How to make panda3d accept controls faster?

Question

Hi I am trying to make a game on panda3d v 1.8.1 (python) but the controls seem to be very sloppy. One has to keep the keys pressed for a second or two to make things happen. Is there any way to make panda3d accept controls faster ?

Here's my code of my key handler :

 class KeyHandler(DirectObject):

      def __init__(self):
        self.accept('arrow_left-repeat', self.lookLeft)
        self.accept('arrow_right-repeat', self.lookRight)
        self.accept('arrow_up-repeat', self.lookUp)
        self.accept('arrow_down-repeat', self.lookDown)
        self.accept('w-repeat', self.Moveforward)
        self.accept('s-repeat', self.Movebackward)
        self.accept('a-repeat', self.Moveleft)
        self.accept('d-repeat', self.Moveright)
        self.accept('q-repeat', self.MoveDown)
        self.accept('e-repeat', self.MoveUp)
        self.accept('space', self.Dotask)
     def lookLeft(self):
        global camxy
        camxy += 2
     def lookRight(self):
        global camxy
        camxy -= 2
     def lookUp(self):
        global camyz
        camyz += 2
     def lookDown(self):
        global camyz
        camyz -= 2


    def Moveforward(self):
         global camx
         if camx < 57 :
           camx += 1
    def Movebackward(self):
         global camx
         if camx > -32 :
           camx -= 1

   def Moveleft(self):
         global camy
         if camy < 42 :
           camy += 1
   def Moveright(self):
         global camy
         if camy > -36 :
           camy -= 1
   def MoveUp(self):
         global camz
         if camz < 15 :
           camz += 0.5
   def MoveDown(self):
         global camz
         if camz >1 :
            camz -= 0.5

a = KeyHandler()

def set_cam(task) :

    camera.setPos(camx,camy,camz)
    camera.setHpr(camxy,camyz,camzx)

taskMgr.add(set_cam, "setcamTask")

The camera which I am using is the default camera of panda3d.

Any help would be appreciated !

rhaps0dy · Answer 1 · 2016-05-14T18:05:52.600

You should avoid using the "-repeat" handlers. They take just as long to trigger as more letters take to appear if you hold a key down in any textbox.

The usual way is to use a dict keeping key state:

class KeyHandler(DirectObject):
    keys = {"lookLeft": False, "lookRight": False}  # etcetera

    def __init__(self):
        DirectObject.__init__(self)
        self.accept('arrow_left', self.pressKey, ["lookLeft"])
        self.accept('arrow_left-up', self.releaseKey, ["lookRight"])
        taskMgr.add(self.set_cam, "setcamTask")

    def pressKey(self, key):
        self.keys[key] = True

    def releaseKey(self, key):
        self.keys[key] = False

    # Hopefully method will be passed bound 
    def set_cam(self, task):
        dt = globalClock.getDt()
        if self.keys["lookLeft"]:
            camera.setH(camera.getH() + 2 * dt)
        elif self.keys["lookRight"]:
            camera.setH(camera.getH() + 2 * dt)

a = KeyHandler()

This will also allow you to define user settings for keys more easily.

This is not the first or even most important issue with that code though. set_cam should really be a method of KeyHandler instead of declaring every variable global, and you should multiply movement by each frame's dt to keep the game looking the same speed with different framerates.

Yes, Panda3D is being developed actively. Check out the commit history on GitHub if you need convincing. :) — Thane Brimhall, May 29 '15 at 18:43
You can try `taskMgr.add(lambda t: self.set_cam(t), "setcamTask")` then, but I'm not sure if this is too hacky or it actually helps code organization. — rhaps0dy, May 30 '15 at 20:12
Note you can use polling by doing base.mouseWatcherNode.isButtonDown("arrow_left") or something of the sort instead of keeping your own key map. Also, please remove the erroneous statement about Panda3D no longer being developed; the latest version was released just two months ago, and GitHub clearly shows frequent commits. — rdb, Jul 03 '15 at 19:48

How to make panda3d accept controls faster?

1 Answers1