I was working on my iso tile engine, and I came across a question: how do you like your tile engines to scroll? From what I''ve seen, there are 2 types of movement, with options for each: 1) Select a location to which to move, and your character advances using pathfinding, to the destined grid tile. (Diablo, Baldur''s Gate, Fallout) 2) Click and hold the mouse button to move forward. (Ultima Online) 2.a) Movement is on a per-tile basis. Sort of a "smoothwalk-stop" feeling. 2.b) Movement is on a per-pixel basis. Much more fluid, a little more involved in calculating where to draw different objects on the screen, since each object has a tile x,y as well as a tile offset x,y. Also means a lot of extra data being sent over the network, since this is going to be an online game. Currently I''m leaning toward 2.b (since I abhorr the feel of games with movement style #1), but I was curious to know what everyone here ( or anyone who reads my post ) thinks of these two (three?) scrolling methods. ( I know this is a very small thing to worry about, and I should go with what method I personally prefer, but I''d like to know everyone''s take on this, since movement is THE most frequently-performed activity in any RPG. ) MatrixCubed

I like 2b, but I think that there should also be an option where you don''t have to hold down the mouse button, and just have to move the mouse in the direction the char is to walk. I thin UO did this by hitting the left mouse button then the right button directly afterward. It gets tiring to hold down the button the whole time

...but my vote would be with 2b


"All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be --Pink Floyd
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Need help? Well, go FAQ yourself.

Big time. I only found out about that feature late into my UO months, but it''s definitely cool nonetheless.

I''m looking into incorporating a lot of different UI styles and features so that it''s very customizeable (as opposed to other games like EQ and Diablo which are IMO so rigidly designed).


MatrixCubed

Yeah, I know what you mean. UO was really clever about how customizable it was. Diablo wasn''t as bad as EQ at least. It was kind of cool how the map would be overlaid on the screen.


"All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be --Pink Floyd
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Need help? Well, go FAQ yourself.

I know that you didn''t supply this as an option, but I''d much prefer to "drive" my character with the keyboard.

The reason? I''d love the mouse to be free for aiming, and firing in a direction other than the one I''m moving. It would add so much more to combat to be able to sidestep, or fallback while firing volleys.

I know it''s not what you had in mind, but I find Diablo''s combat model to be so dull because you can''t do this. If you have pixel level movement, imagine being able to brace your ranged weapon and slide behind and out of cover as you fire.

With a traditional mouse aiming, movement system this requires far too many clicks in different areas of the screen.

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Just waiting for the mothership...

Yeah, I agree Wav...I was going to suggest keyboard movement at least as an option to the player. I was planning on using that on the game I''m developing actually.

Glad to hear that other people would like using the keyboard too, Wav


"All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be --Pink Floyd
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Need help? Well, go FAQ yourself.

Hmm. Considering I''m planning on combat in my game as an afterthought rather than a driving force, I don''t really see a point in having that sort of fine control over movement. My game is an online RPG, but I guess you could say I''m attempting to stay away from the standard commonplace (RPG == (ACTION | PUZZLE)) of which there is so much on the market right now.

"No keyboard for you! Come back, one year!"


MatrixCubed

quote:Original post by MatrixCubed

"No keyboard for you! Come back, one year!"

LOL!!!!

quote:

My game is an online RPG, but I guess you could say I''m attempting to stay away from the standard commonplace (RPG == (ACTION | PUZZLE)) of which there is so much on the market right now.

Amen brother. I will say absolutely __NOTHING__ further that could possibly dissuade you from this path, as you''re one of the amazing few who seem to be thinking in this direction. Just lemme know when it''s out so I can play it.



MatrixCubed




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Just waiting for the mothership...

quote:Original post by Wavinator

...Just lemme know when it''s out so I can play it.

Will do. Just stop using my sig, dagnabbit!


MatrixCubed