[pythian] Re: Camera Controls
- From: Darryl Long <dlong@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pythian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 08:40:51 -0400
> While this can be kind of pain I think we can't avoid it. We
> can see this "cursor mode" in many FP games.
Yeah, but ours isn't a FP game. There is still questionable utility in even
having a FP mode for our game. It's really only there because some people
(usually frequent FPS gamers) prefer it to the 3rd person view typical in
RPG games. Hm... it's also important to note that these are the people who
keep trying to turn our game into an FPS as well :)
> The only issues to be careful with are:
> 1. Is combat possible in "cursor mode"? This is very important - so I
> issolate it from other issues.
I assume you would put the crosshair on the target and click the mouse. The
player character would then attack automatically.
> 2. What other actions possible in this mode?
Similar to attacking, when you click the mouse on something the default
action occurs. My control theory here is that when you have the mouse over
something the cursor changes to say "You'll be doing action X" if you click
the left mouse button. If you right-click, a menu appears, something like
in Maya, Never Winter Nights, or RavenShield with a circular menu from which
you can select any available actions for that object.
> 3. Situations of automatically switching to/from "cursor
> mode". While some
> games have this feature I really don't like it very much
> (completely agree with Darryl about switching something
> automatically is not
> so good for player). Maybe only is some very special case.
The problem for us is exemplified by the Equipment/Inventory menu. To equip
something, you need to select it in the Inventory and drag it to the
Equipment menu. I can not imagine a good way to do this without a cursor.
We will have many other menus, such as the magic/spellbook menu, that will
require a mouse.
In a strict first-person game, it's not a problem because you can pause the
action when the player is manipulating his inventory. In a multiplayer
game, you can't pause, so if the player is being attacked, he has to be
quick on the Esc menu to get back in control of his character. If he's
running away from an enemy while trying to switch from crossbow to long
sword, he's going to have some problems (the Quick Equip buttons from NWN
might help here).
> I am not so familiar with control code, but I assume it can
> be a pain to introduce such changes in the code.
> However what other options we have?
True enough. If we want to make FP a part of our game, and I think we do,
then we're going to have to make some changes to allow it. It's possible,
but it's a refactoring of a bit of code.
The reason I'm thinking seriously about this is that because our game is
truly 3D, which tall building and whatnot, sometimes it's very handy to be
able to look up and down to see what is around you. With our currently
controller config, FP is almost useless.
Darryl
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