Question

I am currently developing in XNA/C#.
When the user presses a key (Keys.Right), I need to move an object.
I want this to happen

1. when the user presses the key
2. after 1 second while the user is holding the key and then every .25 seconds.

I already implemented the first one:

_kbOld = _kbNew;
_kbNew = _kb.GetState();
if(_kbNew.IsKeyDown(Keys.Right) &&
   _kbOld.IsKeyUp(Keys.Right))
{
    //Do something
}

How would I do the other actions?
I had the following ideas:

• A Queue<KeyboardState>, keeping track of the last KeyboardStates

• Saving the time the key was last pressed and when it was released (GameTime)

It should work like text input in Windows: When you hold a letter, it will repeat after a certain amount of time.

Which way should I use? Do you have other ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I would simply store the last push time, like you suggested:

if (IsPressed())
{
    // Key has just been pushed
    if (!WasPressed())
    {
        // Store the time
        pushTime = GetCurrentTime();

        // Execute the action once immediately
        // like a letter being printed when the button is pressed
        Action();
    }

    // Enough time has passed since the last push time
    if (HasPassedDelay())
    {
        Action();
    }   
}