How WoW might be played on the Apple Tablet
by Lesley Smith 
Aug 31st 2009 at 5:00PM
The mythical Apple Tablet is one of those lovely shiny objects that we'd all love to have but has yet to officially be announced by Apple. Still, that doesn't stop folk dreaming now does it? Well Cult of Mac recently posted an article on on how the Tablet will change gaming. The essential gist of the piece is that the Tablet will be a larger version of the iPhone but -- and here's where it gets interesting -- it also features a demo video showing how WoW might work if you decided to play it on the Tablet.
The demo was created by an anonymous graduate student called, unsurprisingly, Jon Doe. Doe has used actual game footage from Darnassus to figure out how you could use your fingers to play the game, rather than the more traditional mouse and keyboard. He only really goes into moving around and how the movement of your wrist affects the character but it's an intriguing start. Multitouch is becoming a way of life, so how would it work if you controlled your toon with one hand and used the action bar with your right?
Check out the video above.
Filed under: Fan stuff, Odds and ends, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
felipeshaman Aug 31st 2009 5:08PM
Expect to see the new "finger-turning noob" coming up soon, considering they turn slow as with the keyboard.
Also that weird hand on the video freaks me out.
Karilyn Aug 31st 2009 5:33PM
The video was simulated. That wasn't a real hand, and he was using the keyboard to turn the character.
OBVIOUSLY you can set the sensitivity to turn it as fast as you desire. Of course, if you really wanted to control your character like that, you could simply use one of these...
http://liquidationonly.com/pics/touchpad1.JPG
And then you wouldn't have fingerprints all over your screen.
Edge Aug 31st 2009 5:08PM
Like every other crappy tablet, except the hyper expensive ones, the Apple tablet won't have a dedicated video card (but will still be hyper expensive) so why are we even speculating?
Aerows Aug 31st 2009 5:39PM
Apple charges a "cool tax". You can't be awesome unless you charge more for things than they are worth, that's why marketing is such a highly respected industry.
Jay Aug 31st 2009 5:09PM
Now let's see...Tap with 3 fingers...move to the left...push forward...damn i can't see my bar...pull back...uhg I'm dead.
K Aug 31st 2009 5:49PM
This is just a weird gimmick.
I can't see how anyone would want to substitute the precise controls of a mouse and the amount of buttons of a keyboard for...this.
Snark Aug 31st 2009 5:09PM
It's keyboard turning, so to speak. Not my first choice in playing WoW.
Karilyn Aug 31st 2009 5:31PM
Not really. Like I said, it looks identical to using a touchpad like laptops have, so you can easily set the sensitivity higher or lower as you want.
But if you really like controlling your character like that, just buy one of these
http://liquidationonly.com/pics/touchpad1.JPG
Seriously.
BigB Aug 31st 2009 5:09PM
kinda cool, but I don't think its as efficient as using a keyboard and mouse. Not to mention like on the iphone, your hand ends up covering part of the play field and I find that annoying as hell.
Clydtsdk-Rivendare Aug 31st 2009 5:16PM
Great for checking the AH while away, not so much while actually playing the game, heh. I'd suppose making movement more like mouse-movement would be an excellent place to start.
Theyas Aug 31st 2009 7:42PM
Or, to emulate mouse movement:
USE YOUR MOUSE. Ignore this gimmicky garbage.
ziggler Aug 31st 2009 9:16PM
kinda reminds of the new "amazing mind blowing new revolutionary keyboard change/new 32 bits technology" we saw a lot in the 70's and 90's... and that never worked :P
(virtualgammeboy and sega 32xcd, im looking at you!)
TiM Aug 31st 2009 5:17PM
So how do you jump?
Arktic Aug 31st 2009 6:43PM
Four fingers, triple click and roll you hand palm up?
Chips Sep 1st 2009 10:54AM
You can also macro it: 4fingers-spread, three fingers pull down, twist wrist to the left and double-tap-2fingers... Will make a cool thing but with more complicated moves you may summon a Diablo right form your tablet
Dreadskull Aug 31st 2009 5:16PM
Doesn't seem like it'd combine well with WoW, especially in raids/PvP or any area situation that requires fast thinking/movement and whatnot, not to mention that you'd be blocking part of the screen with your hands...
DigitalFirefly Aug 31st 2009 5:18PM
Don't we have tablet PCs out now? You could play WoW like this now if the game supported touch controls.
I'll stick with keyboard and mouse so I'm not blocking 1/2 the screen with my hand and arm.
sprout_daddy Aug 31st 2009 5:18PM
I have three Macs at present, and have owned ten, and I (a) have never wanted an Apple tablet, (b) don't see any reason Apple would wade into the craptastic tablet PC market, and (c) can't imagine playing a game on one. Other than that, the article really spoke to me :-)
Seriously, I know lots of people like the idea of an Apple tablet, but I can't see this happening any time soon, and as a gaming device, it would suck.
Nick Aug 31st 2009 5:22PM
How about two fingers to go forward, one to go back, and then you place your hand to the left or right of where you set the center of your move control to move.
For instance:
Forwards:
-------center----twofingers = Right
-twofingers-center------ = Left
Backwards:
------center-onefinger- = Right
-onefinger-center------ = left
Then make you use three fingers for the camera or something. Basically, make it like mouse movement.
Nick Aug 31st 2009 5:22PM
Or you could make a slide-out touch pad and use those controls.