DeMunck - Controller Concepts

Crypt of the Necrodancer

https://braceyourselfgames.com/crypt-of-the-necrodancer/ 

Crypt of the Necrodancer is one of my favorite games of all time, something so easy to pick up

and set down again that I often find myself playing it while talking to friends.

As it’s pretty unique in terms of mechanics as it’s a rhythm-based roguelike,

I thought it would be fun and interesting to try and make a controller that heightens

the musical experience of the game beyond the keyboard.

Crypt of the Necrodancer is played solely with the WASD keys on a keyboard,

which I thought would be perfect to try and translate into an alternative controller.

Right now, I’m most interested in a controller that would possibly try to emulate a real life

instrument for the purposes of controlling the game. Are there any other specific instruments

besides a flute I could try to make work for this idea? Would haptic feedback be ideal

here in the design, such as the controller itself vibrating when the player blows a note?

Hollow Knight

https://www.hollowknight.com/ 

Another of one of my favorite games, Hollow Knight is a Metroidvania style 2D

platformer that involves the player exploring and purging the corruption of a kingdom

of bugs. It’s a property that is revered in the indie game community, with thousands of

people anxiously awaiting its sequel game, Silksong. As it is a beloved game for

myself as well, I think it would be fun to come up with an alternative controller for it—though,

I’ll admit, I’m less in love with any controller idea I came up with for Hollow Knight than

I did Crypt of the Necrodancer, as my ideas don’t seem thematic enough to warrant

an alternative game controller of any type beyond the standard.

The most interesting idea I had for Hollow Knight was the Etch-a-Sketch controller that I came

up with, mostly because I was thinking about the late 2000s NDS game, Drawn to Life—and I think it might be more accessible for people with ataxia, as the game pad is more

forgiving with how the inputs are triggered… but I do not feel confident in this. What’s a

way the pad controller might be more accessible? Are there any ways I can make this

Hollow Knight controller more thematic?