[RELEASED] FingerGestures - Robust input gestures at your fingertips!

On desktop, only Mouse Gestures will work due to Unity limitations - Otherwise, TouchGestures should work just fine on iOS and Android devices.

 

Quick update to let you guys know that I have now setup a bunch of dedicated forums for FingerGestures on my website, as this thread is starting to become very impractical to provide good support. From now on, I would really appreciate if you could use the new forums instead of adding to this thread.

 

Great Idea!

I tried registering for the new forum but WordPress says User registration is currently not allowed.

 

Thanks for the notice, this should be fixed now. Not sure why it got turned off in the first place though...

 

Although 2 finger pinch works which I presume is actually a touch gesture rather than a mouse gesture?

 

On desktop, using the MouseGestures implementation, the pinch gesture is emulated using the mousewheel. Is that what you're mentioning? Or did you actually manage to do a pinch gesture with two fingers on your desktop touch-screen?

 

Yes, I physically used two fingers on the monitor and moved them together and apart to achieve the zoom and scale in the demos that used the pinch.

 

And the rest doesn't work? That doesn't make much sense to me, since all the gesture recognizers go through the same "code path"...

 

That's why we wondered if there could be a code fix for it since it must be detecting multitouch at some level for the Win7 desktop.

 

Quick question, I have a pool cue I want to drag with a swipe and take the speed/velocity of the swipe to use in an AddForce, how would I go about doing this?
Here's where I intend to use it, still rough code

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. function LateUpdate()
3. {
4.     if (Input.touchCount > 0)
5.     {
6.         var theTouch : Touch = Input.GetTouch (0);
7.         var ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(theTouch.position);
8.        
9.         if(Physics.Raycast(ray,hit, 1000))
10.         {
11.             if (Input.touchCount == 1)
12.             {
13.                 if (hit.collider.gameObject == this.gameObject)
14.                 {
15.                     //Receive my swipe speed/velocity here
16.                     ProcessCueMovement(/*pass speed/velocity here*/);
17.                 }
18.             }
19.         }
20.     }
21. }
22.  

 

You would take a slightly different approach with FingerGestures. You would register to FingerGestures.OnSwipe event and implement your pool cue movement logic in the event handler - Here's a bit of pseudo code to illustrate this:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. void Start()
3. {
4.    FingerGestures.OnSwipe += MySwipeEventHandler;
5. }
6.  
7. void MySwipeEventHandler( Vector2 startPos, FingerGestures.SwipeDirection direction, float velocity )
8. {
9.    if( your_raycast_function(startPos) == poolCueObject )
10.      ProcessCueMovement( velocity );
11. }
12.  

Nice and easy!

 

Ok, that's quite elegant, thank you for the prompt reply! I'm still getting accustomed to the library, perhaps a swipe is not what I'm looking for here.

So to drag the object I would call an OnFingerDragBegin to check if I've hit the Cue, then actually move the Cue within OnFingerDragMove, and then apply the Force/Velocity to the CueBall once the Cue collides with the CueBall, and also stop the movement of the Cue.

Is it possible to retrieve the velocity of the drag? Or do I need to calculate that manually per frame?

 

Yeah it seems you might want to use a drag gesture instead, but it's the same concept. At the moment, the drag gesture doesn't expose a velocity property though, so you'll have to compute this yourself - It's the total drag motion magnitude divided by drag start time.

 

Thanks for this fix imkira, I was having the same problem and this took care of it.

Is there any chance of getting this put into a patch and out on the asset store, so others don't run into this? This could cause a huge number of calls if you go between a lot of scenes with a persistent Initializer.

 

Thanks for the reminder. I've got some FingerGestures patch work planned for the whole day tomorrow, so that was quite timely

 

Great to hear, Thanks!

 

Thank you Spk, the excellent plugin, took me awhile to get my head around (not well versed with C#) but it's a breeze to work with now. I'll be sure to rate and comment!

 

Thank you Fourthings, rating reviews are always very appreciated!

If you have some suggestions on how I can make it easier to jump into the library, please let me know. I'm planning on writing a proper manual for it, with step by step instructions, which should really ease the process for new users.

 

I've got a fix coming for this in the next update I'm planning on releasing sometime next week. For more details, please check this forum thread: http://www.fatalfrog.com/?page_id=474&mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=5.0#postid-19.

 

Patch,

How do i use your TBDragOrbit modified code? Do i add this to the original TBDragOrbit.cs? Or is it a separate script i add?

Sorry just not a super scripter.. I dont quite get it yet.

Thanks

Q

 

Patch,

Ok so i figured out that i have to kind of patch those functions into the existing script.. I have them in but of course there are a bunch of references that dont exist because you are doing other things as well so i will try and sort through the code and get it working.

Thanks

Edit:

I am not sure how to reference this line : Camera rayCam = inputMngr.raycastCamera; I assume it is trying to get the raycastCamera from the current inputMngr object.. but how do i do that? Hmm maybe i make a public object and assign it to that object.. will try that. The rest are just variables i believe to keep track of things like the dragLatched and dragging and pinchLatched and ignoreFinger etc..

Edit:

So i got rid of all my errors.. i manually added a ray camera and a collider object.. But it just seems to always work.. not sure what i am doing wrong.

Q

 

Ok i have something working now.. When i get it totally figured out i will post my code.

Q

 

So i think i am making good progress now.. My code is a mess of trial this and that.. I need to implement it into my main project to see if it works. But with Tool Box group of functions which are the ones that i am using to interface with my PlayMaker code.. How do i adjust the Long press time and the Tap Count timings? I have opened up all the TB scripts and i dont see any reference to the Duration field anywhere.

I expect that the code that i have in there thanks to Patch should really be a part of the TBInput Manager script maybe.. Unless you needed it on a per case basis.. not sure..

Q

 

The TBDragOrbit uses the default GestureRecognizers automatically created by FingerGestures at initialization. In the code, you can access them via the FingerGestures.Defaults property (e.g. FingerGestures.Defaults.Drag will give you access to the default global drag gesture recognizer).

The toolbox scripts are simple wrappers around the default gestures. Therefore, if you need to change the long press time or tap count, you will have to change this on the default gesture prefabs directly (search for Default LongPress and Default Tap). The catch is these changes will have a global effect, and will not just be limited to a particular TB* component.

If you need that kind of advanced functionality, you should create a new object in your scene, add the relevant GestureRecognizer component to it (e.g. LongPressGestureRecognizer) and then configure it with the appropriate settings for your use case (e.g. tap count, number of fingers, long press duration...). These settings will only affect this particular gesture recognizer, leaving the rest of your application unaffected. Finally, you will have to register to this gesture recognizer's events via code and handle them accordingly.

The Toolbox scripts were initially intended as basic higher-level scripts to get people up and running as quickly as possible, but they are quite limited in their current design. I might revamp them into something more powerful/flexible in a future update though, depending on demand.

 

Hehhehe I will have to read this a few times. I have almost no idea what you just said.. it is kind of funny.. not in reality just to me i imagine.

I love the Tool box scripts.. I think it is probably what the masses would want.. Kind of a canned solution that works right out of the box. If you need to adjust from there you have at least given 80% of the people what they needed already.

This is the one that i am interested in i think.. But i dont really know how i do what you talk about in this paragraph:

"If you need that kind of advanced functionality, you should create a new object in your scene, add the relevant GestureRecognizer component to it (e.g. LongPressGestureRecognizer) and then configure it with the appropriate settings for your use case (e.g. tap count, number of fingers, long press duration...). These settings will only affect this particular gesture recognizer, leaving the rest of your application unaffected. Finally, you will have to register to this gesture recognizer's events via code and handle them accordingly."

I dont mind customizing the script to add say a float for Press Duration... but not sure how i get that info back to the main handler. I thought it would make sense when i opened up the TBTap.cs script but it was not obvious how i would add the Duration to the Long Press.

Thanks!!!!!!!! I am getting way closer and the collider version of my Orbit script works perfect in my test scene and on my iPad... so that is very cool!!

Q

 

It's partly my fault for not having better documentation up there. I'm currently hard at work on fixing that though, and I will soon have a complete wiki site up with setup instructions, tutorials, How-Tos and scripting references.

FingerGestures was originally intended purely for a programmer audience that could find their way around, and not really as a "drop in play" solution. However, I'm quite confident I can make it more useful to the "less code savy" audience out there as well, and I've got a few things planned in that regard, such as playmaker integration, revamped toolbox scripts, and much better documentation.

 

Sounds great.. Is there another hint you can give me so i can add a Float to the Long Press script?

Q

 

As it stands right now, you cannot specify different long-press durations on the TBLongPress toolbox script, because they all use the same default LongPressGestureRecognizer.

If you are fine with that, and you just want to tweak the longpress duration, you can simply change it in the default LongPress gesture recognizer prefab. To do this, simply perform a search for "Default Long Press" in your project assets. The object has a "Duration" property that is set to 1 second by default. You can change that to whatever you want, but keep in mind this will have a global effect on all your other systems using the default long-press gesture recognizer (via toolbox or via the FingerGestures.OnLongPress events).

Did that help?

 

Oh ok yes i will search and see what i find.

Thanks

Q

Edit:

Found the settings. I can adjust on a global scale and that will be fine for now.

I managed to get the Camera Orbit working in my test scene fully i think.. I can manually control the camera in my PM code and register the touches on objects etc. And it only adjusts the camera when it first collides with an invisible square object that is on my GUI camera layer so that is easy to set up as well.

Ok just found something that messes me up.. When i use the TB functions and i click on something and drag it moves the object by default... can i remove that functionality? I dont want it to move anything. I thought it was just part of the TB Drag script but it seems they all do it.. I will look for that function and see if i can disable it.

Q

Edit:

No worries i added a Bool to the TBInput Manager to turn on and off moving objects.. I could not figure out how i was supposed to turn that on and off on a per object basis.

Q

 

So i have this all running on my main project.... seems to work pretty good. Happy with it. Converting my project to use this new interface between FG and PM.. I think it is going to work quite well..

Having a bit of an issue with a single tap and double tap on the same object.. I have the following on my object:
TBFinger Down
TBFinger Up
TBDrag
TBTap

I check for down kind of like a Hover with a mouse it highlights the object and brings up information about it. Up cancels that of course and so does Drag.. If you drag your finger then it is not a mouse down so it cancels.. Maybe a better way to test that? Then i do a Double Tap test to see if you want to open up the object or animate it.

It all works great except the double tap needs to be more like a triple tap. I assume it is because the taps are being eaten up by the other methods.

Is this just a really bad way of doing this? Or is there a way to tweak it to make it better?

Q

Edit:

Funny if i change my double tap to a single tap test it works pretty good.

Q

 

Hello,

I just purchased FingerGestures but your website with the forums and documentation appear to be down. Is there an ETA for getting that back up or an offline download of that content available anywhere? Thanks!

 

Hello Sarus,
I'm in the middle of switching host, it should be back up within the day. I'm waiting on the tech support of my new host to restore my previous site image on the new machine - they're a bit slower than expected. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

So far i am loving FG.. I was not aware that it auto switched input methods so that when i was testing it uses the mouse and when i build to my iPad it changes to touches... And by unaware i mean before i bought it.. You should make that something you highlight on your sales page... Maybe it is there but i did not notice it. It was the reason i did not want to use it in the first place. I had a system using EZGui that auto switched for me and the only reason i went looking for a different solution is that my pinch actions i built with EZGui were too sluggish for some reason. Probably just how i had it set up. Anyway. Love it.. i have my input system all integrated into my main project and it seems to be working great. I need to clean up the scripts a bit and start duplicating what i have across about 30 objects.. I had to modify the TBDrag script again to allow for the different triggers to fire and just turn off the actual transform modification of the objects.. Worked perfect i now get live position data when i need it to dynamically place my info boxes etc..

Thanks again!!!

Looking forward to where this plugin goes in the future but for now i think i am actually getting everything i need from it.

Q

 

Hey Qholmes, glad to hear you've got everything working the way you desired, and that you're enjoying the plugin. Thanks for the suggestion on highlighting the fact that FG automatically switches input methods for you depending on your current platform. It's there but it's indeed not very obvious or probably not worded correctly. I'm planning on redoing this page soon to improve its marketing power - need to learn more about that craft too

I've been thinking about where to take FG next, and I'm definitely going to move in the direction of making it even more accessible to everyone. I'm planning on doing this through various means, including much improved documentation, a complete tutorial, a second pass at the toolbox, and proper integration with PlayMaker and other popular visual scripting packages. Let me know if you have other suggestions on this topic.

 

Playmaker integration would be REALLY fantastic!!!!

 

Hehe yeah, I've had so many requests about it that I'm going to get hung if I don't get this done soon I'll get started on it after I release a small update next week to fix a few issues (2.3).

I SWEAR!

 

I find the current integration to PM is totally adequate for me.. I am sure it could be more elegant.. But the Mod that Vonchor did gave me what i needed but of course something like that but integrated already would make much more sense...

I was able to fire events based on the input and also send position information to my FSMs

I was also able to edit settings in the FG scripts from within my FSMs like the Pitch and Yaw in the Orbit controller script which was very cool... So the Orbit zoom control takes care of my camera movements but i can still manually override the position or change the zoom limit or something like that. So that when a person double clicks on an object the camera automatically pans and zooms to a set position.

I am still not sure that having all of those TB scripts on one object is a good idea and the fact that i set it to a single Tap for my Double Tap i am sure is not good but anyway.

Maybe a multi TB script that handles all of those functions or something like that so that it was more streamline or something.

Q

 

Ive got a problem ,maybe its because Im new to C# coding but how do I create a system where I can combine a tap and a drag gesture.Whereby if I tap and lift up it spawns a tap but if I tap and drag it creates a drag gesture?

 

First, let's get the terminology straight so we're talking about the same thing What I call a tap gesture is a rapid "press release" of the finger/mouse at the same screen location (within tolerance radius). A drag gesture is "finger touches the screen > finger moves > finger released" sequence.

FingerGestures already does what you seem to be wanting to achieve. You need to register to the OnTap and OnDragBegin/Move/End events. If the user simply press release his finger at the same screen location, the OnTap event will fire. If he press the screen and then move his finger past the tap gesture move tolerance radius, the drag gesture will kick in instead - the tap gesture will not fire.

Did that help, or did I misunderstand your question?

 

Hi there! Let me first say thank for FingerGestures, it's a fantastic package.

My question is: I'm trying to set up a system where I have a game object and when I tap it, dragging is enabled on it. What I did was add a TBDrag and TBTap, disable TBDrag by default, and add a script like this:

Code (csharp):

1. public GameObject go;
2.  
3. void OnTap ()
4. {
5.     go.GetComponent<TBDrag>().enabled = true;
6. }

When I tap on the object, it does enable the TBDrag, but the object can be dragged even before tapping it. The disable doesn't seem to stop it from being dragged.

How can I disable the dragging behavior until I tap the object?

Thank you!

P.S.: I apologize if this has been asked before, I'm not sure how to search within a particular thread. Is there a way like on other forums?

 

Hi Incendiary, glad you're enjoying FG!

You did things correctly, the fault is mine - but i've fixed it in the upcoming v2.3 update I plan on releasing tomorrow. Basically, the TBInputManager doesn't check if the TB* components are enabled before forwarding them the input events, so they fire away regardless of their enabled status.

You can fix it by replacing the following code in TBInputGesture:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. void FingerGestures_OnFingerDragBegin( int fingerIndex, Vector2 fingerPos, Vector2 startPos )
3. {
4.      // check if the object is draggable
5.      TBDrag draggable = PickComponent<TBDrag>( startPos );
6.      if( draggable  !draggable.Dragging )
7.      {
8.           ...
9.  

by the following:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. void FingerGestures_OnFingerDragBegin( int fingerIndex, Vector2 fingerPos, Vector2 startPos )
3. {
4.     // check if the object is draggable
5.     TBDrag draggable = PickComponent<TBDrag>( startPos );
6.     if( draggable  draggable.enabled  !draggable.Dragging )
7.     {
8.  

The key part is the "draggable.enabled" check that prevents the drag event from being forwarded to the TBDrag component.

That should do the trick, let me know how it goes.

I have setup a dedicated forum for support, but you're out of luck here too because my website is currently down due to transferring to a new host Hopefully it will be back up soon.

 

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I have things working quite well i think but i just did a full build with all scenes.. only 2 but now it does not work and as soon as i touch the screen it dies... Supposed to be sending something right now.... of course.

On a hunch i put my Initialize prefab in my first scene and removed it from the other scene i have been working on.. does my TBInputManager have to be in the main scene too?

I am kind of dead in the water and no ideas.

Q

Edit:

So it seems to be the PlayMaker mod... i get a SendEvent ToFsmOn GameObject ...... file name Unknown error... sup that? If i stay away from touching anything it seems to work ok.

Q

 

It works, thank you!

 

Pinch doesn't seem to work with the Unity Remote (using Android and Windows) I have to run the game on my phone to test it.

Is this a known issue?

Thanks!

 

sorry my mistake SPK .I didn't add in the tap gesture recognizer in the editor ....doh!

But now I have got it all working the tap gestures only report tap 60% of the time using the unity remote and android using a samsung GTI9001+.
I need rapid taps to work as Im making a fast paced game.Hope the update solves this issue.

 

It's a known issue, I've got a fix for that in the upcoming 2.3 update I'm going to submit today.

 

Kinda hard to tell, as this seems to be something specific to your project, and apparently PlayMaker related. What kind of error message do you get via the XCode debug console?

 

Quick update:
- The site is back online on the new host!
- The new forums are up
- Submitting the v2.3 update today!

 

Yeaaaa for the update.. i got something to my client so i will jump into Unity 3.5 and all my plug ins updates for it.. should be good stuff or chaos......

Yes it might be just Play Maker related but it is the Mod that is doing it so maybe has to do with how FG initializes or something??

Here is my error...

NullReferenceException
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.Fsm.SendEventToFsmOnGameObject (UnityEngine.GameObject gameObject, System.String fsmName, HutongGames.PlayMaker.FsmEvent fsmEvent) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.Fsm.Event (HutongGames.PlayMaker.FsmEventTarget eventTarget, HutongGames.PlayMaker.FsmEvent fsmEvent) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.Actions.SendEvent.OnEnter () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.FsmState.OnEnter () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.Fsm.EnterState (HutongGames.PlayMaker.FsmState state) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.Fsm.SwitchState (HutongGames.PlayMaker.FsmState toState) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.Fsm.DoTransition (HutongGames.PlayMaker.FsmTransition transition, Boolean isGlobal) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.Fsm.ChangeState (HutongGames.PlayMaker.FsmEvent fsmEvent) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.Fsm.Event (HutongGames.PlayMaker.FsmEvent fsmEvent) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at HutongGames.PlayMaker.Fsm.Event (System.String fsmEventName) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at TBComponent.Send (.Message msg) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at TBFingerDown.RaiseFingerDown (Int32 fingerIndex, Vector2 fingerPos) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at TBInputManager.FingerGestures_OnFingerDown (Int32 fingerIndex, Vector2 fingerPos) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at (wrapper delegate-invoke) FingerGestures/FingerDownEventHandler:invoke_void__this___int_Vector2 (int,UnityEngine.Vector2)
at FingerGestures.RaiseOnFingerDown (Int32 fingerIndex, Vector2 fingerPos) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at FingerGestures.PerFinger_OnDown (.Finger source) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at (wrapper delegate-invoke) FingerGestures/Finger/FingerEventDelegate:invoke_void__this___FingerGestures/Finger (FingerGestures/Finger)
at FingerGestures+Finger.PostUpdate () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at FingerGestures.UpdateFingers () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at FingerGestures.Update () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
at TouchScreenGestures.Update () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

(Filename: Line: -1)

 

I've just submitted update v2.3 to the asset store!
The release notes are available in the dedicated thread on the new forums