I''ve been trying to think of a good interface for indirect control of a character in 3D. Although FPS controls are good, there are certain things that you can''t do very well, like attack characters behind you. Do you think a system where the player controlled the character through a first person camera would work? Right now I''m thinking of something like RPG\RTS point and click controls combined with FPS spectator controls. I''m afraid the system may not be as intuitive and quick as I''d like it to be.

Heh, no opinions I guess... I''ve come to the conclusion that I (currently) suck at coming up with decent interfaces though. My entry for the 48 hour game programming compo was criticized by many people in terms of control.

Ummm... I have no idea what you mean. Controlling the player from a first person camera certainly means to me that the viewpoint is from the character''s eyes. But then how do you intend to incorporate spectator controls? What type of game is this for?

The player''s character isn''t attached to the camera, making it first person but not first person. This would (in theory) allow you to stop your character, turn down a hall, and fire a seeking missle down the hall, attack characters not directly in your character''s view, etc. You would move the character and attack units through a 3D point and click interface (ala RTS.) It would be for some kind of action RPG type game, I guess, but it should also work for a squad based RTS game (or other stuff that I''m not thinking of.) I didn''t have a specific genre in mind when I came up with the idea. I hope that''s a little more clear.

Since you say it''s first person I''m assuming you are the character. If this is the case how can you attack something you (the character) can''t see?

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http://www.3dcgi.com/

Do you mean a view like Metal Gear Solid?

I think I know what you mean, although you''d need two control systems - one for movement and one for the view. Have you played any of the mechwarrior games? A mech''s legs and head are controlled seperately, allowing the player to look around while moving in a seperate direction. Is that what you mean?

cogito cogito, ergo cogito sum

In MGS you still control the character directly. And in my system I wouldn''t need two controls sets. Like I said, the character would be directed through point and click. Think of it like Counter-Strike "Ghost" (spectator) mode, kind of. You fly around and then "aim" at where you want your character to go. If you want to attack someone you target them in a similar way. I shouldn''t have said it was first person, I guess that confused people. Your character is would not be attached to the camera.

I worked on a complicated camera oriented interface once, at the conceptual level. I''ll share.

#3rd person was default. The player made static choices about items of interest (like a 3rd pov adventure game) or gazed around the environment 1st pov (metal gear solid). If the player wanted to inspect an object 2nd pov was engaged and controls were either relative to the object (from the reverse angle of the object with the player coming toward it). If the player wanted to follow a preset path the game became a side-scrolling Duke in Manhatten type affair with variable camera effects (movement manual). Finally, if the player wanted to engage in a melee a semi top down angle would be adopted and the player would choose either to move to defensive locations/stances or make critical attacks/responses by selecting various points around the shot (movement automatic).

It seemed flexible at the time; the idea was that any moment could be replayed with filmic quality and that it would be watchable even as a non-player. Structurally, the notion of a web of preset paths and object interaction patterns allowed the space to be "condensed" and organized into a filmic potentiating environment, ie an environment in which the player could easily choose between different "choose-your-own-adventure" options.

Sounds cool. I''m looking for a way to get cinematic quality without any preset paths. How well did your system work? You said it had kind of a "choose-your-own-adventure" feel, but I''m going for something more like fighting game of racing game replays in gameplay. Not exactly like that, and I know, a racing game wouldn''t really work with a cinematic camera, but I think you could do cool things with RPGs, Strategy games and shooters if you used the camera as the interface, kind of like a 3D pointing device.