Welcome to a game named Drifter.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Please note that I did not disrespect trackballs. I simply said that a mouse is 20% of the price, and is there an improvement over it that justifies the increased price? In fact I noted that it might be worth having because of my own injuries, and try having both and see if the trackball provides an improvement.

Noted! I am having some trouble with projects, so I can't destroy everyone at this moment, but if everyone could keep their distaste fresh in their palettes I would appreciate that.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Well, I had a first for any non-Elite (meaning the PC version of Elite from the 80s) game: I successfully traded something in a different system than the one you start in.

I traded GOLD.

I bought it for ten ... money units.

I went to some system that I took a screenshot of, but couldn't paste.

I sold it for... OK, I sold it for 10 money units, but that's not the point. The point is, I figured out how to warp, how to trade and how to shoot asteroids and get ore.

Gerrit asked about my ship. I will try to answer that next.

[Tdarcos]

Please note that I did not disrespect trackballs. I simply said that a mouse is 20% of the price, and is there an improvement over it that justifies the increased price? In fact I noted that it might be worth having because of my own injuries, and try having both and see if the trackball provides an improvement.

Noted! I am having some trouble with projects, so I can't destroy everyone at this moment, but if everyone could keep their distaste fresh in their palettes I would appreciate that.

Actually, I bought a trackball. I've tried it and what you essentially get is a two-button mouse without a scroll wheel.

You also have to break the habit of picking up the trackball to move and just using your fingertips. I recognized the same behavior when I'd drive a car with a stick, sometimes when I'd switch over to a car with an automatic, I'd forget and step on the brake by mistake because (obviously) there's no clutch to disengage.

Now, for ordinary work where you just have to click things I think it's not a bad idea, especially if using your wrist is painful, but the problem I have is that too many applications either provide extra features with the scroll wheel or it is absolutely essential to using the application.

I bought Roller Cioaster Tycoon 3 Power Pack - or whatever they call it - from GOG or whoever, and that program requires the scroll wheel to move in or out of zoom mode. (RCT2 had a + and - button on the tool bar.

Fireflox supports the scroll wheel for moving down a web page. You can scroll no matter where your mouse is, you don't have to drag the thumb on the scroll bar.

Which really brings up the question, why don't they make trackballs with a scroll wheel. With the damn things costing 5 times as much as a mouse, they ought to provide more functionality.

And the other problem is, like having an old mouse with a ball inside, the marble can fall out if you move or knock the trackball over.

I like the idea of trackballs, I just dislike the fact they are many times more expensive than ordinary optical mice and have less functionality.

[pinback]

Which really brings up the question, why don't they make trackballs with a scroll wheel.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 2290UK2731
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 13X1C35629

Because typing "trackball with scroll wheel" into Google was too hard for you.

Idiot.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I ended up getting the one from CST. It's pretty awesome and has a scroll wheel.



That's the CST2545-5W.

[RealNC]

Using a trackball to move your virtual hand on the screen instead of actually moving your hand, feels like trying to play basketball without being allowed to use your hands, and instead dribble the ball with your chin.

Space invaders and arkanoid are the only things trackballs are useful for.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Space Invaders uses two push buttons for movement and Arkanoid a spinner. But at least they weren't board games. :)