Controls

[Midivar]

Hi,

I was wondering what thought went behind the decisions of the current control scheme. I just couldn\'t figure out how to move my character and the camera in a comfortable way. Maybe I\'m just spoiled by World of Warcraft, but I had to both use WASD *and* cursor keys *and* mouse/middle mouse button to get what I want. That is, strafe, turn, camera movement. Am I just daft or is the control mechanism still being worked on? If so, maybe you could consider something like World of Warcraft\'s?

[CerviasG]

I dont see why you need to use strafe but if you do, just hit A or D then keep moving with the arrows. If you want the camera to stay locked behind you then I would use Third Person Follow. If you don\'t want to use the middle mouse button then hit Tab (I think) and then you can move your mouse around to look.

[Avarus]

You can change the \"viewing-mode\" by pressing M...

[Watcher]

You can also do click to move where you want by holding some buttons that I can\'t remember the combination of right now.

[Avarus]

I thought it was CTRL + Left mousebutton...

[Nikodemus]

Fact is, mouselook in PS isn\'t done as it should, yet. In effect it is not worth of using in most of the situations. There is a lot of customization in ps what allow for different alternative variations. But all of this is worse than system which use mouse for looking around.

[stfrn]

I have tried my best to add controls that people want, but it\'s difficult to copy games I haven\'t even used I am looking into adding mouselook like morrowind and other games, where it only turns at the edges of the screen. But there are limits on what can be easily done by the engine right now, and I don\'t have the extra time to change how things work currently. I am open to suggestions for other changes at anytime.

[Midivar]

Thanks for the replies. That clarifies some things. I still find the controls a bit awkward, but I\'m sure I could get used more to it.

As you seem to know Morrowind, the controls in that game are okay. The mouselook is pretty good. I\'m looking forward to the day when PS supports proper mouselook, if that day may come. I think it would be such an improvement. Obviously, a lot of people are fine with the current controls, so whatever. Besides, lots of MMORPG\'s leave a lot to be desired for the controls, in my opinion. Even the commercial ones, like DAoC. But controls in World of Warcraft are a treat!

Just thought I\'d post my thoughts on this. In the end, all feedback leads to a better game, right?

EDIT: I\'ve started the game and tried out certain things. For example, I\'ve changed the strafing keys from A and D to Q and E, and turning to A and D like World of Wacraft (and most other games, really). Now, using TAB for mouselook mode, it\'s already a lot better! One thing that puzzles me, though, is that you can\'t use mouse to look around when you\'re walking. This is one of the easier features around! This way you can run away and look behind you at the same time.

Also, personally, I would really consider making run the default. I mean, you run more than you walk in this type of game, right? It\'s faster. I hate having to hold shift to run.

[stfrn]

Yes, there used to be a key to toggle running by default, but it was no longer posible in a previous change to movement system, and made even harder recently. I would like it back however.
Also, some movements cannot stack when they should. If you turn on auto-run, you can use mouselook, but you cannot be mouselooking and move forward. It\'s a minor bug, but an annoying one.

[Midivar]

I see. Well, I\'m very glad that the controls and gameplay is still being worked on. This is the first thing that you come across when you start playing and it should be very comfortable! Planeshift used to run horribly on my P3-800 GeForce 3, but now it runs okay (not great) so that\'s already a lot better. I sure hope Planeshift keeps improving!

[Seytra]

Originally posted by stfrn
Yes, there used to be a key to toggle running by default, but it was no longer posible in a previous change to movement system, and made even harder recently. I would like it back however.

With the most recent update, this option is more or less back.
To get to \"run by default\" behaviour, you need to go to the keyboard options and click \"set\" on the \"run modifier\". Then, hit a letter key, or any key that is not a modifier key (i.e., not shift, alt or ctrl). This will make the field be empty. (setting \"none\" will set it to \"none\" and it won\'t show that effect).

Now you\'ll always run, except when you press shift. Not as easily usable as having a toggling key, but a workaround.

It seems to be more of a bug, but one that could be made into a feature. Granted, running by default isn\'t truly realistic, but AFAICS it\'s one of the things where realism would hurt more than it helps.

Originally posted by stfrn
Also, some movements cannot stack when they should. If you turn on auto-run, you can use mouselook, but you cannot be mouselooking and move forward. It\'s a minor bug, but an annoying one.

Use of the free rotation camera and mouselook turned on by holding the middle mouse button works for me pretty well. When I need accurate steering, I switch to 3rd person follow. The only issue is that the camera mode isn\'t shown in the info window anymore, but that\'s a minor annoyance. Also, it would be nice to be able to select each camera mode directly, instead of passing through the intermediate ones. None of these is essential, though.

[GullyFoyle]

I too find the movement controls rather clunky. I would rebind to WADS keys if I could. Although I didn\'t spend much time looking at the possible settings, my first impression of all the settings panels was a bit of confusion. Things are hard to read, but I\'ll get used to it, I\'m sure.

For me it\'s important that movement is controlled by one hand (i.e. WADS setup) and all other actions done by the mouse. I dont\' want to move my hand to the arrow keys to move around. When it comes to combat time, I don\'t want to have to fumble around excessively on the keyboard to achieve something.

I also find the chase-cam to be a bit sluggish on turns, but that\'s another thing i\'ll simply have to get used to.

[stfrn]

All good suggestions. I will look into changes when I can, but keep in mind what is already possible, like WASD, GullyFoyle

[GullyFoyle]

Alright, I rebound my movement keys to WADS and it\'s working out much better for me now.

[Midivar]

Yes, a lot of already possible with configuration tweaking (or even config file editing), and some is not (like the move forward + mouse look thing) and that\'s great. It should of course be easy to use by default, though. However, what is easy to use will differ for people, so that\'s complicated. This sort of thing is harder than you think to get right and I\'m sure professional companies have whole teams dedicated to it.

I was only just saying it, because I\'d want to see improvement for the future and this is one of my current pet peeves. Great developer feedback so far.