Camera control suggestions

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amloessb
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:22 am
Location: San Jose, CA, USA

Camera control suggestions

Postby amloessb » Fri Sep 09, 2016 9:01 pm

I know that camera controls are probably at the bottom of your list of things to care about right now, but I just wanted to offer my take on what could be done to make them better.

tl;dr:
  • The target in "Target Mode" should be freely movable to any position, not just the presets on the actors
  • When the user is moving the target, it should be made visible to them (option to turn this on/off)
  • Actor snap points for the target should be selectable with the mouse
  • Users should have the option to invert the controls for vertical rotation
  • (less important, but helpful) Controls should be configured such that having no buttons depressed allows the user to move a cursor about the screen and select UI elements
The two modes you have now are called "Free Fly" and "Target Mode" in game, but the primary difference between them is where the camera's center of rotation is. In "Free Fly," it is the camera itself (to facilitate VR, I assume), and in "Target Mode," it is a point in space in front of the camera. I really only use "Target Mode," so that's what I'd like to offer my suggestions on.

First, for context, I've put together a short little video demonstrating the camera controls in another 3D game, Artificial Academy 2.
The description of that video explains the controls, and gives a short explanation as to why I like them.

The control scheme demonstrated in the above video, for example, allows for full freedom of movement of the camera and its focal point, while still leaving the cursor free to select elements in the UI (which I think would be a better way of switching camera modes or exiting the scene, as opposed to a bunch of text explaining what hotkeys achieve those functions). It also leaves the middle mouse button free, which could, for example, be used to select a point on the actor to snap the center of rotation to (see the also-Patreon-funded Yiffalicious for an example implementation of this).

Such a control scheme could be achieved by consolidating some of the functions currently offered. The current controls split vertical and horizontal rotation into two control sets (no buttons held, and left-mouse held), but they could be more intuitively combined into just one set (e.g., left-mouse held), since a physical mouse can move in two axes anyway. Speaking of the vertical axis, I would love to see an option included to invert it, since that is the default for most 3rd person games.

In any case, thanks for taking the time to read this, and I'd love to hear what your thoughts are.
Patron since May 2016; $12 tier

Lithier
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun May 01, 2016 7:19 pm

Postby Lithier » Fri Sep 30, 2016 2:25 am

Hey, thanks for taking the time to compile all this for us! I agree with a lot of it, personally, and we're definitely planning a UI overhaul at some point, probably at the same time we start working in the actual gameplay mechanics again. I haven't seen the "click on the model to set the focus point" idea before, and it sounds interesting, if potentially fidgety. You've given us a few things to think on! Hopefully when we get to the revamp you'll be pretty happy with the results :3 Thanks again for engaging with us to make the game better!


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