Alright, so in the game-design I'm working on, players will be able to select from a number of 'powers' (ie. supernatural abilities - think Superman, X-men, etc). I've been considering what to include in this list of powers, and have been pondering teleportation as an ability. I'd like to include it, but since the game will be from a first-person perspective, I'm unsure as to how I'd be able to implement such an ability - most specifically allowing the player to control it. I could of course make it semi-random - allow the player to trigger the ability, but choose a suitable location for them. They could either be moved completely randomly, or perhaps the location could be indicated via somekind of visual marker on screen. I'd prefer the player to have more control however. So what other options do I have for allowing the player to control this ability. I'd like them to be able to target it themselves in some way. Some kind of 'teleportation gun' perhaps? Anyways, thanks in advance for your comments/suggestions, I'd like to hear what everyone thinks.

You could make it so that if a player has the ability to teleport, they cant have a flying ability. So then you could have a cursor like in most MMORPG's (where you can click a part of the map, a marker will appear and the character will walk there).

So basically, a player is only allowed to teleport where it is possible for him/her to stand.

Possibly some kind of point and click interface could suit the problem, although I was intending to allow teleports to locations to which the player couldn't usually walk. In conjunction with certain other abilities (such as enhanced grip for climbing walls), they should even be able to use it to reach locations which for regular players are physically impossible to reach.

Check out the demo of Unreal Tournament 2003 or 2004 and use the "Translocator" weapon. Essential, it lobs a projectile disc, leaving a little red line from the firing point, and when you right click (alt. fire), you are transported to wherever the disc is). See for yourself; this is the type of thing you might want to do.

It really depends on how advantageous you want this ability to be.

If you want it to be used for a more defensive "get out of jail" card, then it could be somewhat random. This would allow the player to use it in a situation where they may feel outnumbered or insecure about their odds in a match. If the teleporting player is a weaker character than their opponents, this may be necessary to even the playing field when used by a player who understands their limits.

If you want it to be used as an effective offensive ability, then perhaps a random position that auto-targets in the vicinity of a nearby opponent (such as teleporting behind an enemy and automatically facing toward the enemy's back). This would allow the player to use their ability in combat, but if the teleporter is particularly strong, then a rest period between teleports would be needed to keep it fair. If a rest period is not an option, then perhaps weakening the character during those situations would prevent them from being too verbearing in combat.

Those would both be useful in a combat situation, but having a disc-like projectile for manual aiming could prove to be useles in a fast-paced FPS situation like an Unreal. Perhaps the player-controlled option of manual, projectile-aiming and automatic, quick-porting would allow the player both agility and combat-effectiveness.

I agree. Have several different methods of targeting that the player can choose from.

Another method would be to allow the player to set "bookmark" locations that they can teleport back to later.

That would be interesting as long as the distance between the location and the player was not very far. A capture-the-flag type of game would be brutal against teleporters who could run into a base, grab a flag, and teleport acrossed the map. Maybe a brief hibernation period before teleporting to a far-away location would be a little more balanced. Maybe a direct proportion between the distance from the location and the time that the player must hibernate in place.

I have to second the Unreal 2003/2004 suggestion. The Translocator was the best implementation of first-person teleporting that I've seen. If you wanted it to be less "gun-like", you could maybe have the projectile only show up on the player's screen, not on others, so other people won't know where he's teleporting to.

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A capture-the-flag type of game would be brutal against teleporters who could run into a base, grab a flag, and teleport acrossed the map.

Unreal solved this problem by just making you automatically drop the flag when you teleport. Simple, but elegant enough. Most superheroes and such that I've seen teleport can usually only grab small objects to take with them anyway, they can't just grab onto a table and teleport away with it. So it kind of makes sense that you can't teleport with a flag (or whatever important object your game might have).

If its a FPS, then its best to keep the same control mechanics, I.E. the crosshairs, as your teleportation direction device. From here, theres two ideas you can expand on.

One, is the ranged teleport, where in the player holds the action button and watches some kind of range finding interface roll back and fort until the player decides where he wants to land. This would probably be a little solid-colored line that extends downward to the floor under where the player would go. If the teleport isn't instant, then the player himself could zip foward, but that might be a little weird.

A second would be a surface-collision using the same mechanics that firing a small munitions weapon would have (cast a ray and produce a ricochet-spark on the wall it hits). Rather then producing a spark, it moves the player to the surface he was pointing at. Teleporting to visible surfaces would be real easy. Attempting to land on surfaces that aren't immediately visable would require pointing at a nearby surface, like the ceiling above it, or a wall or object. This would work a lot like some kind of hookshot should.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

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originally posted by dgaf That would be interesting as long as the distance between the location and the player was not very far. A capture-the-flag type of game would be brutal against teleporters who could run into a base, grab a flag, and teleport acrossed the map. Maybe a brief hibernation period before teleporting to a far-away location would be a little more balanced. Maybe a direct proportion between the distance from the location and the time that the player must hibernate in place.

I intend to limit the range of the teleportation power. Players will have a pool of power to draw from, and teleporting further away will use up more of this power - they can't teleport further than thier current power-level allows either. This allows for many shorter teleports, fewer large ones where the player must wait longer before being able to use the ability again. Power will be gradually replenished over time.

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originally posted by Inmate2993 A second would be a surface-collision using the same mechanics that firing a small munitions weapon would have (cast a ray and produce a ricochet-spark on the wall it hits). *snip* Attempting to land on surfaces that aren't immediately visable would require pointing at a nearby surface, like the ceiling above it, or a wall or object. This would work a lot like some kind of hookshot should.

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originally posted by Plasmadog Have several different methods of targeting that the player can choose from.

I think I like the idea of presenting multiple options. The main option would be much as Inmate2993 described, basically a 'weapons', with the player teleporting to where the munition hits. I invision it as similar to a paintball-gun, where the player fires a marker onto a surface, and can then choose to teleport to it, or can fire it somewhere else instead if they wish. The marker would only be visible to the player using the ability. Having to 'fire' this marker would introduce a natural delay into useage of the ability as well.

As a secondary option, players will have the ability to perform a 'panic teleport.' This will simply perform a random teleport. If the players current powerlevel is below a certain threshold, all of the players power will be expended, otherwise approx. 1/4 of thier current power would be used. (Subject to testing to find a good value of course).

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originally posted by makeshiftwings Most superheroes and such that I've seen teleport can usually only grab small objects to take with them anyway, they can't just grab onto a table and teleport away with it.

Players will only be able to teleport with small items, basically thier normal inventory items, weapons, etc. Larger items/other players will not be able to be teleported with the player.