As part of BlizzCon, the Blizzard team is inviting players to try out official game controller support in World of Warcraft: Forever for the first time. Visitors to the exhibition made first impressions by describing how the controller works in the popular MMORPG and pointing out the current limitations of its use.
- Game controller support is currently in alpha stage. Players who tried it noticed the corresponding warning. At the exhibition, characters of levels 1-10 can be tested in the starting area.
- Automatically detect game controllers and switch interfaces instantly. In the beta version, just press any button on the connected controller, and the game will switch the interface to gamepad control mode. Switch between modes without returning to a separate settings menu.
- The Xbox controller has almost a console layout. The left joystick is used to move, the right joystick is used to take pictures, A is used to jump, X is used to interact, Y is used to view, B is used to return, and the direction keys are used for abilities. LT and RT are modifiers that allow you to obtain additional command sets.
- Lots of ability buttons. LT, RT, and pressing them simultaneously activate other combinations of the home button and D-pad, while LB and RB allow you to switch between panel pages. The demo showed off three pages of capabilities and dozens of individual bindings, with reporter Jez Corden counting a whopping 32 combinations.
- Management by objectives. RB is used to switch between enemy targets, and you can use the joystick or D-pad to select the next target.
- Radial menus replace many familiar interface elements. Some menus and additional functions are centralized in the wheel and can be called directly from the controller. Through them, you can enter sections such as characters, bags, tasks, chat, special effects, group search, and collections.
- Gamepad binding does not disrupt keyboard and mouse layouts. Controller settings exist separately from regular keyboard bindings. You can assign an ability to a specific combination of controllers, then return to the keyboard to find that the previous layout remains unchanged.
- The camera and navigation also have special settings. In addition to the standard camera controls, there are fast character turns and individual settings for joystick sensitivity and camera speed.
- Support isn’t limited to Xbox controllers. Blizzard showed off the controls on an Xbox gaming controller, but the developer confirmed that other controllers will also work.
Please note that there is currently no confirmation that World of Warcraft: Forever will be released on Xbox or Playstation consoles. There’s also no specifics on when full controller support will appear in the PC version.
You can see a real-life example of how game controllers work in World of Warcraft in the video below.
