The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD naturally came up in the conversation as Nintendo’s way of acknowledging motion controls I am not‘t must be mandatory and can be supplemented with alternatives for button input. Nintendo is clearly aware of the problems and obstacles it can create when forcing players to use motion controls. So for Anthony, “with Nintendo, it’s ‘random’ availability.”
Exceeded deadline
The problems with Super Mario Galaxy started the whole process in early 2020, when Anthony “addressed a Facebook group called Playability Initiative.”
“I shared my idea there and said, ‘Oh, are there any developers interested in helping?’ And a programmer named Jonah [Monaghan] came to me and said: ‘I like your idea. Let’s do it.'”
I decided to take a look at the code and learn from what he was doing and what we were doing in live streams.
For Anthony, creating this software was just part of the process — he wanted people to know about Overjoyed, so he asked Jonah, “‘Are you okay with live streaming the whole process so we can get awareness?’ And he immediately said ‘Of course’.” Anthony’s passion for advocacy and visibility are crucial to the success of Overjoyed, and by guiding the entire process over two years, the two were able to put their eye to this ambitious but simple project.
“About two years later we had a minimum viable product. And then Jonah had to go back to school and start working again so he couldn’t work on Overjoyed anymore. I didn’t want to just wait for him to have more free time, so I decided to look at the code and learn from what he was doing and what we were doing live.” So using Jonah’s live streams, Googling and searching YouTube for solutions, Anthony learned to program in C# to make Overjoyed a reality.
Again and again
But how exactly does Overjoyed work?
Essentially, Overjoyed is an overlay where you map moves and buttons onto a wheel that’s divided into eight sections, with the middle circle containing three more ‘buttons’ in the middle that can be activated by clicking the mouse or using the wheel. It’s infinitely customizable, and with a little tweaking, you can play almost any game using just one finger or gesture. The software can be used for PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch games via PC.
We demonstrated how Overjoyed works using what Anthony jokingly called “the best game ever — Microsoft Word.” Demonstrating the wheel, Anthony set Overjoyed so that depending on the direction of the mouse movement, it would respond by reading that as key input. Clicking on the ‘dead zone’ in the center added spaces while moving the mouse up typed the letter ‘W’. Seeing it in action, it’s a wonder no one has ever come up with the idea of using a mouse as a single-input controller before.
“I’ve always had the idea, you know like the joystick on a tablet or phone when you play a phone game?” he told us. “Why doesn’t that exist on a computer? Because I can move the mouse, so let’s figure out a way for me to use the mouse to play.” Anthony’s demo showed how simple the system is. By going into Overjoyed’s settings, you can change the sensitivity of the controller by making the window larger or smaller, turning the wheel quadrants on and off, and even changing whether the inputs require you to click or hold the mouse where it is.
“That’s really good for Mario Kart, where you can hold the gas the whole time and then turn it off and on. And then what’s really good for a rhythm game is you press the button once so it won’t hold it when you’re in the zone. Imagine to go left, right, right, you want to press the keys, and then you can set options for left click and right click.
It’s, as Anthony says, a system you can “fine-tune as much as you need,” and a way to make so many more games so much more accessible to players.
However, to use the software with the Switch, you need a bit of extra hardware – but that’s where the good folks 8BitDo enter.
8-bit D-through
To use Overjoyed with Nintendo Switch, you need to 8BitDo Micro Bluetooth gamepad. As I post this is an extra step where you may need help, 8BitDo’s help was critical to the project.
I always had the idea, you know like the joystick on your tablet or phone when you play a phone game? Why doesn’t this exist on the computer?
“They love accessibility,” Anthony told us at the start of our conversation, and the entire conversation was full of praise for the company. “It really started with me just reaching out to them and saying, ‘I want to be able to play Switch, can you help me? I’m over the moon, I want [it] that they can work with the Switch.’ They responded, I think within five hours, and said, ‘We’d love to help. let’s get [see] what can we do.'”
The collaboration involved the controller company and Anthony working together and using Gbros wireless adapter as the basis for Overjoyed on Switch. “Basically, this is Presretan’s story [the Micro] steering wheel to press the button and then [8BitDo’s] the adapter sends that button command to the Switch wirelessly via Bluetooth.”
The controller is plugged into the computer and after a little help getting everything turned on, you can tell the Micro (via Overjoyed) to do everything for the Switch, including turning it on. “Without them, Nintendo Switch support would be impossible.”
PikOver
One game that came up in our conversation was Pikmin 4. After demoing Suika with a controller, we were curious to see how a 3D game with multiple moving parts and strategies would handle Overjoyed. The results? A stunning success.
“I’ve unlocked a lot so far,” Anthony told us after loading his save file, making it all the way to the end of Seafloor Resort. His opinion of the game itself seems to have been the only factor limiting his progress. “To be honest, the game got a little repetitive after a while. That’s why I have all these guys [the leaflings] I didn’t get medicine here.”
Despite playing Pikmin 4 ourselves, one thing that quickly became apparent was just how many commands and buttons there are to remember. Anthony demonstrated running around, collecting Pikmin, and throwing Pikmin into a hub area — all with one thumb — but he ran into one problem when he first played the game.
“One of them is the ‘recenter camera’ [button]… This is where I have to figure it out, because it doesn’t tell you.” Pikmin 4 may have a lengthy opening guide, but many of its most useful commands are either hidden in later guides or require you to click joysticks.
But by using Overjoyed and programming it so that the ‘ZL’ (camera switch button) is recognized when the mouse returns to neutral, the camera became basically seamless, always following Anthony’s space traveler and Pikmin wherever they went.
Challenge without a controller
During our conversation, Anthony also told us about an initiative the team wants to start called the No Controller Challenge — getting big YouTubers, content creators, and streamers involved in spreading the word about Overjoyed.
“To be honest, the game got a little repetitive after a while.”
“What it means to use Overjoyed to play a game without using a traditional controller.” The idea is to swap out the control methods players are used to for a different input — one that’s vitally important to many, but many players may never have considered — and play games in different ways. It’s a smart move in a medium where people will beat games like Dark Souls using Donkey Kong’s bongo drums or Breath of the Wild using a dance floor.
Many streamers have become popular for taking on these ‘challenges’, so replacing these normal controllers or peripherals with software that some people need for everyday gaming is an intriguing way to hear about it.
How you can help
Overjoyed is an extremely impressive piece of equipment, incredibly easy to set up and an important development. Even with just an hour of watching Anthony demonstrate the software and talk us through it and its inspirations, we can only understand how accessibility options like this are important to many players.
The software has come out of beta testing and is now available for just $4.99 at the Microsoft Store. For Switch games you’ll also need it Micro adapter from 8BitDo.
The controller launches on April 2, 2024, and to celebrate, the team at Our Odyssey will be hosting a celebratory livestream on Saturday April 6 at 1:00 PM PT / 4:00 AM ET / 9:00 PM BST. You can apply for stream over on Lumi or refer to Our Odyssey Twitch channel live.
Our Odysseus has too Web page and presence on social networks such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. On the latter, Anthony has VODs of previous streams for games like Overcooked! and Banjo-Tooieall played using Overjoyed.
Many thanks to Our Odyssey and Anthony for taking the time to talk to us about Overjoyed. Let us know if you’ll be trying this out with your Switch — or any console — in the comments.
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