Tap / Press / Hold buttons are an important component of IDI technology and can deliver a huge benefit to your games.  Triggering one command on a button press and another on a hold is big stuff. I thought this week I’d make a run down of popular applications for this button behavior, to better provide everyone with examples of how to use it in their profiles.

Some previous uses of the Tap / Press / Hold button behavior

Duke Nukem Forever. View the profile

Tap: Melee / Press: Reload

Dragon Age Origins. View the profile

Triple-Action: Quickbar Abilities. Tap: 8 / Press: 9 / Hold: 0

Triple-Action: Quickbar Abilities. Tap: 5 / Press: 6/ Hold: 7

Crysis 2. View the profile

Switch Suit Mode. Tap: Stealth / Press: Armor

Dead Space 2. View the profile

Tap: Stomp / Press: Run

Tap: Weapon 1 / Press: Weapon 2

As you can see, Tap / Press / Hold buttons are a great way to double (or even triple) your command ability on a single button. The behavior assigned to tap will trigger instantly upon button release, and the Press and Hold functions will trigger as soon as the button is held for the specified length of time (in milliseconds). Fortunately, since most button clicks occur very rapidly, the “Press” minimum time can be set as low as 150milliseconds (or 1/7 of a second) and still work reliably.

For more information on some of the other Smart Button types, I strongly recommend visiting the IDI Smart Button page. What kind of uses can you imagine for a Tap / Press / Hold button?