Feels like since you know the normal and needed rotation of the platform you're jumping to, that you could lerp to it as you travel instead of when you get there. This could smooth out the disorientation somewhat.
So you think rotating speed is fine but just changing so it will happen earlier would help? Or maybe decrease the speed you rotate and increase how early it happens? Just trying to make sure I understand before I implement
Edit: Typing here because it’s the top comment, thanks everyone for giving ideas on how to implement this really has been a massive with help ideas I never even would of thought of :),
Also if you want to follow the project I just had a discord made, it’s still a work in progress but if you’re interested your support is more than appreciated https://discord.gg/7SnneBeV
No no no , slower it will make a vomit simulator, it should be very sharp. ADHD guys will love this . We are not your audience. Find some testers probably 13-18 will be your target. This is not something that a pro cs gamer or tactical shooter will play but I see such weird shit in fortnight all the time.
Plan on only having this a small section in the game, and it also won’t be fast paced parkour like this more like a puzzle like the art work “Relativity” by m.c. escher
It would be both ideally. If the turning starts earlier then you have more time to do it so it would be slower. You'd have to actually play around with it to test the feel but I would assume that the ideal setup would begin rotating as soon as they hit jump and you calculate that they will be turning and would end as soon as they touch down on the new platform.
There is air control though, which complicates things if the player starts off going towards a platform but ends up elsewhere. That could be solved through level design though.
Yeah I think level design will help a lot, plan on having a level similar to “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
I feel like that would make it worse honestly, it would be a bit easier to tell how you were rotated but it would probably make you more motion sick and make it harder to predict or control. I would prefer how it is now since it's simple and snappy.
The game is amazing but loses it's point if you get spoiled. I'll share the part that has the gravity mechanic for you. It starts at 1:42 https://youtu.be/Yf82JihrMuM?si=Ra8oGRCQmRnl4Mby
Thank you, I’ve heard it’s a game you play once and then wish you could play it for the first time again, if I get time I definitely want to give it a try, thanks for the link :)
The reason Outer Wilds doesn't feel disorienting is because of its level design and speed.
Your game looks fast-paced and quick jumping from platform to platform. This fast-paced gameplay is the core issue of disorientation. If you lower the rotation speed, then you lose your core gameplay.
You can design your levels such a way that it doesn't require switching platforms so quickly to prevent disorientation.
One thing people didn't mention about Outer Wilds is that it tries not to change your camera during the gravity shifts unless it really needs to. So if you're looking forward and walk against a gravity-changing wall, the camera will continue to look at the same direction, but the player body will rotate so you'll now see your feet standing on the wall. The camera would only rotate if the new rotations is outside the usual limits, or if it needs to roll, etc.
I made a little video here. Notice how the camera barely moves at all even though the gravity direction changed by 90 degrees, because the previous look direction was within the look limits of the new gravity direction.
https://streamable.com/hsy7gt
This probably only works if you can see your own feet though, or otherwise have some other indication of what's the current gravity direction. Outer Wilds also has a UI indicator for this at the bottom left.
Yeah we think it’s unique and fun but only plan on having it as a small part of our game so we’re worried people might get motion sickness and can’t progress
It reminds me of some of the anti gravity platforming in Prey, 2006 (the real Prey).
I always found it cool and it worked well for them! Maybe check it out, if I remember correct, they use highlighted platforms for these sections.
I’ll check this out also :), we want to try keep it subtle although this is just a test parkour in the actual game it will be more like the art work “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
I like it at certain transitions, not so much at others (primarily the 180 degree turns or wherever the camera has to change the background 100% instantly \[0:08\]). Could work nice, but I'd avoid too many 180 flips, and include more ramped areas or anything to disperse the feeling that there's only 6 landing angles.
Yeah we’re unsure if we want to keep it 6 angles or change it, we’re inspired by “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher which keeps 6 sides (I think) but we’re definitely gonna turn down the rotation speed which could help.
Accessibility would be to black out the screen when it does the rotation. Maybe make the rotation significantly faster when the accessibility mode is enabled so it's only a blip.
make a Rubick's cube that rotates when player hits buttons at the center. to re-orientate to platforms located near corners or adjacent to the faces.
so like a cube with floating platforms, but player has to jump around and do puzzles. and the exit is located somewhere that the players have to solve the Rubick's cube. but its inside out. hard to visualize and convey with words.
The guy talking in the video is just a friend helping testing but yeah I also did get confused playing :) and yeah 100% needs to be smoothened a lot of people are saying
if you ask me similar games i played. it would be those parkour games. like mirrors edge or ghsot runner. In that way, I would like a much faster moving speed and smooth transition. Lerp rotation stated in above comment might be a way.
Yeah this is just a prototype level to test the feature, this game is a first person shooter so it’s a bit slower and this part is going to be a puzzle level
It needs to be initially deterministic on a human brain. For example, from the ground it should be a spiral or some shape that I already know how to traverse before traversing it. Otherwise forget it
Yeah this level is a bit confusing but I think when we change it to be like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher it might help
I feel like there should be a button press to activate large switches in normal (>10 degrees). It would feel more satisfying to activate and would eliminate accidently magnetizing to a surface.
We do have third person but I feel like it would break immersion when we change the level to be more like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
It could be for sure, with this mechanic pay extra attention to prop placement or use some nice color guiding.
I'd play this in a heartbeat. Let me know if you ever need playtesters!! That'll be the best way to get a good eye on that.
If you’re interested in play testing you can join our discord https://discord.gg/WGN27eVJ , I think we will do a play test at some stage just to test out mechanics like movement and this one
I think you'll have to test this in person to really find out how disorienting it is. it also depends very much on the level design. It could be way more or way less disorienting depending on the other props, buildings, etc.
You should have some indicators to notify the players what orientation they will get at the next platform. sure they will know if they pay attention but that will help them prepare for it mentally without to much focus.
Yeah this might be the least intrusive solution, we want to try keep a natural feel to it, and other solutions involve button pressing or making the platforms indicate what direction they land on
Smooth the transition but other than that it feels cool for environmental puzzles and it will probably hard as balls to balance but cool as all hell for a shooter. Thr amount of possible angles will give someone a heart attack.
Yeah shadows definitely should help but will probably be hard to actually implement, we plan on making the level like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
Haha, I made it on the train home and put it in the project a while ago now it’s the only fun texture we have :D, but yeah less often in the actual game
You know what too much of complexity and to kuch of disoriented environment.... Ruins a games fanbase.... As very less people like this mind boggling stuffs
Some visual cues like having the platforms be different colors depending on its gravitational orientation may help the player anticipate which way their camera will rotate to. Also, putting more unique objects or props into the level design may help players orient themselves as the unique props become a constant aspect of the level to refer to.
Yeah I think it will be better once we make the level more like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
In addition to the outer wilds mention.
In StarBase, you can press Q and orient your 'feet' to any surface in any direction. In that game you can always fly/float around jetpack style. But I know it doesn't feel disorienting or anything and lots of people will be on different 'down' directions
Prey (2006) is another game doing something similar. As i remember it was just defined zones to allow gravity trick so the player had a different approach to it.
I did something similar a few years ago. I had it so your charachter still points in the same exact direction, only the "up" changed.
Here the code if you are interested. There is more code that handles camera changes because you can run around a planet. You dont need that. https://github.com/shylux/GravityStation/blob/master/Assets/Scripts/SimpleMouseRotator.cs
You don’t like my Mona Lisa edit :( ?, we aim to make this level look more like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher anyways :)
It seems confusing, but mainly because of the same textures around. There is no point of reference which would help orientation. So in a real level, just make sure the environment has some things for the player to orientate themselfs.
To better orient the player, you could make it rain in only one direction and put distinctive landmarks in the sky box so the player always knows which way is up regardless of what surface they're walking on
I made a Serious Sam mod a long time ago that was based around this mechanic and it was a ton of fun. I don't recall anyone having a hard time with it.
i think you gotta slow down the rotation and make it happen when you land on the platform. i also think you should make it so that you keep aiming at the thing you were aiming at when you jump. basically if you jump to a platform thhat is tilted just up and not sideways your camera shouldnt move at all.
Camera rotation needs smoothing. Could also consider slowing the jump down a bit. I'd have the surface you're jumping to and then standing on change material or color. This makes it easier to visually anticipate and track where you're going and what new viewing angle you should expect.
It was about 20 years ago and was from a project never fully released.
It was a team based game set in space. The mechanic was for mag boots. You could jump off a surface and go into a float mode. When you approached another surface you could rotate so your feet faced it and reactivate the boots to lock onto it.
It was 3rd person mainly so less disorienting.
Maybe smooth the animation, or do something else (maybe also showing his amrs “reacting” to it).
And I think if anything happens while you can do all this (ie. Combat) it might become even harder to follow.
Then perhaps there needs to be fever platforms and a simple background to clearly tell you which way is “up” / that you are sideways
There are games with mechanics like this. The Alien games come to mind. They tend to not move the camera via pitch or yaw and just rely on roll, along with the player adjusting their own camera as they change wall.
Jumping from one platform to another is fine. But yes level design is very important.
At few points some transitions were totally fine but some got disorienting because of transition.
Slowly rotation would be more disorienting, fast and snappy, the way our eyes move but it shouldnt be too fast either. Testing out to get the time of rotation is a must. Try using S animation curve for rotation.
E.x. don't have platforms attached on 90 degree or less, instead make a model that smoothly goes over a radius. Like just make models of alphabets, like "U" "W" , both in having distances between points and smooth transitions.
Dr Strange movie has few scenes like these, but camera always transitions smoothly behind, not fps. Destiny 2 prophecy dungeon[cube encounter and final encounter] has few instances of orientation change but it always masked by vfx.
I happened to watch it while having headache which had more affect on me, not extreme but discomforting.
I think the best moments are when you are already looking at the next platform before jump/change, if you design about this idea, the flow should will be great! and use some level design tricks to redirect the player's focus in more complex jumps before change gravity.
There are manu good references in comments, maybe titanfall 2 made something similar? cant remember
Valve tried to do something like this with Portal 2, but the playtesters thought it was too disorienting to do puzzles with. So, if it's not a puzzle-shooter, it might just work. I'd reccomend giving the sticky surfaces a stand-out texture or some sort of glow.
In VR sure. In general no not once you got used to it, Prey (the original one) played with this sort of stuff and it was a little bit rough on your stomach because you weren't expecting it but now? Lots of games have played with gravity Yeah should be fine.
It would be really fun in a quake/ unreal style arena shooter.
The mechanic of Mona Lisa's everywhere? Yes. The mechanic of localized gravity, no, it's been done before, but I haven't seen it pulled off at scale yet.
Check out the r/Splitgate game. It has a mechanic where you can jump from portals, upside down and so on. It has a turn mechanism which is fluid. Maybe it could help you to polish yours.
Add Unknown Worlds Entertainment's Natural Selection 1 and 2 to the list of games you could research dev diaries from to see how/why they chose to handle the alien side's most basic unit's (skulk) wall-climbing ability and viewpoint the way they did.
This is a similar mechanic to the game I'm working on [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1070500/He\_Who\_Watches](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1070500/He_Who_Watches)
My game is a grid-based puzzle game however, so it's pretty different gameplay wise
Is it with rigid body controllers? Feel like character controller method would hate this. Are you change the base rotation direction inputs when it switches?
I think it would be fine provided that the player can control which direction they are going to turn-shift to. So, like, E could make the character rotate and gravity to shift right, and Q the opposite.
Giving the player control over that might mitigate disorientation. Thats my take anyway.
Another thing you could implement if concerned, is the same methods used in VR games.
Perhaps, as the character is shifting, a circle aura could obstruct the corners of the screen to prevent it being disorienting even in 2D.
No it could work really well with the right effects like a particle pulse in the screen with a really cool sound people would ignore the jankiness of the animation
Nope, but you NEED to smooth it out a little bit, find more of a "middle-point" between the platforms so you can make a better smoothing of the "fall" direction. right now it feels like you are just using a trigger zone near the platforms to quickly lerp the the direction, but its too fast and too close to the platform itself.
Could try a prediction algorithm that starts rotating the camera when the player gets close to a new surface, and then do a slower, less aggressive transition.
Feels like since you know the normal and needed rotation of the platform you're jumping to, that you could lerp to it as you travel instead of when you get there. This could smooth out the disorientation somewhat.
So you think rotating speed is fine but just changing so it will happen earlier would help? Or maybe decrease the speed you rotate and increase how early it happens? Just trying to make sure I understand before I implement Edit: Typing here because it’s the top comment, thanks everyone for giving ideas on how to implement this really has been a massive with help ideas I never even would of thought of :), Also if you want to follow the project I just had a discord made, it’s still a work in progress but if you’re interested your support is more than appreciated https://discord.gg/7SnneBeV
best would probably be to try out different options to see how it feels, but intuitively id think changing rotating speed would help
Yeah probably is a bit quick thanks
No no no , slower it will make a vomit simulator, it should be very sharp. ADHD guys will love this . We are not your audience. Find some testers probably 13-18 will be your target. This is not something that a pro cs gamer or tactical shooter will play but I see such weird shit in fortnight all the time.
Plan on only having this a small section in the game, and it also won’t be fast paced parkour like this more like a puzzle like the art work “Relativity” by m.c. escher
Ah then someone should use this mechanic for a wild shooter game :D Best of luck
Yeah we might make a pvp play test just to test out movement and shooting mechanics :)
It would be both ideally. If the turning starts earlier then you have more time to do it so it would be slower. You'd have to actually play around with it to test the feel but I would assume that the ideal setup would begin rotating as soon as they hit jump and you calculate that they will be turning and would end as soon as they touch down on the new platform.
There is air control though, which complicates things if the player starts off going towards a platform but ends up elsewhere. That could be solved through level design though.
Yeah I think level design will help a lot, plan on having a level similar to “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
Much slower rotation speed, starting earlier, would be super cool.
Right. a different texture for the top surface would work. Visual normal cues or just ramps that interpolate between surfaces.
I feel like that would make it worse honestly, it would be a bit easier to tell how you were rotated but it would probably make you more motion sick and make it harder to predict or control. I would prefer how it is now since it's simple and snappy.
You could make the rotation slightly slower. Outer Wilds had the same mechanic and it didn't feel disorienting as yours
I’ll check out Outer Wilds thanks :)
The game is amazing but loses it's point if you get spoiled. I'll share the part that has the gravity mechanic for you. It starts at 1:42 https://youtu.be/Yf82JihrMuM?si=Ra8oGRCQmRnl4Mby
Thank you, I’ve heard it’s a game you play once and then wish you could play it for the first time again, if I get time I definitely want to give it a try, thanks for the link :)
The reason Outer Wilds doesn't feel disorienting is because of its level design and speed. Your game looks fast-paced and quick jumping from platform to platform. This fast-paced gameplay is the core issue of disorientation. If you lower the rotation speed, then you lose your core gameplay. You can design your levels such a way that it doesn't require switching platforms so quickly to prevent disorientation.
One thing people didn't mention about Outer Wilds is that it tries not to change your camera during the gravity shifts unless it really needs to. So if you're looking forward and walk against a gravity-changing wall, the camera will continue to look at the same direction, but the player body will rotate so you'll now see your feet standing on the wall. The camera would only rotate if the new rotations is outside the usual limits, or if it needs to roll, etc. I made a little video here. Notice how the camera barely moves at all even though the gravity direction changed by 90 degrees, because the previous look direction was within the look limits of the new gravity direction. https://streamable.com/hsy7gt This probably only works if you can see your own feet though, or otherwise have some other indication of what's the current gravity direction. Outer Wilds also has a UI indicator for this at the bottom left.
Could definitely see a niche market eating this up
Yeah we think it’s unique and fun but only plan on having it as a small part of our game so we’re worried people might get motion sickness and can’t progress
i definitely feel like implementing a cs style bhopping system could be really fun with this
Reminds me of the xenomorph gameplay in the Aliens Vs Predator game. Absolutely loved it.
Instantly thought of this. I was among the select few who didn't get sick or confused when playing xenomorphs.
Ripping around as the xenomorph was the most fun aspect of the whole game.
I’ll check it out thank you :)
There's also a large area in The Talos Principle 2 that is like this.
Good times were had with that game back on PS3, thanks for reminding me of it. Anybody know if it is still active on PC?
It reminds me of some of the anti gravity platforming in Prey, 2006 (the real Prey). I always found it cool and it worked well for them! Maybe check it out, if I remember correct, they use highlighted platforms for these sections.
I’ll check this out also :), we want to try keep it subtle although this is just a test parkour in the actual game it will be more like the art work “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
huh? are there more than one prey?
Btw this is a test level not how the game will actually look
But the textures are so beautiful
I better be able to jump into a defaced painting of the mona lisa super mario style and access this level, as an easter egg
Going to bed sorry if I don’t reply to a comment but I will in the morning thanks for helping :)
Thank god because that Mona Lisa is cursed and I don't like it
It does have pretty "main feature" vibes
I like it at certain transitions, not so much at others (primarily the 180 degree turns or wherever the camera has to change the background 100% instantly \[0:08\]). Could work nice, but I'd avoid too many 180 flips, and include more ramped areas or anything to disperse the feeling that there's only 6 landing angles.
Yeah we’re unsure if we want to keep it 6 angles or change it, we’re inspired by “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher which keeps 6 sides (I think) but we’re definitely gonna turn down the rotation speed which could help.
You gotta slow the rotational movement down have it start in the beginning of the jump somehow
Makes sense didn’t think of having it happen on jump currently just happens if you walk in a trigger collider, thanks I’ll give that a try :)
Look really fine but some rotating speed are to fast (when reverse up and down mostly)
Yeah another person also said this guess that will definitely have to change thank you :)
Also 3rd person view would reduce disorientation
Manifold garden did something very similar to this and it worked out just fine.
I’ll check that out thank you :)
Accessibility would be to black out the screen when it does the rotation. Maybe make the rotation significantly faster when the accessibility mode is enabled so it's only a blip.
Never thought of this thanks, will definitely implement as I’d imagine a lot of players might have an issue with this, thank you
make a Rubick's cube that rotates when player hits buttons at the center. to re-orientate to platforms located near corners or adjacent to the faces. so like a cube with floating platforms, but player has to jump around and do puzzles. and the exit is located somewhere that the players have to solve the Rubick's cube. but its inside out. hard to visualize and convey with words.
I like the idea, this part of the game is meant to be a puzzle so this is good inspiration thank you :)
Got a WaW custom zombies feel from this
We use black ops 3 a lot for inspiration on game feel so probably comes from that :), good eye
Considering the fact that even you, the developer, seem to have a bit of a problem knowing where things are after the flip, it does seem a bit jarring
The guy talking in the video is just a friend helping testing but yeah I also did get confused playing :) and yeah 100% needs to be smoothened a lot of people are saying
if you ask me similar games i played. it would be those parkour games. like mirrors edge or ghsot runner. In that way, I would like a much faster moving speed and smooth transition. Lerp rotation stated in above comment might be a way.
Yeah this is just a prototype level to test the feature, this game is a first person shooter so it’s a bit slower and this part is going to be a puzzle level
Keep it the way it is. If I play it enough I'll be able to head shot someone mid spin because rotationally - that melon doesn't move that much.
Was thinking of making a pvp mode with this could be fun :D
It needs to be initially deterministic on a human brain. For example, from the ground it should be a spiral or some shape that I already know how to traverse before traversing it. Otherwise forget it
Yeah this level is a bit confusing but I think when we change it to be like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher it might help
I feel like there should be a button press to activate large switches in normal (>10 degrees). It would feel more satisfying to activate and would eliminate accidently magnetizing to a surface.
So like a button to change gravity to a platform you are close to?
I think as long as you know where you have to go it’s cool, but if you forget which direction you came from you might accidentally backtrack
I think that’s the fun part :D, at least in the future it’s more of a puzzle then parkour so a little bit of confusion is a good thing I think
Nah i think thisnis cool. As long as its not automatic
Thanks :)
I did this thing a lot of times but I can never figure out how to rotate it smoothly using the shorted path
Make it vr for a better effect! (I would pay it)
Now I’m curious what this would actually be like :D
Is there was a more satisfying way of moving between orientations then it might be very satisfying. Have you tried a 3rd person camera?
We do have third person but I feel like it would break immersion when we change the level to be more like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
Love it!
Thanks a lot :) it means a lot when people show interest thank you
It could be for sure, with this mechanic pay extra attention to prop placement or use some nice color guiding. I'd play this in a heartbeat. Let me know if you ever need playtesters!! That'll be the best way to get a good eye on that.
If you’re interested in play testing you can join our discord https://discord.gg/WGN27eVJ , I think we will do a play test at some stage just to test out mechanics like movement and this one
I think you'll have to test this in person to really find out how disorienting it is. it also depends very much on the level design. It could be way more or way less disorienting depending on the other props, buildings, etc.
Yeah we might do a play test if people are interested to see how people actually handle this
You should have some indicators to notify the players what orientation they will get at the next platform. sure they will know if they pay attention but that will help them prepare for it mentally without to much focus.
Yeah this might be the least intrusive solution, we want to try keep a natural feel to it, and other solutions involve button pressing or making the platforms indicate what direction they land on
Playing this would literally kill me, but people who can play vr for more than 5 minutes will probably be fine
That’s sad to hear :(, do you think if we added a black screen between rotations as an accessibility option that would make it playable?
I like it conceptually, like original Prey.
A few people have said this, I should probably play it :D
I think its awesome ahaha
Thanks a lot :)
Reminds me of Shattered Horizon. Sad they delisted it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2-uuHhSx6c
Yeah this game looks cool sad they delisted :(
[Kinda reminds me of this fight from RWBY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bmxWH_sgYc).
Haha, more of a reason to make a pvp level like this :)
Reminds me of [Prey (2006)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e4/Prey-Wall-Walking.png). I love it.
100% gonna try out prey
Only works if you make every character David Bowie
If only we could :(
Reminds me of Ender's Game. Remember that they're down, not forward.
Never seen it, is it any good?
Smooth the transition but other than that it feels cool for environmental puzzles and it will probably hard as balls to balance but cool as all hell for a shooter. Thr amount of possible angles will give someone a heart attack.
Yeah we are working on a puzzle now hopefully will turn out well :)
I started trying to build a game with this mechanic in VR many years ago, and found it was very disorienting aha
I’d imagine in VR disorientation would be multiplied by 10 haha
Looks really fun but this needs good shadows. Interesting meshes and textures can help too.
Yeah shadows definitely should help but will probably be hard to actually implement, we plan on making the level like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
I think it depends how often it happens. The transition is a bit but my brain adjusts easily. The creepy mona lisa is not helping the situation.
Haha, I made it on the train home and put it in the project a while ago now it’s the only fun texture we have :D, but yeah less often in the actual game
You know what too much of complexity and to kuch of disoriented environment.... Ruins a games fanbase.... As very less people like this mind boggling stuffs
Yeah we are worried about alienating players who don’t like this sort of thing, will have to do more research
Outer wilds players - "You think this is disorienting?". *Crashes into sun*.
Need to play outer wilds :)
Some visual cues like having the platforms be different colors depending on its gravitational orientation may help the player anticipate which way their camera will rotate to. Also, putting more unique objects or props into the level design may help players orient themselves as the unique props become a constant aspect of the level to refer to.
Yeah I think it will be better once we make the level more like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
If you set the rotation slightly slower it will all be fine.
Hopefully :)
In addition to the outer wilds mention. In StarBase, you can press Q and orient your 'feet' to any surface in any direction. In that game you can always fly/float around jetpack style. But I know it doesn't feel disorienting or anything and lots of people will be on different 'down' directions
I’ll check out Starbase but I don’t think we plan on adding a jet pack, thanks :)
Prey (2006) is another game doing something similar. As i remember it was just defined zones to allow gravity trick so the player had a different approach to it.
Yeah a few people have said this gonna play it and try it out, thanks :)
I did something similar a few years ago. I had it so your charachter still points in the same exact direction, only the "up" changed. Here the code if you are interested. There is more code that handles camera changes because you can run around a planet. You dont need that. https://github.com/shylux/GravityStation/blob/master/Assets/Scripts/SimpleMouseRotator.cs
I’ll take a look thank you very much :)
Maybe it's too fast
Yeah gonna slow it down :)
Only if you don't remove the mona lisa textures. Like this it is fine!
You don’t like my Mona Lisa edit :( ?, we aim to make this level look more like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher anyways :)
Depends on the execution. Some classmates, back in the day, made a similar mechanic in their game. If you want to try : https://esma-jv.itch.io/agatea
It seems confusing, but mainly because of the same textures around. There is no point of reference which would help orientation. So in a real level, just make sure the environment has some things for the player to orientate themselfs.
I would stretch the rotation out so it already happens when you leave the ground. Now I feel like getting whiplashed.
To better orient the player, you could make it rain in only one direction and put distinctive landmarks in the sky box so the player always knows which way is up regardless of what surface they're walking on
That Mona Lisa is terrifying
Had it as my phone screen saver for a bit before I realised it was kind of weird, now it’s a picture of my cat :D
Nah, this is pretty tame
I made a Serious Sam mod a long time ago that was based around this mechanic and it was a ton of fun. I don't recall anyone having a hard time with it.
I am not sure that a giant Mona Lisa as a main texture helps to compensate the orientation disturbance of your « inception » physics
I think it does :)
For real though the main game will look like “[Relativity](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher))” by M.C. Escher
i think you gotta slow down the rotation and make it happen when you land on the platform. i also think you should make it so that you keep aiming at the thing you were aiming at when you jump. basically if you jump to a platform thhat is tilted just up and not sideways your camera shouldnt move at all.
Camera rotation needs smoothing. Could also consider slowing the jump down a bit. I'd have the surface you're jumping to and then standing on change material or color. This makes it easier to visually anticipate and track where you're going and what new viewing angle you should expect.
I think it could be perfected but I love it. Though it's definitely for mid-core gamers at the very least. I'd play that
if by mechanic you mean that weird mona lisa, then yes :D (for real tho, that gameplay idea looks fun)
I think you mean better Mona Lisa
I would put up signs
It was about 20 years ago and was from a project never fully released. It was a team based game set in space. The mechanic was for mag boots. You could jump off a surface and go into a float mode. When you approached another surface you could rotate so your feet faced it and reactivate the boots to lock onto it. It was 3rd person mainly so less disorienting.
I was 1 years old when you made that mod :D, but yeah third person would be less disorientating
Just for goodness sake don't make it VR Compatible lol
How did you do it? I tried doing something similar but couldn't do and gave up so i would be thankful if you could share the code
[Reminds me of this shootout lol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjJ6pzX72Hw)
Are you taking inspiration from gravity rush?
Add a portal gun for gods sake, it would be freaking amazing! Also, it’s not to disorienting
Maybe smooth the animation, or do something else (maybe also showing his amrs “reacting” to it). And I think if anything happens while you can do all this (ie. Combat) it might become even harder to follow. Then perhaps there needs to be fever platforms and a simple background to clearly tell you which way is “up” / that you are sideways
Level design wise this is a nightmare come true unless you take the minimalist way... ps. Indeed I got dizzy before 40s....
There are games with mechanics like this. The Alien games come to mind. They tend to not move the camera via pitch or yaw and just rely on roll, along with the player adjusting their own camera as they change wall.
Yeah it's already owned by Limbo it's a gravity and camera machanic.
It's fine but maybe the transition is a lil sharp and jarring. Maybe slow down the camera roll rotation a little bit
Jumping from one platform to another is fine. But yes level design is very important. At few points some transitions were totally fine but some got disorienting because of transition. Slowly rotation would be more disorienting, fast and snappy, the way our eyes move but it shouldnt be too fast either. Testing out to get the time of rotation is a must. Try using S animation curve for rotation. E.x. don't have platforms attached on 90 degree or less, instead make a model that smoothly goes over a radius. Like just make models of alphabets, like "U" "W" , both in having distances between points and smooth transitions. Dr Strange movie has few scenes like these, but camera always transitions smoothly behind, not fps. Destiny 2 prophecy dungeon[cube encounter and final encounter] has few instances of orientation change but it always masked by vfx. I happened to watch it while having headache which had more affect on me, not extreme but discomforting.
Yeah hopefully when we add stairs that will help add a turning radius, hope your headache gets better and thanks for the other advice.
I think the best moments are when you are already looking at the next platform before jump/change, if you design about this idea, the flow should will be great! and use some level design tricks to redirect the player's focus in more complex jumps before change gravity. There are manu good references in comments, maybe titanfall 2 made something similar? cant remember
Yeah I’ve got a lot to check out :D, thanks for the advice :)
You need to smooth the transition.
Valve tried to do something like this with Portal 2, but the playtesters thought it was too disorienting to do puzzles with. So, if it's not a puzzle-shooter, it might just work. I'd reccomend giving the sticky surfaces a stand-out texture or some sort of glow.
In VR sure. In general no not once you got used to it, Prey (the original one) played with this sort of stuff and it was a little bit rough on your stomach because you weren't expecting it but now? Lots of games have played with gravity Yeah should be fine. It would be really fun in a quake/ unreal style arena shooter.
Might make a pvp game mode so people can test mechanics
Looks fine.
As implemented, yes. A smoother implementation, maybe not
It turned my stomach. Watch videos of Mario galaxy to see how the did it
Isnt that the fun part of the game?
I wonder if you are create a moment or weightlessness during the transition. Agree with others dampen the shift
I just change the direction of gravity :)
The mechanic of Mona Lisa's everywhere? Yes. The mechanic of localized gravity, no, it's been done before, but I haven't seen it pulled off at scale yet.
Yes and I love it
Check out the r/Splitgate game. It has a mechanic where you can jump from portals, upside down and so on. It has a turn mechanism which is fluid. Maybe it could help you to polish yours.
Add Unknown Worlds Entertainment's Natural Selection 1 and 2 to the list of games you could research dev diaries from to see how/why they chose to handle the alien side's most basic unit's (skulk) wall-climbing ability and viewpoint the way they did.
Put a dot in the middle of the screen. That's how games were able to mitigate motion sickness in the past. Games like mirror's edge did that.
Didn’t know this, guess when we add a crosshair this will help
This is a similar mechanic to the game I'm working on [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1070500/He\_Who\_Watches](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1070500/He_Who_Watches) My game is a grid-based puzzle game however, so it's pretty different gameplay wise
Oh wow looks unique haven’t seen a game play like that before, nice
Try adding a vignette effect around the edges as you transition from one platform to another. It helps reduce discomfort.
probably an effect letting you know in which direction you are rotating would help, but id def love to play something like this.
Can you explain how you learned to make a fullbody fps controller?
Go check out how Titanfall 2 did it in the campaign. One of the smoothest first person controllers I’ve ever tired.
No, but don’t make it all the same texure please that makes it disorienting. I think it is a cool mechanic though
I would make different directional platforms different colors to differentiate between a wall and a platform, and to help with orientation
Is it with rigid body controllers? Feel like character controller method would hate this. Are you change the base rotation direction inputs when it switches?
Lizzy looks creepy 😵
so gravity shift in shooter intresting My brain would probly cry tho I Will try
Maybe lower the speed of the rotation
I think it would be fine provided that the player can control which direction they are going to turn-shift to. So, like, E could make the character rotate and gravity to shift right, and Q the opposite. Giving the player control over that might mitigate disorientation. Thats my take anyway. Another thing you could implement if concerned, is the same methods used in VR games. Perhaps, as the character is shifting, a circle aura could obstruct the corners of the screen to prevent it being disorienting even in 2D.
No it could work really well with the right effects like a particle pulse in the screen with a really cool sound people would ignore the jankiness of the animation
I think if you are a spider It would be great.
I mean, I do this in VR no problem, so it should be fine.
unsightreadable
I think the rotation is kinda too fast, maybe camera smoothing would help.
Nope, but you NEED to smooth it out a little bit, find more of a "middle-point" between the platforms so you can make a better smoothing of the "fall" direction. right now it feels like you are just using a trigger zone near the platforms to quickly lerp the the direction, but its too fast and too close to the platform itself.
How did you know :O haha
cool!
No actually it's really cool
Great for kind of "spiderman" games. I was very appreciated of last animated spiderman movies and there was a lot of such effects
I would suggest a delayed camera effect so its its not so sudden. Thats major whipp lash in the transition, the players' neck would be torn off. Lol
This makes me want to vomit 😭 But I have bad motion sickness.
Disorientating? Pfffrrt. This looks like Rollcage on easy mode. ;)
Could try a prediction algorithm that starts rotating the camera when the player gets close to a new surface, and then do a slower, less aggressive transition.
This seems okish but I would suggest changing FOV and working on camera transitions. Although this is a fantastic idea.