Screens and devices

PokeDaisy works with two screens or one. With two, the game is on top and the companion below. With one, the companion slides in beside the game, and on a phone held upright it sits under it. This page covers each setup and the settings that go with it.

#Dual-screen handhelds

The game always opens on the device's main display, with the companion on the other one, even if you start it from the bottom screen.

Taps on the bottom screen go to the companion, and the device's BACK button works as the companion's back (tap it to close whatever's open there). Hold BACK to leave the game.

SWAP SCREENS

Some devices treat their bottom screen as the main display, which would put the game below and the companion on top. SWAP SCREENS trades them, so the game moves to the other screen and the companion takes the main one.

You'll find it in the SCREEN group of Settings on the top screen and of the companion's SETTINGS. It only shows on a device with a second screen. Flipped from the companion, it swaps right away; flipped from the top-screen Settings, the game picks it up when you go back to it.

On a TV

Casting your phone to a TV (Smart View, screen mirroring) or plugging one in gives your device a second screen. PokeDaisy puts the game on the TV and keeps the companion on your phone, so you can play on the big screen with your party, bag and map in hand. Want it the other way round? Turn off SWAP SCREENS. A TV keeps its own choice, apart from a built-in second screen's.

CLOSE COMPANION

Want the companion's screen for something else while you play, like a video or a chat app? At the very bottom of the companion's SETTINGS, under CLOSE GAME and RESTART GAME, tap CLOSE COMPANION. The game keeps running and the companion's screen is free for other apps. Press BACK on the game to bring the companion back.

With SWAP SCREENS on, the companion has the main screen, so that's the one you get back: the game stays on its screen, and you can keep playing it there, touch included, while you use another app on the main one. Your buttons go to whichever screen you touched last, so tap the game before you press a button for it.

Meanwhile the companion lives on the game's screen: tap BACK, the small button at the bottom of the right edge, or the HUD's COMPANION button and it opens over the game, filling that screen. B, START and the X close it again, as with the window on a one-screen handheld (see below). To put it back on the main screen, tap OPEN COMPANION at the bottom of its SETTINGS, where CLOSE COMPANION was.

It's there on every two-screen device.

SINGLE SCREEN

Rather play on one screen, so the other is free for good? Turn on SINGLE SCREEN (in the SCREEN group of Settings on the top screen and of the companion's SETTINGS; it only shows on a device with a second screen). The game stays on its screen, the second screen goes back to Android for any app you like, and the companion opens as a window over the game, the way it does on a one-screen handheld (see below). Tap BACK to open or close it.

Flipped from the companion, it switches right away and the window opens so you can see where it went. Turn it off and the companion goes back to the second screen. While it's on, SWAP SCREENS and CLOSE COMPANION step aside, and COMPANION VIEW and BATTLE BUTTONS show up, as on a one-screen device.

#DS games

A DS has two screens, and so does a dual-screen handheld, so a DS game uses both the way the DS does: its top screen on your top screen, its touch screen on the bottom one. Tap the bottom screen with your finger wherever the game wants the stylus.

The companion is still there:

• On the bottom screen: tap COMPANION in the bar under the touch screen and the companion takes the touch screen's place. Tap GAME SCREEN in the same spot to bring the touch screen back. BACK with nothing left to go back from also returns to the touch screen. PokeDaisy remembers which of the two you had.

• Over the game: tap BACK and the companion opens over the top screen, as on a one-screen handheld (see The window).

SWAP SCREENS trades a DS game's two screens too: the top screen goes on your bottom screen, and the touch screen, with its COMPANION button, on the top one. The touch screen stays up whatever CLOSE COMPANION says. REWIND isn't available in DS games.

On a handheld or phone with one screen, a DS game shows its top screen only, for now: the touch screen needs a second screen. The game plays with your buttons, but anything that has to be tapped on the touch screen can't be done there yet.

#Single-screen handhelds

On a handheld with one screen, like the Retroid Pocket 6, the companion shares the game's screen. The COMPANION VIEW setting (in the SCREEN group of Settings and of the companion's SETTINGS) picks how:

• WINDOW (the default): the companion opens as a window in the middle of the screen, over the game.

• SIDE PANEL: the companion is a panel on the right side of the screen, which you can lock beside the game.

Flipped from the companion, it switches right away.

Rather not see the small button at the bottom of the screen's right edge? Turn off COMPANION BUTTON, right under COMPANION VIEW. BACK and the HUD's COMPANION button still open the companion.

On a tall screen, about 2.5 inches high or more like the Retroid Pocket 6, the companion's text is a little smaller in the window, so more fits on each page.

The window

• Open it: tap BACK, or tap the small button at the bottom of the screen's right edge.

• Use your buttons: while the window is open, your controls work the companion instead of the game. The D-pad moves the cursor and A picks what it's on, the way the game's own menus work. L and R move between the tabs, and B goes back. When there's nothing left to go back from, B closes the window. START closes it from anywhere. Your buttons follow your GAME BUTTONS settings, so if you moved A and B, the window follows.

• Close it: press B or BACK until it closes, press START, tap the X at its top right, or tap anywhere outside it.

In the bag, moving the cursor shows each item's description, and A on the item goes to its USE and GIVE buttons. In a battle, the window's BATTLE tab shows INFO and SUGGESTIONS only, without the battle buttons: close the window and pick your move in the game's own menu. FLY on the map closes the window, so you see the flight.

On the MAP, the D-pad moves the map's own cursor from place to place and names each one, like the game's Town Map. Go past the map's edge toward its buttons to reach PLACES, FLY and the rest. In GUIDE, moving down the page list shows each page, and A on an entry shows its hint, then its answer. Pages with nothing to pick, like a Pokédex entry's MOVES, scroll with the D-pad once the cursor is on them. On the CARD, A flips it.

The game keeps running behind the window, dimmed. It just doesn't get your button presses until you close the window, and then they go straight back to the game. A button you're still holding as the window closes doesn't count in the game until you let go of it.

Small L and R keys at both ends of the tab bar remind you which buttons change tabs. You can tap them too.

The side panel

• Open it: tap BACK, or tap the small button at the bottom of the screen's right edge. The panel slides in over the game.

• Close it: with the panel open, BACK works as the companion's back. Once there's nothing left to go back from, the next BACK closes the panel. There's also a close tab right outside the panel's bottom-left corner.

• Lock it beside the game: tap the padlock tab on the panel's left edge. The game moves over to make room, and both stay on screen as you play. Tap the padlock again and the panel goes back to sliding over the game. A locked panel stays open when you press BACK with nothing to go back from, and it comes back the next time you start a game.

• Resize it: drag the padlock tab sideways. The panel starts at half the screen, which shows the game at exactly 4x on a 1080p screen. While you drag, it snaps when the game lands close to a whole-number size, so the pixels stay even.

While the panel is locked, the open and close tabs turn see-through so they don't get in the way. The touch controls stay on the game's side whenever the panel is open.

Hold BACK to leave the game, as always.

#Phones held upright

Hold a phone upright and the game sits across the top of the screen, with the companion docked below it. It's always open: there's nothing to slide in.

• Change its height: drag the grip on the companion's top edge up or down. It snaps to the default size (the shape of the Thor's bottom screen) and to the largest size (everything under the game).

• Step through sizes: tap the grip to go from small, to the default, to everything under the game, and round again.

• Touch controls: when there's enough room between the game and the companion, the on-screen buttons go in that gap. When there isn't, they lie over the game as usual. The phone held upright has its own layout, and POSITION on the TOUCH CONTROLS page puts the buttons at the top, middle or bottom of their space; see Touch controls.

The COMPANION setting (on the DISPLAY OPTIONS page of the SCREEN group, on single-screen devices) picks where the companion sits on a phone held upright:

• AT BOTTOM (the default): along the bottom of the screen, with the touch controls in any gap above it.

• UNDER GAME: right under the game, with the touch controls at the bottom of the screen.

With ASPECT set to EXPAND, the game fills everything above the companion, so both would look the same. There UNDER GAME gives the touch controls a strip of their own along the bottom of the screen, under the companion, so they don't lie over the game. When the touch controls aren't showing (you're using a controller), the setting is greyed out.

#Rotating the device

On a device with one screen, PokeDaisy follows the way you hold it. Turn it sideways and you get the window or the side panel; turn it upright and you get the docked companion. It switches as you rotate, mid-game.

With a second screen, PokeDaisy stays in landscape.

#Where things are on each screen

• Top screen (or your only screen): the library, Settings, the manual and the game itself.

• Companion: the game's tabs and its own SETTINGS, which holds the options you're likely to change mid-game. Things that need typing, like a RetroAchievements sign-in or cheat codes, live in the top-screen Settings, since the bottom screen can't host a keyboard well.

The companion explains the tabs, and the settings reference lists which setting is on which screen.