Question on HUD Sway.

[Epifire]

Don't know who else agrees with me, but the player view in every Valve game I have played is just about rock solid. By that I mean there is no view sway or dynamic feeling of motion. When you run, jump, and turn the view stays consistent in the matter that it remains stiff without much give.

My question resides on the side of, can the HUD by edited to incorporate more additional motion? For instance a swift short bit of panning from left to right when sprinting, to give the noticeable body motion. Or a up/down vertical kind of tremor that plays on impact when falling from damage grade distances.

Just a idea in question that would give a more free feeling to the first person perspective in a mod. I am not sure if this has been incorporated into newer Valve games, but I know it has been absent in earlier to mid range ones.

[zombie@computer]

i love source BECAUSE it doesnt sway or hop view or whatever. Makes me seasick.

[Epifire]

I am just wondering if that can actually be added, or if that is not some thing that can be edited.

[Gary]

It probably can be. Just doubt it's easy.

[zombie@computer]

do you want the hud to sway or the viewpoint? The latter ive seen done using viewpunches (the same code that punches you after some attack), the hud you'll have to do yourself entirely (youll probably want to incorporate some sinusoid function to the offsets of all hudelements).

[MayheM]

i love source BECAUSE it doesnt sway or hop view or whatever. Makes me seasick.

This is something other games do that makes no sense. They try to make it look as though you are actually moving, however in real life your eyes adjust to the movement and the effect the games display do not actually happen in the real world. Thus in the attempt to make things more realistic, they actually do the opposite... I wish everyone would keep this in mind when making games. Sometimes I think they are trying to show off coding effects rather than trying to simulate reality.

[nub]

Well when you're running really fast your vision isn't perfectly still. However, adding a bunch of swaying and bobbing in games can create motion sickness very easily.

Mirrors Edge is about the only game that did it well in my opinion, though maybe not realistically. I never got motion sickness when playing it because the view bobbing wasn't overdone or anything. It was only really noticeable when you landed from a jump and whatnot. And I loved how you'd actually see yourself do a somersault from first person perspective. I think that kind of stuff adds a ton of immersion to a game.

[MayheM]

The reason is causes motion sickness while playing a game but not while running is because while you are running your body and mind are both dealing with the visual and tactile sensation of running. The same is not true when playing a game. Your mind is under the impression that your body is in movement, but your body is still. This is what causes motion sickness. In fact the same will happen when you are inside a boat. When you can not see the movement of the boat, but your body feels it. This is why they should simply never use this effect in games.

[Epifire]

The reason is causes motion sickness while playing a game but not while running is because while you are running your body and mind are both dealing with the visual and tactile sensation of running. The same is not true when playing a game. Your mind is under the impression that your body is in movement, but your body is still. This is what causes motion sickness. In fact the same will happen when you are inside a boat. When you can not see the movement of the boat, but your body feels it. This is why they should simply never use this effect in games.

I can agree to an extent, being that it is most often overdone in games for the pretty effects. A little motion sway is realistic as no one runs like a straight plane that defines their direction of movement (aka source fps view). Really I think about the most realistic feature (that is related to anyone with two legs) is a slight up and down motion that gives the effect of running. Cause when you get the chance run around outside, or some thing along those lines. You will notice a drop between each step. However it is slight (at least for me) but it is there and present.

This mainly comes up because in most Source games I felt like I was a camera on wheels, fixed to the ground by gravity. Though Valve had added good impact sounds for footsteps, and collision, the visual recollection is not there to correspond with the sounds aside from increased speed in the case of running. One game I like a lot that has an overabundance of view sway is Medal of Honor: Airborne. But really, in real life when it comes down to it, view motion that throws you off like that is defined by the person running (within certain bounds).

Since we all know there is no literal thought control over this feature we just try to find a middle ground when we communicate that into a game. While some people may throw themselves about in a dead sprint like a Kenyan, others may confine themselves in a more comfortable kind of jogging perspective. So when you think about it, this really is a more dynamic feature that should seem different person to person that plays the game. So for some, that tossed around view may very well be what it looks like "when they run", where as some less speedy fellow may take it easy, resulting in the more stagnant motionless view.

[fishshapedfish]

Just to clarify as a member of Epifire's mod team that this is slot easier than you think it is to code. When you fire a gun in source the recoil jolts the players view back a bit. Therefore for our mod i have taken this into advantage and used it to create a head bobbing effect.

[Gary]

Crap. I thought you were talking about the HUD swaying independently of the view.

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Camera_Bob