Camera and perspective, also player cameras
qub...@googlemail.com
On the other hand, sometimes it is hard to know where you're going.
Especially when going over a hill.
http://yfrog.com/j4screenshot2010020500235j
Also, when making hard turns, sometimes the vehicle can leave the
screen. Maybe the camera-'stickyness' (how quick it returns directly
behind the vehicle should be adjustable.
http://yfrog.com/59screenshot2010020500255j
I'm not saying that these features should be adjustable in general,
but having the ability would ease finding optimal values. Also the
values could depend on track location: stickier cam at turns, higher
camera position on hills. I would only recommend this if racer can be
made to automatically identify such locations and change the values
accordingly. More manual work for level designers might be not worth
it.
I think that having the player cameras split horizontally (one on top,
one at bottom) would be nicer.
James Legg
> I just played level2 for the first time and am amazed by the layout.
Thanks!
> On the other hand, sometimes it is hard to know where you're going.
> Especially when going over a hill.
> http://yfrog.com/j4screenshot2010020500235j
Arguably, not being able to see where you are going is bad track design.
Negative changes in gradient should be low, and shouldn't coincide with
sharp turns. I could tweak the curves to make the track easier to
follow, and add some arrows in the background indicating where the track
goes in the confusing bits. The arrows themselves will also act as
landmarks, so players could position yourself better for the corners
once they are familiar with them.
Also, they should learn the track with practice, so some blind spots
could be seen as acceptable.
> Also, when making hard turns, sometimes the vehicle can leave the
> screen. Maybe the camera-'stickyness' (how quick it returns directly
> behind the vehicle should be adjustable.
> http://yfrog.com/59screenshot2010020500255j
>
> I'm not saying that these features should be adjustable in general,
> but having the ability would ease finding optimal values.
I'll tweak the position and behaviour and see what I can come up with.
F-Zero has a few different camera angles ranging from high up pointing
down at the car, to just behind the car pointing forwards (the default);
and a first person view. Generally changing it from the default view
makes it harder to play. Also, changing the camera angle while you are
playing is quite dangerous, but that might just be because of the layout
of the controls.
> Also the
> values could depend on track location: stickier cam at turns, higher
> camera position on hills. I would only recommend this if racer can be
> made to automatically identify such locations and change the values
> accordingly. More manual work for level designers might be not worth
> it.
It is possible, but I think automatically changing the camera's
behaviour would throw off the player a bit. It's good to keep it very
predictable so the player knows where they are, even if they are only
looking at the track ahead of them.
> I think that having the player cameras split horizontally (one on top,
> one at bottom) would be nicer.
It does this automatically if the window is narrow. However should aim
for a wider aspect ratio than the 4:3 it currently thinks is optimum.
Also it could be improved by fixing the field of view in the narrowest
dimension. Currently the vertical field of view is fixed, so with a tall
(aspect ratio < 1) window the players can slide out of really easily.