Better lock on camera? Monstruosity already has it

[Raydeus]

I've been playing around with Monstruosity, and the first thing I noticed is how much better the lock on camera is.

So wouldn't it make sense to implement the same camera work (along with allowing a further camera distance) to the regular battle system?

PS2 support is no longer an issue so there is no reason to delay such a change anymore.

[Aysha]

I would like to have a camera that simply doesn't bounce back and forth off of the nearest wall like it's made out of rubber.

*sigh*

That is SO annoying, anytime you fight anything in a narrow hallway, you are either forced into first person perspective, or run around like an idiot trying to find the one angle where the camera won't bounce off of the nearest wall until the stupid enemy dies.

And it can even cause nausea and motion sickness as well.

[Stuzey]

I'm not an expert on such matters, but from what i understand the game was originally coded on the PS2 and ported over to the PC, so while PS2 support has ended, the game is still restricted because of the way it was designed. This is also why we can't have any major expansions going forward, due to a lack of PS2 devkits.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see better cameras, I'm just not sure how much of the original programming can be changed, maybe someone knows better than I do?

[Jakuk]

I'm not an expert on such matters, but from what i understand the game was originally coded on the PS2 and ported over to the PC, so while PS2 support has ended, the game is still restricted because of the way it was designed. This is also why we can't have any major expansions going forward, due to a lack of PS2 devkits.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see better cameras, I'm just not sure how much of the original programming can be changed, maybe someone knows better than I do?

Partly yes, they, however, could have rectified this by building the required system/software for a "PC style" long before they dropped PS2 support to allow for further "PC" only updates, but alas, they just decided to drop developing large updates/actual new content.

[Raydeus]

All of the usual issues would be solved by just porting over the Monstrosity camera as it currently is to normal combat. Bonus points if they increased (by about 50%) the zoom out limit.

I've been testing the camera in small and open spaces and the angles at which it works and so far I've yet to find a situation where I'm forced to use first person while in combat just to stop the camera shaking and clipping that can normally occur on the regular lock on camera. And since I'm assuming this was all solved when Monstrosity was addedmore than 3 years ago I'm inclined to think the only reason to leave it out had to do with PS2 support, and after PS2 support ended by neglect instead.

So maybe, just maybe, if the devs are reminded about this simple QoL fix they may actually do it now.

[Aysha]

I would have to actually try monstrosity to see what you're talking about.

But yeah, I wish that we had at least the ability to change camera angle while locked onto to something at the very least. You can't even do that without actually moving your character around.

And God Forbid you should ever fight a Dhalmel and start off from the wrong angle or you're looking up at the sky and unable to target anything else without F keys and unable to see anything around you whatsoever.

[Nyarlko]

Partly yes, they, however, could have rectified this by building the required system/software for a "PC style" long before they dropped PS2 support to allow for further "PC" only updates, but alas, they just decided to drop developing large updates/actual new content.

This is basically expecting a 100% rewrite of the coding for the game. ^^;; Which would be awesomely amazing and joy inducing, but far from being an easily justifiable business expense.

[Aysha]

This is basically expecting a 100% rewrite of the coding for the game. ^^;; Which would be awesomely amazing and joy inducing, but far from being an easily justifiable business expense.

IF they already have a different camera scheme for Monstrosity, it wouldn't take a rewrite of the coding for the entire game, though.

[Nyarlko]

IF they already have a different camera scheme for Monstrosity, it wouldn't take a rewrite of the coding for the entire game, though.

What I replied to was basically requesting that tho. :x

I've never tested the camera enough in Monstrosity to notice any differences, but would have no objections to any improvements to what we normally use if it's possible to do so. I imagine that it's a rather code intensive project on a very baseline/core function, so the devs are going to be terrified of messing with it in fear of introducing new bugs.

[Raydeus]

The easiest way to explain the difference is probably this:

Regular lock on camera: A conic shaped* range with the vertex centered at a point 1/5 of the distance between the monster and the player, and the base centered behind the player. The camera can move around the base, but the base's size is set (or scales very little), causing all the scaling problems we all know about.

Monstrosity camera: A conic shaped* range with the vertex centered at a point 1/4 of the distance between the monster and the player, and the base is centered behind the player too. However, the base area (where the camera can move) scales with the distance between the player and the monster's center.

What this does in practice is make it so on very big monsters the camera can move on over 180 degree range giving you over half a sphere of movement range, while and on small targets this degree of movement can be almost the entire sphere.

I'll add some screenshots later so it's clearer, but you get the idea.


* It works like a sphere sector rather than a cone, but for explanation purposes that's irrelevant.

[Aysha]

I don't know why, back in the early days of FFXI, they didn't just allow the camera buttons to actually work while in-combat/locked on.

They work everywhere else anytime yo uare in 3rd person view.

Then, you pull your weapon out and BOOM. No more camera control. It's fixed where it thinks the camera "Should" be. The behavior really doesn't make any sense and it makes the game feel very rigid and it breaks any smooth movement flow.

[Nyarlko]

I don't know why, back in the early days of FFXI, they didn't just allow the camera buttons to actually work while in-combat/locked on.

They work everywhere else anytime yo uare in 3rd person view.

Then, you pull your weapon out and BOOM. No more camera control. It's fixed where it thinks the camera "Should" be. The behavior really doesn't make any sense and it makes the game feel very rigid and it breaks any smooth movement flow.

That only happens while locked-on to a target. If you unlock while in combat, you can control the camera again.

Ah, and there's a trick I'd like to share as well. :3 If you are dead, then type: /target <stpc>
It will bring up the subtarget cursor and while that is active, you can control the camera. No more staring at the corner of the room while taking a dirtnap and wondering wth is going on with the rest of the group or how much HP the mob that killed you still has left. ^^

[Aysha]

That only happens while locked-on to a target. If you unlock while in combat, you can control the camera again.

Ah, and there's a trick I'd like to share as well. :3 If you are dead, then type: /target <stpc>
It will bring up the subtarget cursor and while that is active, you can control the camera. No more staring at the corner of the room while taking a dirtnap and wondering wth is going on with the rest of the group or how much HP the mob that killed you still has left. ^^

Eh, I tried that earlier today. Unlocked (but still have weapon pulled out), tried to use the camera buttons..... nope. Camera no move.

But then it'd help if the camera move buttons weren't the same as the menu nav buttons, lol.

[Folken]

Eh, I tried that earlier today. Unlocked (but still have weapon pulled out), tried to use the camera buttons..... nope. Camera no move.

But then it'd help if the camera move buttons weren't the same as the menu nav buttons, lol.

Hold shift.