Mouse Button Swap

[DJO]

Greetings from New Zealand!

I am looking for advice, hints, and thoughts.

I am looking for software or a way to temporarily make the Left mouse button act as the Right.

To explain more fully;*

I am a disabled computer user, paralyzed from the shoulders down,* and as such my means of using the computer is quite different from the average user. With regards to mouse control l use a headmouse pointing device,* basically this means that where l move my head the cursor moves correspondingly.* The system is extremely fast and accurate. for mouse click/ing, the headset has a small puff tube, so instead of click and double click, l puff and double puff.
For 99.9% of applications this system is brilliant, fast and makes computing in all it's various forms wonderfully accessible for me. When combined with an onscreen keyboard and more recently voice dictation, typing is a breeze.

Unfortunately, the disadvantage of the system in recent times is the fact that it is a traditonal one (left) button "mouse" .I say disadvantage only because so much of the new OS X and attendant software uses a 'two button' mouse as standard. Of course the obvious workaround is the control-click. For me however this is not so easy, simply because my inability to use a physical keyboard.

The onscreen keyboard l use does indeed let me have the the control key stay on so that l can simulate a right click. It certainly works okay but because the control key must be clicked again to release it (like the caps lock) it is not as fast as simply physically pressing the control key for the instant it is needed.
I have a piece of software that allows mapping of keystrokes to voice commands, so l can do a control click by simply saying a word which presses the control key and l have an instant right click this way.
Both of these methods work for me, and l use them extensively, especially the voice command method.
However there are some applications where they do not work, especially in games where the onscreen keyboard is not available and the voice command method does not give the desired effect.

In such instances, l am looking for some other way to acheive a right click.

In OSX-> System Preferences->keyboard/mouse->mouse, the primary mouse button can be changed from left to right. Great for 'southpaws' but if you do not have a 2 button mouse , it is of no great advantage.

In searching on the net l came across the program "uControl" . Among some very useful mouse tweaking features it gives an option to swap left and right mouse button and pressing a key reverts the mouse to normal. This looked perfect, however it is no longer supported and is Tiger incompatible.

Thus, would anybody have any ideas or advice with regards to my problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Kind regards,

David O'Connor

Specs:

Hardware Overview:

Machine Name: Power Mac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac7,3
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.1)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 2.7 GHz

System Software Overview:

System Version: Mac OS X 10.4.5 (8H14)

 

[nagromme]

Sounds like you've tried just about everything, but also check out USB Overdrive (see VersionTracker.com). It may be able to fake a right-click in new ways. But if it can re-assign the single button to be a right-button, how would you left-click in the game/app?

One thing you could look for (IF it exists) is something that turns a long left-click into a right-click (like some browsers do). Can your pointer do a long-puff vs. a short one?

Does the manufacturer of the pointing device have anything helpful to offer?

Good luck. I bet there's a way.

 

[DJO]

Another Revelation!

Yo nagromme!

you have given me a whole new avenue of investigation!

One thing you could look for (IF it exists) is something that turns a long left-click into a right-click (like some browsers do). Can your pointer do a long-puff vs. a short one?

I never knew of this feature until your post. It would be perfect as my puff lasts as long as l blow (this is really useful in many games, especially FPS, like Unreal Tournament 2004. I simply map forward movement to my puff/left click and l can run, drive, fly easily, or until I go red in the face!)

So l looked around and confirmed the long left click, brilliant, l have come across both software and hardware that has it, so cross fingers l may have success.

BTW, Apple Corps looks fun!

Cheers,

DJO

 

[motulist]

Here's an idea, someone should make a "biting mouse." It would probably be easy to convert a standard mouse into a mouth activated device. All a person would need to do is take the contacts that make a mouse click register and connect them to a plastic mouth peice of some kind. Then all you need to do is bite down to make a click. To get a right click all that needs to be done is take the right click conacts and put them into an inner mouthpiece that has greater resistance. That way a light bite would be a left click and a hard bite would be a right click. That way you wouldn't get fragged just because you ran out of breath!

The only difficulty would be how do you have it not left click along the way to a hard biting right click? Perhaps there could be a mechanical release system or a software option that registers a left + right click as only a right click. Just an idea so I figured I throw it out there.

 

[DJO]

Hi motulist!

wow! you should be a technician (maybe you are) that is a very innovative approach to the problem. I imagine it could work quite well.
All l need now is somebody handy in the electronics field.

thank you for your input, and if l ever get it made, l'll split the profits!

cheers,

DJO

 

[nagromme]

Just as an exercise/challenge I've been toying around for a couple years on and off with the idea that a complex first-person shooter could be fully functional with JUST a mouse and no keyboard--and even with JUST a one-button mouse/trackpad. For instance, to pick weapons, you would just look down at your own belt and click the fire button on the weapon you want to change to. And a quick click toggles forward on/off, while a long click fires the weapon. Jump would be automatic when you reach a gap, or else via double-click.

I have nothing functioning, but it's an idea I'll return to one day. I wasn't really thinking of it for alternative pointing devices, but now it occurs to me that it would work great that way.

Just curious, what control setup do you have in UT2004? I'm guessing strafe forward/back, and rotate left/right?

Stop by Apple Corps sometime if you're up for some multiplayer. Sometimes we're more active than others, but our matches tend to be fun and informal when we have them. UT2004 and Halo mainly.

 

[DJO]

Gaming Journey

Hello nagromme!

After reading your post, it occurred to me that my way of gaming is pretty much what you are thinking about.

With regard to your curiosity on my control setup for Unreal Tournament. I have put down a few thoughts on what I call my; "gaming journey"

I have done so in the hope that it may satisfy your curiosity regarding Unreal Tournament, give a possible comparison between what I do and what you are thinking about, and hopefully an insight into what gaming is for me. Please forgive the length, and I do get to Unreal Tournament!

So, some specific information:

Some games are often not accessible as the directional controls are either keyboard intensive or joystick/gamepad. This is very much the case with the driving simulations. Definitely many controls are often configurable but in 99% of the Driving demos that I have looked at left & right; the basic steering controls, are always seperate entities as is the case with acceleration. With these type of games, l have the often found myself sending e-mails to the various developers or support sections, asking if there was some way to have an option to have direction controllable by mouse movement and other key commands configurable.

At this point, I became aware that there were two types of driving simulations.

Type 1

Some already have the option for steering by mouse available. In this category, l was directed to try GamePad Companion and also USB Overdrive, 2 shareware preference-type apps. I tried USB Overdrive first and had instant success with some driving demos which l had collected for some time but l had never been able to play: Ford Racing 2, Total Immersion Racing , Virtual Grand Prix 2, steering was fine, it was simply moving my head either left or right. However, acceleration always needed to be controlled by a keystroke. With, USB Overdrive l was able to map the desired keystroke to mouse click, and I was soon speeding down the tracks with full steering control by head movement And full acceleration/deceleration control by mouse click - absolutely brilliant!

Type 2

This success made me wonder about other demo's l had, that have also been in the "not possible" box. The problem with these is that steering control is by keystroke, normally <- for left and -> for right. The documentation for GamePad Companion seemed to suggest that a mouse as well as other more conventional gaming devices;; gamepads, joysticks etc could be reconfigured in various ways. I wondered, would it allow my headset to act like a joystick for steering ?

So... (forgive me for taking so long to get to the heart of the matter) I tried out my theory with "MTX MotoTrax" a motocross simulation. In a very "guesswork" manner l set up GamePad Companion. Because it allowed the x axis to accept both left and right keystrokes, left and right turn using corresponding head movement worked very well. Unfortunately it is limited with regard to sensitivity, but hopefully the developer can work on this aspect.
I have had great success with many other titles: "Rallyshift", "Redline" to name 2. The lead programers were receptive to my needs and made some changes which made steering by mouse an option. This type of support is wonderful. There is no doubt that steering by head movement, is nowhere near as easy a game pad or driving wheel. But if it takes a good deal of practice on my part, then that is part of the fun and the challenge.

Something that I discovered, in my quest to control driving simulations, was that it often overlapped with the vehicles that are found in FPS;

Unreal tournament (as an example) or more specifically the 2004 version, is an extremely full featured game. . (As I am sure you are well aware) it has provided me with many hours of fun and entertainment both on my own and with friends. One of the big features of the 2004 version, was of course the introduction of vehicles. In the basic Unreal Tournament 2004, using the mouse to control vehicle movement seems to have been successfully implemented in the Manta and the Raptor (In fact most of the flying vehicles in general).
However, there are a number of vehicles, that can only be steered using the keyboard. For example: the Hellbender.
I posted the following message in the Atari Forums;

"I am wondering if there is a Mut , or can it be made possible, to have the keyboard commands for turning a vehicle left or right changed from the strafe left and strafe right keys to Mouse movement? thus, when I turn my head to the left the vehicle turns to the left and when I turn my head to the right the vehicle turns to the right. Acceleration, is no problem as my control device has a puff switch which I can use for acceleration quite successfully. "
my inquiry seemed to generate a great degree of interest and it before long I was fortunate enough to have 2 people make mutators that allowed me to control many of the land vehicles by mouse steering.

If you have managed to stay with me this far, l applaud and thank you.
to be more specific regarding Unreal Tournament 2004;

The preferences dialog which allows a high degree of configuration, is really important , being able to map the key for forward movement to to mouse click, means I have " struck gold". At this point, it is a wonderful piece of software; "Voice Commander" (which is really what began my "revolution" in the gaming world, through its ability to map keystrokes to voice commands) which comes into play. Of course it takes time to set up my voice commands so that they correspond to the various keys. If possible I will always try and use the defaults that are provided. It is then a matter of taking the keyboard command and assigning a voice command. So for example, when I say the word "zap" the software will push the button for fire. It can be a lengthy process, setting up commands and checking that when they are spoken the required action takes place successfully. Obviously the process is longer or shorter depending on how many keystrokes the game requires.

And how good is it?

With regard to movement of my character it is extremely fast and very fluid. I think that this is because having the "mouse" on my head removes some "intermediate" information levels.
By that I mean, for the able bodied person, there are stages between the message to move, going from the brain and its arrival at the keyboard. The message must travel from the eyes to the brain, be processed from a thought into a command, this must then travel down the arms, to the fingers, which must then push the correct keys, to achieve the desired effect.
For me, the message from the eyes, goes to the brain is processed and then to the head muscles which instantly move in the direction required. So what I am saying (I think!) is that because of the shorter distance my speed can in fact be quite superior. My friend's, say that I whizz around like a mad man and they can never get a bead on me, so moving quickly is not a problem.
Of course, I definitely am lacking when it comes to who has the fastest "trigger finger" . Saying "zap" to fire is never going to be as fast as someone pushing a key, also when I say the voice command it will press the key once which is not much good if you are wanting to spray your opponent with a large hail of bullets. However the unusual advantage of this has been, that I have had to become extremely proficient at the art of the "head shot". If I only have one shot then I have to make sure that it goes straight to where it will do the most damage. I have over time found ways to regulate and increase the rate of fire from my weapon in my voice control program and there are always various mods and mutators that can do the same for a lot of the "FPS" games.
Thus , with the ability to move very quickly and a high-level of accuracy ("one shot - one kill") I find that I can be pretty competitive.
With regards to going online, I can pretty much hold my own. But I find that it does not have a great appeal. In general, I have found that online combat seems to be populated by people that are either very rude, very young or a combination of both. For me, the appeal of going online is the chance to meet people from all over the World and at least say hello and where you might be from. Except for rare occasions this does not really seem to happen.


Thus, gaming for me as a disabled computer user, has and continues to be an amazing journey of discovery. Many games, that I once wistfully watched able bodied users enjoying easily, are now entirely possible for me. Certainly, the process is not simply pushing keys on the keyboard or using a gamepad or driving wheel. But the amazing software that some very clever people have put together, the online thoughts and advice from people such as yourself, combined with time and practice on my part has given me many hours of enjoyment both on my own and in regular LAN parties.

Perhaps, most important, Gaming in a fuller way, has given me the chance to be on a more equal footing with others in the gaming and computer world.


Kind regards,

DJO

 

[nagromme]

I know what you mean about UT vehicles. It just so happens that one of my recent experiments has been with gamepad control in UT. Supposedly it's too buggy, but with some tinkering I got it working perfectly. And with a gamepad you have full analog axes (left stick) for strafing--and for vehicle control too. You can turn "just a little" if you have a gamepad, while keyboarders have "all or nothing" steering. I bought a gamepad mainly as an experiment, and found it inferior to mouse for aiming, but superior for vehicles.

I'll have to look up those mouse-steering muts--they could be nice for ANYbody just starting out with UT, because frankly vehicle control is confusing compared to how Halo works, and has a learning curve. My sister loves UT04, but she won't set foot in a vehicle because the controls are too different from walking and it annoys her.

BTW, I assume that head-mounted control works like a joystick or gamepad (or laptop trackpoint nub), in that it controls the acceleration of the crosshair, rather than the absolute position the way a mouse does? I've found that acceleration makes it tricky to pinpoint a target--not impossible, but not as easy as a mouse. The same would be true for head-mounted cursor control in any app I would think--very doable, all the same, but what if there's a way to have both absolute and relative (acceleration) control?

I think I have an answer for that, and now that I own a gamepad I intend to do some programming and try it out. If it works as well in person as in my head, aiming and shooting with a gamepad or other "centering" device (like yours, I assume) could be more intuitive then ever. My intent is to eliminate the "overshoot" annoyance, but without using auto-aim (which seems to be the usual fix for console games).

Or it could be just obnoxious--I won't know until I try it

Or it could have been done a million times before, just not in any game I've tried...

I can see what you mean about head-control having its advantages. People work to improve hand-eye coordination... but the HEAD is probably well coordinated with the eyes automatically! Every time a person turns to look at something, the head and eyes are in synch.

I bet you're an Instagib fan. Me too--and I have a small collection of Instagib muts that allow some variety. Someone made "Explosive Frags" on my request: every kill makes a Redeemer explosion. That means you can get chain-kills, racking up points for "bystanders," but it also means you have to be very careful when to shoot and when not to--or you'll be blown up too. It adds a different dimension to Intagib. Fun with one other human, plus one bot that you can "use" against each other

A random idea for walking/firing: what if you assigned a spoken word to TOGGLE forward motion? Then click/puff would be free to fire your weapons instantly. Probably wouldn't work well in every map though, only ones where you cruise a lot OR camp a lot.

I know what you mean about people you find in online gaming... if you're much better/worse than others on the server, you're liable to get flamed. That's why I like the skill-matching in newer games (like UT2007) to help you find a server. The problem of "anonymous = rude" remains though. On the highway AND the Internet...

The Apple Corps crowd tends to be young (wish I could say the same of me--30s) but there are all ages--and the rude ones don't tend to last since we have a Code of Conduct!

 

[Nate4747]

This reminds me of the software that was included with the PowerMate device I bought a while back. It allowed the button to be configured for click and long click. I think this is the same functionality you require.

Griffin, the company that makes this device has just released a program called Proxi that allows for customization routines in OS X. I am not sure if it can do precisely what you are looking for, but it allows for the simplification of common routines and it might help in some other way. It works with Apple's speech recognition technology too, so that could also be helpful.

Here is a link for that program. http://proxi.griffintechnology.com/

It seems to me that someone would have developed a device that exploits pressure sensors for biting. One could achieve a much greater degree of control by biting or moving the mouth. Have you checked to see if such a device exists?

 

[DJO]

Thanks Nate4747,

will certainly check this out!


cheers,

DJO

 

[DJO]

Hi Nagromme!

I know what you mean about UT vehicles. It just so happens that one of my recent experiments has been with gamepad control in UT. Supposedly it's too buggy, but with some tinkering I got it working perfectly. And with a gamepad you have full analog axes (left stick) for strafing--and for vehicle control too. You can turn "just a little" if you have a gamepad, while keyboarders have "all or nothing" steering. I bought a gamepad mainly as an experiment, and found it inferior to mouse for aiming, but superior for vehicles.

Bravo the experimenter!

I'll have to look up those mouse-steering muts--they could be nice for ANYbody just starting out with UT, because frankly vehicle control is confusing compared to how Halo works, and has a learning curve. My sister loves UT04, but she won't set foot in a vehicle because the controls are too different from walking and it annoys her.

I have the muts, could I email them to you?

BTW, I assume that head-mounted control works like a joystick or gamepad (or laptop trackpoint nub), in that it controls the acceleration of the crosshair, rather than the absolute position the way a mouse does? I've found that acceleration makes it tricky to pinpoint a target--not impossible, but not as easy as a mouse. The same would be true for head-mounted cursor control in any app I would think--very doable, all the same, but what if there's a way to have both absolute and relative (acceleration) control?

With regards to acceleration and speed, one of of the very nice features of USB overdrive , is the ability to have a great degree of control over these 2 areas:








I can see what you mean about head-control having its advantages. People work to improve hand-eye coordination... but the HEAD is probably well coordinated with the eyes automatically! Every time a person turns to look at something, the head and eyes are in synch.

Yup, l reckon this is the case, it is a weird perk of my condition!

I bet you're an Instagib fan. Me too--and I have a small collection of Instagib muts that allow some variety. Someone made "Explosive Frags" on my request: every kill makes a Redeemer explosion. That means you can get chain-kills, racking points for "bystanders," but it also means you have to be very careful when to shoot and when not to--or you'll be blown up too. It adds a different dimension to Intagib. Fun with one other human, plus one bot that you can "use" against each other

Believe it or not, I am not even sure what Instagib is!, I am more to check it out right now!

A random idea for walking/firing: what if you assigned a spoken word to TOGGLE forward motion? Then click/puff would be free to fire your weapons instantly. Probably wouldn't work well in every map though, only ones where you cruise a lot OR camp a lot.

Man Oh Man!, being able to play in this way would be like magic and has for a long time, been a big dream of mine. Woohoo, it would be such a buzz to go on this sort of slaughter. Being careful, agile and accurate is my style and I revel in having reached a high-level of proficiency. However, I have to admit that sometimes especially with some guns it would be fun to just "blast away"! (I believe, that you have hit a nerve there my friend!)
Yes indeed, I have tried controlling forward motion by a voice command. That does work but instead of moving very quickly as I do by controlling with the puff switch, when using voice the character moves a step or two for each voice command, so to get any semblance of fast motion I am constantly saying "run, run, run, run,, run..." until I am going Blue in the face!
however, your notion of a TOGGLE approach is something that I have never considered and at certain times in certain places could be very useful indeed! Thank you!


I know what you mean about people you find in online gaming... if you're much better/worse than others on the server, you're liable to get flamed. That's why I like the skill-matching in newer games (like UT2007) to help you find a server. The problem of "anonymous = rude" remains though. On the highway AND the Internet...

In agreement on that one!

Your thoughts and ideas are interesting, well reasoned and give me much to think about!

Kind regards,

DJO

 

[nagromme]

Believe it or not, I am not even sure what Instagib is!

Instagib means insta-kill. It's a modified Shock Rifle, and one shot kills--every time. No shield or keg can save you, and it doesn't matter whether you hit the head or not. It's one of the standard mutators that ship with the game, along with a Zoomable variation. It's popular especially for CTF: no health, shields or weapon changes to worry about, just the basics: aim and shoot. You spawn with the Instagib rifle and that's all you get (sometimes with infinite ammo even).

I am constantly saying "run, run, run, run,, run..."

I do that anyway, so it wouldn't be a problem

BTW, re the toggle idea, some games (not all) allow you to assign the Caps Lock key to a function--and it naturally works as a toggle. Might be something to play with. (I don't think UT allows that, but maybe with a mutator.) Then again, if you happen to have software that provides sticky Shift and Option toggles, I know you can assign those keys to movement in UT.

 

[DJO]

Thank you

Hello and greetings to all from New Zealand!

This is just to let everybody know, that I have had success with my initial inquiry.

I eventually, managed to track down the programmer who was responsible for the mouse button swap feature in the; "ucontrol" program which I have come across in my search.
To refresh memories, this program provided a number of ways to tweak and configure the mouse. The feature in particular that interested me, was the ability to swap from left mouse button to right mouse button, and then swap back again by a keystroke.
Unfortunately the program had been discontinued and did not work in Tiger. However, after some correspondence with the programmer, he was kind enough to write a program for me which swaps my left mouse button to a right mouse button and a by pushing a keystroke swaps it back again.
By mapping the keystroke to a voice command, I simply say the word; "swap" to change from left to right.

It works perfectly in all standard applications and also in all of the game applications in which I have tested it. It is outstanding and I am extremely grateful that the programmer was prepared to take the time to do this for me.

I am also, very grateful to everybody that contributed their thoughts and input, with regard to my query. You all provided me with many new avenues of exploration and possibilities. I learned a great deal.

Many thanks,

Kindest regards,

DJO

 

[Eniregnat]

Hello.

I have emailed Apple concerning dissability issues, and Apple has always gotten back to me. I will try to find the email, and get it to you. They are always looking for ways to improve Universal Access. Actualy, the one thing they do not get back to me on is on improveing the TTS voices- go figure.

I might suggest, if you haven't already tried, Smart Click which allows one to use headmouse with out using any mouse clicks. There is a two week free trial of the software.

I will also search my bookmarks for alternative mice. I have seen a bite-mouse, but I do not know if it has OSX drivers, or where to find it.

 

[DJO]

Hello Eniregnat!

Thank you for your thoughts. It is interesting to hear that you have had success corresponding with Apple regarding disability issues. I have in the past sent them e-mail, but I have never received a reply.

My biggest difficulty is that I am never sure, exactly where to send my correspondence. This is probably at the root of my problem. Thus, if you have a viable e-mail address I would be most enthusiastic to get that from you.

Thank you also for the link to smart click, it looks very interesting.

Kind regards,

DJO

 

[nagromme]

The author of your swapper app should post it on http://VersionTracker.com --I bet a lot of people would use it. I would have used it myself back when I watched DVDs controlled from a one-button mouse out of reach of the keyboard.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

In such instances, l am looking for some other way to acheive a right click.

In OSX-> System Preferences->keyboard/mouse->mouse, the primary mouse button can be changed from left to right. Great for 'southpaws' but if you do not have a 2 button mouse , it is of no great advantage.

How do you do this? I run 10.3, but in OSX-> System Preferences->keyboard/mouse->mouse all I have is track speed, scroll speed, and double-click speed.

 

[nagromme]

Panther may not have that, but in Tiger, you go to Keyboard & Mouse > Mouse, and on the right is your choice of "Primary Mouse Button"--left or right.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Panther may not have that, but in Tiger, you go to Keyboard & Mouse > Mouse, and on the right is your choice of "Primary Mouse Button"--left or right.

Grr...I guess that's a Panther thing (or lack there of) Where oh where art thou, o Leapord?