other voice chat program.

    MfG Michael
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Well all those people that wasted money on an Ipad now have a use for it...... a very expensive game controller..... lol
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    USSDelphin wrote:
    Well all those people that wasted money on an Ipad now have a use for it...... a very expensive game controller..... lol

    Hey-... you get a (close to) Starfleet Shuttle console... not just a game controller.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    anazonda wrote: »
    Hey-... you get a (close to) Starfleet Shuttle console... not just a game controller.

    Yea all for the great starting price of £429...... what a great deal...... I must rush out and buy one :p
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAl28d6tbko
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    I apologize if you were offended but I would have said the same about myself or anyone if shooting a video - you want it to show off your positives and not your negatives, even when its just a video about an application. When making a video I feel it important to film it at the best angles, etc. and I wasn't trying to offend you. Same when making movies, every actor has "strong features" and "weak features" and you don't want the weak to be noticeable.

    Again I apologize if it offended you!

    Haha no hard feelings. We've got a 1080p camera available this coming week so expect a hd reshoot ;-)
    AlgoMike wrote:
    Very interesting i might try this ... BUT is this not a little high priced, isn't it? 5,50 Euros (thats 7 $) for a reduced introducing price does not sound right ;).

    MfG Michael

    Whilst I respect your opinion I disagree here. Compared to other iPad apps on the store it's not that highly priced. There's a phrase used about the iPhone app store and that is the 'race to the bottom' whereby developers often put a 59p price tag on to attract many customers. However I believe whole heartedly this app is worth it's price tag and our customer research seems to agree.

    The iPad install base is significantly smaller than the iPhone therefore developers tend to need higher price to pay for development costs both having occurrd and to update an expand into the future. We have a situation whereby as small developers we need to look to cut a profit from it and honestly the bottom level pricing wouldn't let us do that. That said when we release our iPhone app there will likely be a different price point there due to the higher client base and lower app functionality due to the smaller screen size, we may even develop the app to be universal so you buy once and install on both devices. Time will tell, but in a world where people pay $20 for a starship this isnt really that much.

    All that said, thanks for the feedback, keep an eye on our twitter and facebook as we may run offers from time to time such as over the holidays. We also have a twitter competition running right now to win a copy.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    AlgoMike wrote:
    EDIT2: I hope for this pice the 'iPhone'-App will be a universal app included to the iPad Version ;) or at least for free.

    EDIT: I havn't tried this jet so i don't know if it's already in. But perhabs you could ad a configuration to the iPad app where you can change the emulated key of these buttons on the iPad UI.
    So i could use my custom configured keybindings. And you could easly define which button is for Teamspeak, Ventrilo or other voice chat program.

    MfG Michael

    The iPhone app is up in the air right now, if we can mak it universal and make it work well then obviously it'll be free. If a separate app is required we'll assess price nearer the time. For the record we hope to make it using the universal option.

    The ability to set custom keys should come in time. It won't be straight away but it will come, at least for some of the buttons (PTT as you say is a no brained)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    david26th wrote: »
    The iPhone app is up in the air right now, if we can mak it universal and make it work well then obviously it'll be free. If a separate app is required we'll assess price nearer the time. For the record we hope to make it using the universal option.

    The ability to set custom keys should come in time. It won't be straight away but it will come, at least for some of the buttons (PTT as you say is a no brained)

    Sounds good ...well perhaps when work is finished i'll give it a try :).

    MfG Michael
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Got it, used it, loved it.


    It is a awesome app in my opinion.


    Nice immersion tool to be honest.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    well until i get an ipad ill have to miss out on this but it does look pretty awesome.

    hopefully ill get to try it some day
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    AtomicFB wrote:
    Got it, used it, loved it.


    It is a awesome app in my opinion.


    Nice immersion tool to be honest.

    Thank you, ultimately this was our aim, to create a more 'trek' feel to playing.

    I would ask if people are downloading it to consider leaving an app store review for us :-)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    I purchased the app and I am trying to do the following and need help:

    1. How do I get the PTT to work with Ventrilo in STO?

    2. The number keys work fine from 1-0. However the CTRL range of numbers and the ALT range of numbers behave just like the regular number keys from 1-0. Is there something i need to do differently?

    Here is my setup:

    1. Macbook Pro running STO in STO UMV 1.2b5 Wrapper . The keyboard shortcut works fine with the keyboard.
    2. I am using your mac app + ipad app.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    jx99 wrote: »
    I purchased the app and I am trying to do the following and need help:

    1. How do I get the PTT to work with Ventrilo in STO?

    2. The number keys work fine from 1-0. However the CTRL range of numbers and the ALT range of numbers behave just like the regular number keys from 1-0. Is there something i need to do differently?

    Here is my setup:

    1. Macbook Pro running STO in STO UMV 1.2b5 Wrapper . The keyboard shortcut works fine with the keyboard.
    2. I am using your mac app + ipad app.

    At this stage I can't fully say.

    Obviously STO is a Windows game therefore we can only really offer
    full support for it running in Windows, I do know that the app works
    fine for WoW on the Mac though so it's not that. Could it be an issue
    with the virtualisation software receiving the commands (different
    keyboard layouts for example?)

    PTT should work if you set PTT in vent to T, failing that see below.

    Some trouble shooting options here I'd like you to try for me.

    1) Try setting your keybinds in STO, go to the options menu, find a
    power and use the iPad to enter your binds - if you press the Ctrl + 1
    button does STO enter Ctrl + 1 into the key binds menu? If not then we
    need to try something else.

    2) Is it possible to download the Windows client (an EXE file) and run
    that in the same virtualisation software? The Mac server is designed
    to work with Mac software so it could be that the Windows Software
    will be needed to work fully even though you're on a Mac, if that
    makes sense?


    Let me know how these turn out - number 1 is of particular interest.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    You can do the same thing using a touch screen LCD. It is cheaper and much more simple to use. I gave it a tought but found that I'm not in dire need of a 2nd LCD and $200 for a controller is a bit steep.
    Finally I was afraid that I would break the screen when I try to make my cruiser turn faster.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    david26th wrote: »
    At this stage I can't fully say.



    1) Try setting your keybinds in STO, go to the options menu, find a
    power and use the iPad to enter your binds - if you press the Ctrl + 1
    button does STO enter Ctrl + 1 into the key binds menu? If not then we
    need to try something else.


    When I try to key bind, this is how the ipad app is being recognized:
    - all the numbers come out the same, e.g. CTRL+1 = 1, ALT+1=1
    - even the full throttle is R and not SHIFT+R
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    jx99 wrote: »
    When I try to key bind, this is how the ipad app is being recognized:
    - all the numbers come out the same, e.g. CTRL+1 = 1, ALT+1=1
    - even the full throttle is R and not SHIFT+R

    Right, I've just got home and given this a go - or at least best as I can.

    The Mac client works fine on the Mac, with World of Warcraft.

    I can't vouch for Star Trek Online as I don't have a Mac capable of running it - virtual machine or otherwise. However as the software runs as intended for World of Warcraft when all the software's Mac based there shouldn't be a problem, therefore I suspect this comes down to the fact you're running STO within a virtual environment (something that was never planned for)

    My only suggestion is to try running the Windows Client in a virtual environment too - the Mac client and Windows client are actually very different beasts and I suspect that\s the cause of your problem. Unfortunately I can't offer much more support than that in this particular case.

    On a seperate note did you get the PTT to work? That should be relatively straight forward (assuming you're running an OS X version of Ventrillo/TeamSpeak etc)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Do you have or plan to have such an app for EVE online?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    I tried this on the Mac.

    Open a TextEdit and used the app with it. When I press "Full", I get r instead of R.

    I still can't get it to work on Ventrilo, however, I suspect it is some setting on Ventrilo I need to configure because i do see the t when I click on the PTT on the app, however, it doesn't seem to hold down the t and appear to be a single strike.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    In the Ventrilo client, in the setup when I set the hotkey, ventrilo recognizes the ipad button as T , however, it doesn't work inside the program -- but the keyboard works.

    I also tried this, instead of using the ptt, I assign the "target" button to Ventrilo and it recognizes it as a TAB, however, the app target button doesn't work after the setup but the keyboard tab works.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    It is against the forums ToS to advertise products from third parties. Since you charge money for this Tap Play software you are hence advertising this. If it was free, I don't see any issue. But this is a commercial, 3rd party application. Otherwise the work you've done looks great.
    david26th wrote: »
    First of all - I'm quite happy with my body thank you, though I do find your attempt to comment on my 'lack of chin' making it less professional a tad offensive in principal. Still regardless we do plan on reshooting the video with a better quality camera in the next week
    or so

    I think the video's aspect ratio is off: its width is scrunched-up, making everything look narrow. That's probably why it looks like you have no chin even though your profile is probably quite normal in r/l. :)

    This is most likely because you didn't upload an HD video yet it looks like your footage is widescreen that has been resized to 4:3 aspect ratio.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Ruivo wrote:
    Do you have or plan to have such an app for EVE online?

    In time perhaps, it'll be a modification of the current software, however we want to get things smoothed out as well as possible first then we'll look at adding dedicated controller sets (plus we don't play EVE ourselves at the minute)

    It is against the forums ToS to advertise products from third parties. Since you charge money for this Tap Play software you are hence advertising this. If it was free, I don't see any issue. But this is a commercial, 3rd party application. Otherwise the work you've done looks great.



    I think the video's aspect ratio is off: its width is scrunched-up, making everything look narrow. That's probably why it looks like you have no chin even though your profile is probably quite normal in r/l. :)

    This is most likely because you didn't upload an HD video yet it looks like your footage is widescreen that has been resized to 4:3 aspect ratio.
    Backseat mod ;)

    I've put a mention in the main post asking a mod/dev to get in touch if they see issue with it,it's something that has had an interest expressed in it in other threads so I saw no harm in posting it - we'll see what the decision is in time though, it's not here intended as an advert so much as letting people know it exists if that makes sense, that and to allow communication - though should a dev/mod believe it to be inappropriate I of course won't argue with it being closed.
    Actually I've just done a 'report' on the thread asking the mods to close if it's inappropriate, I hope it'll be seen as passable though.

    And yeah, you're quite right about the ration.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    On the windows side, the app works correctly. It the game it works well. However, I still can't get ventrilo PTT to work correctly with the app.

    When I open notepad, the keys are map correctly. When I hit "Full", I get R (on the mac side I get r). The ctrl keys and alt keys don't generate any numbers in notepad (on the mac side, they generate numbers in a textedit)
This discussion has been closed.