Marathon, Doom, mouse control

[Unknown]

I think game developers could learn a heck of a lot about how
3d virtual reality type games should be controlled with a mouse
by playing "The Colony". This is one heck of a game that came
out a few years ago and had one of the most natural mouse control
interfaces I've ever seen. An improvement could have been made,
however, in regulating the frame rate so that you don't go zipping
around whenever there were few lines to be drawn on the screen.

While I enjoyed "Pathways into Darkness", I resorted to using the
keyboard because having played "The Colony", I found mouse control
to be unacceptable.

-George

[Erik Giberson]

George Gonzalez () wrote:
: I think game developers could learn a heck of a lot about how

: 3d virtual reality type games should be controlled with a mouse
: by playing "The Colony". This is one heck of a game that came
: out a few years ago and had one of the most natural mouse control
: interfaces I've ever seen.

On the other side of the coin, game designers looking for the
kind of mouse interface to shun like the plague should check up on a little
Origin number called Ultima VIII.....

--Erik

[Jeffrey John Heinen]

For good mouse control in a 3D perspective game, I always liked Ultima
Underworld for the PC. A cursor was displayed on the screen that
functioned as a hand to manipulate objects. To move, you held down one
of the mouse buttons and the cursor changed to an arrow. As you push the
mouse forward you move forward, and your speed is dictated by how high up
the cursor is on the screen. The speed was completely variable from slow
crawl to dead run. For turning, you moved the mouse sideways and the
arrow would bend, the more bend the faster the rate of turn. It was the
visual feedback of mouse position that made it easy to use. The problem
I get with most mouse controlled games is that I find myself
over-correcting all the time. In fact, Underworld has so far been the
only game in which mouse control was viable. For Doom, SO, PID, etc. I
always end up using the keyboard.

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| Jeff Heinen | "Necessitas non |
| | habet legem." -St. Augustine |
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