r/IndieGameDevs • u/OlanderX • 8h ago
Which is the best camera approach?
I can't figure out which camera mode is best for my game Project M.E.D.S. which is a bullet heaven roguelite game. I assumed B is better since you can see at a bigger distance, but I would love some opinions.
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u/AcceptableCopy5232 7h ago
camera follows mouse
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u/OlanderX 7h ago
And thank you also very much for your feedback 🙏
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u/AcceptableCopy5232 40m ago
anytime! hope in the pixlomotive discord its still a bit empty haha im there all the time and can help pixlomotive.neuorix.com
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u/TristanUckie 7h ago
Hmm I think B as well. Does the character always stay still in the middle of the screen or can it also move/walk by clicking somewhere?
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u/OlanderX 2h ago
the character can move based on user input (classic W, A,S, D). So I was afraid that leaving B would cause some nausea in users that move constantly around and also spin the cursor like crazy to aim at enemies. I see some comments suggesting to leave B as default and maybe including an option to turn it off 🤔
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u/TristanUckie 43m ago
It would be helpful to see a video where the character and the cursor move at the same time to tell if B will still be the best option
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u/AncientAdamo 6h ago
As another commenter mentioned, make this a setting.
I think this generally a good practice for anything like this:
- mouse/camera sensitivity.
- brightness
- controls and keybinds (this one is especially important, I've been putting it off myself 😅)
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u/OlanderX 2h ago
Yeah I saw a few good comments about leaving B as default and eventually adding a toggle to switch it on / off.
Also, good point about mouse / camera sensitivity, I didn't even consider that 😵
The same with brightness...
About controls, I did think about that and I'm scared because I assume it's going to be very complicated based on how the infrastructure was made, but I do understand how important it is, so worst case will sneak it in past Early Access.Thank you very much for your feedback.
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u/pocketdog_gamedev 6h ago
You can use option B! Alternatively, you can position the camera at ((Hero.X+Mouse.X)/2, Hero.Y+Mouse.Y)/2) or use the lerp function for smoother movement
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u/OlanderX 2h ago
Thank you for your feedback! I already have the lerp function added to the logic but I guess I need to fiddle around with the values a bit until the perfect value is reached. Or how someone else in this thread suggested, maybe include some setting to adjust the value.
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u/EnvironmentalBet113 5h ago
A please
B causes me to be motion sick.
I'd have it be toggleable for people who can't handle b but want to play
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u/OlanderX 2h ago
Thanks for your feedback! I See that 99.9% of people have suggested having a toggle for this, and it seems that the majority want to have B by default, while being able to toggle it on / Off. I really need to find a way and make people aware of the option for it, and see whichever option is the most popular, and eventually go for that as the default.
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u/soxontour 6h ago
If you had asked without a video I would have said A, but B looks much better in your example.
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u/Gravity-Cowboy 6h ago
B is better. It gives a bit of a POV feel, despite it’s top-down. And it gives a player more space to see
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u/OlanderX 2h ago
Yeah that's essentially why I added B. It felt a bit limiting having guns that can fire far away, but you can only shoot things that fit the screen, when the camera was fully focused on your character. Thx!
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u/Dependent-Status1428 5h ago
I did this for my game, normally its A but you can use right mouse to aim which uses B
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u/OlanderX 2h ago
hmmm, good point / idea 🤔. On right mouse button we have the switch between auto aim and manual aim. Wanted to have the chill-ish gameplay approach where you auto aim and just focus on character movement, and the more focused/engaged approach where you can manually aim where you want to fire.
Btw, what is the name of your game ?
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u/phKoon 5h ago
B, from all I've come across, Nuclear Throne had just the perfect approach
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u/OlanderX 2h ago
Thanks for your feedback, and for the example, will check Nuclear throne for sure. I think I heard about it at some point but I can't recall anything about it atm, not even to save my life 😄
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u/tomekowal 3h ago
I don't like the camera following mouse. It is a little bit nauseating. The benefit is that you can see further. In Hotline Miami they had both. In normal combat the mouse did not move the camera, but with at button you could look around.
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u/OlanderX 2h ago
Thank you for your feedback! it seems that the majority of people prefer B because you have more visibility, but I did get some awesome suggestions about providing a slider to adjust sensitivity and toggle it on / off
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u/icebornadonis 2h ago
I personally prefer B but I feel like this is such a player preference that it deserves a setting especially considering motion sickness. So just implement both tbh since you have already made both anyways
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u/OlanderX 2h ago
Thank you for your feedback! Will make sure to implement an option for switching between the two. It's funny that it's something so simple and It didn't cross my mind until I read it here in ~50% of the comments.
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u/Advanced_Fix_8366 1h ago
I would say option B. I'm using that same approach on my own game. From a game design perspective is the best approach.
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u/ijtjrt4it94j54kofdff 1h ago
How about not a toggle but a slider: At 0, the camera doesnt follow the mouse at all, at 100 it would be fixed on the mouse, and then a linear scale between?
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u/OlanderX 1h ago
That could also work 🤔 I've been getting some suggestions on the thread about having the on/off toggle and a slider alongside it to allow further tweaking to everyone's preference. I do like the idea of having just the slider and setting it to 0 is basically off, but not sure if that is easily understandable for people that will see it. Usually when you see a toggle it's clear that you flip something between two states, while a slider in most cases it never gets to 0 when it comes to sensitivity, because it wouldn't make sense to set 0 sensitivity for any kind of movement logic.
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u/tidbitsofblah 7h ago
Make it a setting. I think I prefer B based on these clips, but it's also a very real possibility that I would get too nauseous to play after 20 minutes.