LOL. Hey guys, this is SeaCigar; after a LONG period of downtime, I’m back to harass you all again.
The question I have is regarding a type of movement you have seen in many, many 3D videogames, which is often sadly taken for granted. This movement scheme takes the position of the main character in relation to the camera, and adjusts movement accordingly.
An example would be… Mario 64, zelda 64, sonic adventure, star fox adventures, jet force gemini, crash bandicoot… you name it; all the good 3D action adventure games uses this control scheme, with a few exceptions, like resident evil (and I believe the later sequels add on this control scheme as an option.)
basically, the controls work like this; press up, the character walks away from the camera, towards the horizon. press down, the character walks towards the camera, away from the horizon. press left or right, and the character walks parallel to the camera’s line of sight, making the character circle around the camera in the direction chosen by the player’s line of sight.
by combining this with a semi-intelligent camera, you could make a 3D adventure game with far greater aesthetic options; for example, moving the camera wouldn’t disrupt the player, because the control script would allow him to veer towards the new location of his destination. anyone who has tried to make an efficient control scheme with the semi-retarded auto camera feature in blender will know what I am talking about; more often than not, you must parent the camera to the main actor, sacrificing the free moving feel of an intelligent camera for the sake of a solid control scheme.
the other option is to make the controls respond like the resident evil scheme; this entails the left and right keys making the character rotate on their axis, with the up and down keys making the character proceed or draw back, respectively. while this is okay for most cases, many of you who play video games feel much less restricted with a free roaming control scheme; its one of the main gripes I have alsways had with the resident evil series.
in case anyone is wondering what I am talking about… well, if you know me, I have been trying to make a video game for my senior project… sadly, when I presented the single complex 2 and 1/2 D level I had made to my teacher, the jerk said it wasn’t enough. so, yes, I was a little ashamed to come back to the forum, after I promised to use the ideas that all you wonderful people had presented to me in the past, which I tried hard to make come to fruition…
I talked with him, and he told me that the best thing I could hope for is something similar to the mini-levels in super mario sunshine… many of you may not know what that entails, so I will explain; hidden in each of the main levels are mini levels which serve to hone your basic mario skills; there are no items to collect, and the fancy-schmancy powers of your water pack are gone, along with the pack itself. the levels themselves defy logic; suspended in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of floating moving blocks from which to jump to and fro…
basically, I am to make the most fundamental of 3D platformers; no powerups, and no unique abilities beyond running and jumping, with perhaps a few special manuvers to keep things interesting, such as a long jump, and wall jump. There is no plot other than to get the sparkley at the end of the gauntet, and no method to the madness of living in the middle of floating nothingness.
in other words; quantity versus quality :-?
SO, we come down to the reason for all this; does anyone know how I could make a control scheme like I have explained? I need it, desperately… however, I know that if you were to succeed in making such a script, you would have a valuable commodity that could, in theory, be used for profit; nowhere is there a better control scheme for 3D action adventure games. So if you succeeded, you could then sell your panted script to individuals such as myself.
indeed, I have other ideas for a working control scheme, but this is the best option I could hope for.
I am not asking for a hand out; should a talented programmer make a script that can do what I ask, I would be willing to pay whatever that individual asked for it (within reason, of course). Should anyone have any ideas or questions, let me know; I’ll be around.
