asset creation, curves, some graphics features (not the bleakness!) and overall cleanliness and all that, yeah, sure, would rock, but the lousy rubberband control scheme is just horrible. I don't know what causes it but I suspect low server FPS.

You need maximum control bandwith (a control theory term) for the best control. No delays. Low ping. High mouse frequency. High fps, both on server and on client. High hz on screen.

On the other hand, you get more money if you make it random and with a low skill ceiling or so that skill or ping doesn't separate players. But then it's not as fun anymore. You can't pull godlike maneuvers anymore.

It should be so that the guy on the server is you. It responds instantly to even the slightest twitch of your mouse. 

http://www.frontiernet.net/~joe14580/captain%20obvious.jpg 

What do you think about the CPM netcode? (vs the standard q3 netcode) 

I finally got around to reading that link you put up a little while back.

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6598&Itemid=51&limit=1&limitstart=1

I gotta tell ya, this is pretty exciting stuff. Not only that but much of it is doable in QuakeC.

Nix the gun model view, replace with a third person camera at a fixed height.

Add a shift+direction key (w,a,s,d)to allow for leaning positions as the player stands still.

Shift+crouch key for a more analog crouch where the player can slowly take position thus allowing for several height positions instead of just two.

acceleration and deceleration are easy to do as well. The crouch shift slide described in the article sounds like a lot of fun.

Where you may find trouble with camera positioning in an QuakeC implementation for a more analog-ish experience is duplicating something like a full body gymnastic tumble. Quake uses a 3x3 matrix for the camera positioning so you are going to run
in to some serious Gimbel Lock problems there.

So if Metl can be so kind as to add a quaternion library to his engine, I'll get to work on this in QuakeC. (Har har har, dream on
ThumpHead). 

i was just wondering what opinions people had on the player model being present in first person mode for shooters and the like.

it was done in chronicles of riddick and dark messiah (that i can recall, but i'm sure it's been done before that) and i found it a lot more immersive to be able to see my own body.

granted, i think the movement could have been more responsive in both the games i mentioned, because they slowed everything down to make sure it synced with the animations.

still, what do you guys think? is it something cool that should be done more often, or is there something about it that bugs you? 

on one hand, it's a bit like seeing the on screen drivers hands and steering wheel in a racing game when you have your own wheel and hands, and on the other it does make you feel a bit less like a floating head. I guess in an FPS game you tend to forget about your own hands and put yourself into the game because you can control the look direction so freely and easily.

If you get up and try moving around (aiming at least) like you were in an FPS, you will realise that PC FPS speed is a little bit too fast, but console turn rate is way too slow. The thing is that whilst I can't easily turn my whole body 180 in 0.1 seconds, I can pretty easily turn my neck, torso and move my arms into position in a very short time. I don't really know what my point is with this actually, but I do think that it is important to know how to animate the player model properly to feel right and sync up to the controls rather than the other way around. I guess the animations would mostly have to be calculated by the computer based on constraints rather than animated.

Go and look at the Killzone 2 trailer (pre-rendered one from E3 2005) or the Bioshock pre-rendered trailer (especially) for a look at how having the player body visible could add to the imersion a lot if done right.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/13584.html 

it's pretty common to see your hands already. would be awesome if they'd animate like that, although the trailer shows some really relly bad owlneck-syndrome, and i can't really imagine how it translates to a less dynamic viewpoint.

i remember that seeing your body in trespasser was cool.

I like the idea in general, just have to make it play really really smooth. 

thanks for pointing me to that trailer :) i've been trying to stay away from bioshock news, cause i want it to be a bit of a surprise, but that one was totally worth watching!

i don't think i could bring myself to use the 'killer fly swarm' though... that gives me the heebie jeebies. >_< 

I've seen several trailers but that one - if it is in-game graphics - is seriously bad ass. Good intro too. And, errr, pretty damn gory. Rage this ain't ;). 

I said it was pre-rendered. The in game graphics are pretty sweet too, but not quite like that. The part where the big daddy drills through the players hand is sweet :) 

Hey people in Madison (Raven people probably exclusively) there's an IGDA meeting in Madison that I'm probably going to be able to go to on Tuesday. THIS Tuesday. The 14th. Of August. 2007. The year of the rat. Maybe.

Anyone here going? Scampie? Anyone?

Free beer supposedly. 

I suppose I should have read your post then lol. 

new trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23434.html?type=flv

the player's body is really visible here too. Looks great, but it won't look like that in game :/ 

Hey people in Madison (Raven people probably exclusively)

yeah fuck you.

If you're going I might attend. Raven people usually don't go to IGDA stuff because they somehow have the opinion that they're the only legit game developers in the state so there's no reason to associate with the unimportant studios. 

Everything I see or read about this game makes me want it more.

That new trailer doesn't really show anything new about the gameplay that wasn't there before, but it definately reinforces the projected excellence in store. 

Isn't Humanhead in Madison as well? I don't recall Prey being some small project. 

Sorry, for some reason I imagined you moved out of Madison and back to Chicago or something.

Yeah, Human Head is going to be there, along with smaller studios Frozen Codebase and Big Rooster. 

Raven people usually don't go to IGDA stuff because they somehow have the opinion that they're the only legit game developers in the state

Don't lump me in with that, Mr. Cranky, I don't feel that way at all.

I'm not going simply because other people aren't important. Period.

(And I already have other plans.) 

in bolivia at the moment, but chile was pretty cool too.

so what{s been happening in the last week or so on func? 

was it necros? 

I'm sure.

Errrr. Someone posted a few film reviews without your permission. That's all. 

These polish stop motion animations are available in youtube, found it out by accident! I loved them as a kid, and they are still fun as hell. Just turn the sound down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSEs994yH-s

I never found bugs bunny or that stuff fun - it was noisy and didn't make any sense. This is the contrary, it's these two builder guys who are always up to some projects. Seems like with Stanislaw Lem, the poles have a special dark humor that they master very well. 

Pretty cool? Fucking freezing more like ;) 

you better be at this thing because I'm on my way

/me shakes fist crotchety-like 

yep, it was quite cold but not as much as the top of mout villrica