I didn't see this posted anywhere on here yet: http://altdevblogaday.org/2011/05/10/third-person-lessons/
Ahh I was wondering if someone would post that. It's target audience is other devs with a focus on information sharing, but this article in particular I think works well for gamers as well. I've talked about this on the forums before, but if anyone has additional questions I'll answer them as best I am able.
At the risk of sounding sappy, thanks for putting all the work into this game that you did. I have been disappointed by A LOT of a games lately, but MNC has never let me down. I demand that you make more games in the future.
From a fellow game developer, thank you for the extra ray traces. I know ray traces are expensive but 3 traces happening only when firing is not going to slow down any game. More games should take this approach. I also want to thank you for not getting too caught up in being realistic. The character bobs as he walks but the screen does not. Blasts come from muzzles, but not at the expense of being off the crosshair. My aim is not artificially reduced as I run. My jump isnt 3 feet, and I have air control while jumping. L. Spiro
Interesting article. Btw, a number of weapons in TF2 still suffer from issues revolving around that. If you crouch while using the bow and arrow (huntsman) your arrows still fire from the same height as if you were not crouching. The new crossbow for the medic fires from his face instead of the weapon's barrel. I believe there are a couple of other instances of this as well.
I believe the one from your weapon is a short distance, fast trace only checking to see if you hit geometry and only for a short distance in front of you. Which is why sometimes with the rail gun you can shoot through geometry at a distance.
My main is indeed Tank, the very character you showed in the demo. And it is true that I notice some strange behavior because of your 3-ray-trace algorithm. When a row of my own bots is in front of me and I try to shoot through them, my Jetgun jitters up and down, every other frame hitting my bots and then hitting theirs. But frankly this is the lesser of all evils. As for hitting players through geometry at a distance, yes, this does happen, but rarely. And mostly because I know how your system works. For most players, this just feels as though the gun starts from a lower position than what we see on screen and they account for that by jumping before shooting. I did this for a while before knowing your real underlying system. L. Spiro
