Camera control suggestions
Posted: 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:
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.
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
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.