#11490 - poslundc - Wed Oct 08, 2003 3:19 pm
As several of you know, I'm currently designing a Mode7 action-RPG.
The action takes place on a map that's, well, as large as I want it to be, but I'm having trouble deciding what action to take when the user gets to the edge of the battle field.
You see, I'm rendering the screen as a terrain, with a horizon, so if the player gets far enough away from the middle so that the edge of the map becomes visible, then the player can see the background colour beneath the horizon, which is not cool.
I've been experimenting with how I want to deal with this problem, and have come up with the following options:
1. Wrap the image around to the opposite end of the map, and design my maps so that this does not look too conspicuous.
2. Don't let the player get close enough to the edge for it to become a problem.
3. When the player gets near the edge, adjust the camera angles, rotation, zoom, etc. so that it no longer is a problem.
Here is where I am so far with each of these options:
1. This is currently looking like my most viable option. Its main disadvantage is that players are very likely to realize what is happening at some point or another, which hurts their suspension of disbelief.
2. My main problem with this one is that the horizon always appears at 320 pixels distance. At that range, the zoom factor is 2.5, which means I would have to keep the player at least 300 pixels (120 * 2.5) from the edge of the map at all times (more if I want to take rotation into account). That's a lot of wasted map space... if my map is 2048x2048 then I've basically lost 50% of my map area. If not for the incredible losses there, this would be my first choice as it is relatively unobtrusive.
3. I've fiddled a lot with this and can't really get a sequence of movements that isn't distracting to the player. So far I've tried changing the pitch so that it becomes overhead, zooming in, and rotating the camera. All three seem very intrusive. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has them. Keep in mind that any of these adjustments have to start happening 300 pixels from the edge of the map, so there is a pretty big "huh?" factor for players.
So if you were playing this game, which do you think you would prefer? Or is there another option entirely that I am overlooking?
Thanks,
Dan.
The action takes place on a map that's, well, as large as I want it to be, but I'm having trouble deciding what action to take when the user gets to the edge of the battle field.
You see, I'm rendering the screen as a terrain, with a horizon, so if the player gets far enough away from the middle so that the edge of the map becomes visible, then the player can see the background colour beneath the horizon, which is not cool.
I've been experimenting with how I want to deal with this problem, and have come up with the following options:
1. Wrap the image around to the opposite end of the map, and design my maps so that this does not look too conspicuous.
2. Don't let the player get close enough to the edge for it to become a problem.
3. When the player gets near the edge, adjust the camera angles, rotation, zoom, etc. so that it no longer is a problem.
Here is where I am so far with each of these options:
1. This is currently looking like my most viable option. Its main disadvantage is that players are very likely to realize what is happening at some point or another, which hurts their suspension of disbelief.
2. My main problem with this one is that the horizon always appears at 320 pixels distance. At that range, the zoom factor is 2.5, which means I would have to keep the player at least 300 pixels (120 * 2.5) from the edge of the map at all times (more if I want to take rotation into account). That's a lot of wasted map space... if my map is 2048x2048 then I've basically lost 50% of my map area. If not for the incredible losses there, this would be my first choice as it is relatively unobtrusive.
3. I've fiddled a lot with this and can't really get a sequence of movements that isn't distracting to the player. So far I've tried changing the pitch so that it becomes overhead, zooming in, and rotating the camera. All three seem very intrusive. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has them. Keep in mind that any of these adjustments have to start happening 300 pixels from the edge of the map, so there is a pretty big "huh?" factor for players.
So if you were playing this game, which do you think you would prefer? Or is there another option entirely that I am overlooking?
Thanks,
Dan.