Orbit Camera

[reizocain]

I have a suggestion for the camera (signed up just for this):
Is it possible to implement a standard orbit camera for the 3rd person view?
It goes like this:

The camera is at a greater distance than the current one, can move up/down/left/right, with W making the character move into the direction that the camera/cross-hair is pointing at, with A,D and S being strafe instead (Strafe left/right/back). This would make the third person camera much more comfortable, imo.

The best example I can think of is GTA.

Also, I searched, and something similar was proposed, but that was in March and the thread was closed, so I figured maybe I'll bring it to your attention again.
And finally, I don't have any idea of programming, so I don't know if there were technical difficulties that stopped the development of such a camera. If that's the case, I'm sorry for this post, I simply beg ignorance in my defense.

 

[Darkfire]

have you pressed f5?
I think you might like f5

 

[reizocain]

I did. That's kinda the reason I mentioned the third person camera. You see, right now, the facing of the character is tied to which direction the camera is facing, which makes the A/D keys kinda spotty. If you've seen Dragon Age: Origins, thats the camera I was hoping for.

P.s. You kinda made me doubt myself, so I had to go and check it

Edit: I add that I have no idea of the programming involved, so if it's cumbersome/impossible or there are more important matters at hand, I understand. It's just a suggestion.

 

[Darkfire]

oh you also need to press 'c'
and if you scroll with the mouse the camera will move back or forwards

 

[Dastan]

oh you also need to press 'c'
and if you scroll with the mouse the camera will move back or forwards

Darky help this poor soul.. He lost without comprehension. he don't know any better... Well he might.. you never know

 

[reizocain]

Wow, talk about fast support. Major game developers take roughly 30x time to reply, and even then, they copy paste. Here I have the personal attention of Darkfire himself!
anyhow, the thread I mentioned was
http://pokemon3d.net/forum/threads/977/page-3#post-17970

namely, A and D make your character turn. Could he shuffle/strafe instead?
I made a video (using fraps and windows movie maker) to illustrate this, maybe that'll clear it up: (I just put it up, the processing should be done in a little while)

 

[Dastan]

Wow, talk about fast support. Major game developers take roughly 30x time to reply, and even then, they copy paste. Here I have the personal attention of Darkfire himself!
anyhow, the thread I mentioned was
http://pokemon3d.net/forum/threads/977/page-3#post-17970

namely, A and D make your character turn. Could he shuffle/strafe instead?
I made a video (using fraps and windows movie maker) to illustrate this, maybe that'll clear it up: (I just put it up, the processing should be done in a little while)

First off I am sorry I am responding, I am not a mod or a Dev just interested in this topic and like to talk....

But I believe that this would make it 1000% better.. In my opinion. I can't Understand why I didn't post anything like this earlier... make so much sense.

 

[reizocain]

Hey! Thanks!
I don't think you need to be a mod or admin to post, forums are...for all, you know. Everyone with ideas and opinions is welcome (atleast, thats a general forum).
Finally, someone understood what I meant (I've realized it's hard to explain without taking 3D geometry, or a video)

Let's see what Darkfire thinks!

 

[Darkfire]

if you are in third person mode(f5) and you have the camera lock off(c) the camera and the direction the character is facing become unconnected(so when you press 'a' the character starts walking to the right)
also by scrolling with the mouse you can bring your camera all the way in, to the first person perspective so you can strafe in what seems like first person but really isnt

 

[reizocain]

That's a novel idea! (and it solves my problem, more or less, for now)
Are you planning to implement anything like what I suggested (tying the camera only to "W" and making A and D strafe instead) ?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Darkfire]

That's a novel idea! (and it solves my problem, more or less, for now)
Are you planning to implement anything like what I suggested (tying the camera only to "W" and making A and D strafe instead) ?

Thanks for the help!

In third person mode after unlocking the camera it isnt locked to the directions anymore
if you goto third person and press 'a' your character changes direction but not your camera

 

[reizocain]

All I meant was, can A become something like shuffle instead? It's really disconcerting.

 

[Darkfire]

All I meant was, can A become something like shuffle instead? It's really disconcerting.

ah
so like the character moves sideways but doesnt change the way it faces?
since we are using sprites it would be sorta wierd looking to do that.....
we only have animations for walking in the directions that the character is facing
doing any other direction would mean we either dont have an animation or we have it stepping forwards while moving left or something

 

[reizocain]

Yeah, I hadn't thought of that, we simply can't have them sliding. I could help you draw them (I modded my sprite for the GBA games, so I have basic experience). That's a great point, though.
Did you look at the video in my post above? It explains it the best.

 

[Darkfire]

Yeah I saw it.....
it just isnt practical with the way we made our system.....