True Gaming The Core Reasons Thumbsticks are Inaccurate |
- The Core Reasons Thumbsticks are Inaccurate
- Far Cry 5's soundtrack is genius
- Is semi-open the best game design?
- What did I miss? When did it became an accepted fact that Bioshock Infinite is shit?
- New Tomb Raider trailer is out take a look.
- The old God of War games were so bad, but the new one is so good!
- It's difficult to get into singleplayer games as a lonely person.
- Here is my favorite instance of unorthodox solution to an objective in a video game.
- Subverting expectations - when you thought you had figured the game out
| The Core Reasons Thumbsticks are Inaccurate Posted: 26 Apr 2018 05:49 PM PDT Hello everyone. This is something I've talked about for years but isn't something that's touched on in the gaming community almost ever.. This is also very important to me because I tend to play exclusively with controllers, even when on PC. I've read posts, articles, comments, and even academic studies on how controllers are inaccurate, yet what all seem to miss is just how the controls are set up for the sticks. Despite popular belief, most of the inaccuracy tied to controllers is not inherent to the stick, or failings of a velocity system. Most of the issues stem from a velocity system not actually being achieved and necessary options not being offered the majority of the time. This has been frustrating seeing as every issue I'll be listing is easily fixable, but attention is never given to improving them because of the stigma surrounding controllers. Now before I get into this, this will not be a comparison between mice and sticks. I would like to avoid devolving into that. There's a certain level of accuracy you should be able to manage with controllers that is heavily stunted by these issues. Issues:Non-circular Deadzones Non-circular deadzones are very common in games, with squares being the most common of these. Non-circular deadzones means the amount of stick movement you have to make before you see acceleration differs based on the direction you point the stick. Square/axial deadzones in specific also have a side affect of restricting how much of the stick can create diagonal movement. Video example between circles, squares and rounded squares: https://youtu.be/e5fsPRJubOw Restricted diagonal movement I've mentioned square deadzones can restrict regions of the stick from creating diagonal movement, and this is by far the leading cause of this issue, but there are intentional methods to achieve this. Games like DOOM2016 will restrict diagonal movement by angle, Skyrim by whatever it's doing, Bioshock Infinite carrying the square issue while using a circular deadzone and Red Dead Redemption combines both the side effects of a square and intentional angle restricting. While it's important to note that in most cases no diagonal movement is technically lost, having the diagonal movement shifted still makes all the diagonal movement wrong. If you want to make subtle angles with the cursor, you'll have to make drastic angles with the stick to break into the regions that allow diagonal movement. Losing diagonal movement can make aiming feel extremely clunky and the incorrect diagonals make aiming less predictable. Poor Acceleration There have been a myriad of ways games have flubbed acceleration. This can be done by poorly normalizing the acceleration, meaning the diagonal/cardinal acceleration can be different at the same stick movements or diagonal acceleration can be slower or faster, and/or by having a sharp jump in accelertation after a certain threshold of stick movement. Additionally, the deadzone shape can warp these values(even if normalized relative to itself) so acceleration isn't consistent with stick movements on various angles. Games can also set a high minimum starting turn speed(acceleration should start at 0, and other values should follow some curve) which can make precise adjustements difficult regardless of skill level. Aim smoothing This could be added to acceleration, but it deserves its own section. For those unaware, aim smoothing causes your turn rate to build up over time. So for example, if you moved the stick some distance and expected to turn 100'/sec, you'd actually start turning at a lower speed. Your turn rate would increase over a certain time until it reached at 100'/sec speed without the player moving the stick at all. For those PC gamers reading this, this is functionally the same as mouse smoothing on PC and carries all the same issues. This can make aiming feel sluggish and extremely unpredictable, but has seen a larger surge of popularity in games in recent years despite having no benefit to the player. Anyone whose played Assassin's Creed has experienced extreme levels of it, but heavy levels exist in Skyrim, Dishonored 2, Dead Space, Bioshock Infinite and others. Limited/Incorrect options While it's changing slowly, still very few games offer more than a single sensitivity option, occasionally two. This is not enough for thumbsticks. Thumbsticks require at least deadzone size and acceleration curve options. Deadzone options are necessary because thumbstick lean can vary drastically between players and the quality/wear of the controller. Having a large static value may avoid drift for most players, but is a waste for those who don't need it, and larger deadzones have a big effect of the accuracy of players. The acceleration curve controls how the stick magnitude relates to the acceleration. An option would control the intensity of the function controlling how the acceleration increases. This should be an option because an ideal acceleration curve can vary between players, and preference on the curve can also vary based on sensitivity and deadzone size. A single sensitivity option wouldn't normally be an issue, but separate X and Y sensitivities are necessary if the X/Y ratio for the game is not 1:1, which is normally the case. In many games, the vertical sensitivity is lower than the horizontal which causes two main issues. The first is it can be unintuitive to the player. Second, and even more important, it makes all diagonal movement wrong, with bias towards the more sensitive axis. Having a different sensitivity ratio alters the direction vector so the cursor won't travel in the expected direction. Aim assist would be a forth. This isn't part of the core aiming mechanics, but it can have major effects on your aim. This should never be forced regardless of the player's opinion on it. So 3 core options and a 4th being aim assist. Any other options like smoothing or edge acceleration are only necessary when implemented. Incorrect options are also present in a number of games. Games like Rainbow 6, Halo 5, Paladins have offered deadzone options, but none of them are accurate. Some games have offered X/Y sensitivity but the options scale differently from each other. Others with aim assist options also do not fully remove it. No consistency between games This isn't an issue for the set up specifically, but it doesn't help at all when switching between games. Games differ between deadzone sizes, shapes, diagonal movement, acceleration, aim smoothing or available options. There is no standard for controller aiming quality. Specific Game Deadzones Halo 2/CE: Deadzone | Dotgraph Halo 5: Deadzone | Halo Wars 2: Deadzone | Destiny 1/2: Deadzone | Dotgraph CoD Blops: Deadzone | Dotgraph Bioshock Infinite: Deadzone | Dotgraph Counter Strike GO: Deadzone | Dotgraph Unreal Tournament 3: Deadzone | Dotgraph Skyrim: SE: Deadzone | Dotgraph Left 4 Dead 2: Deadzone | Grand Theft Auto V: Deadzone | Dotgraph Overwatch: Deadzone | Dotgraph Titanfall 2: Deadzone | Dotgraph Painkiller H&D: Deadzone | Dotgraph Quake Arena Arcade: Deadzone | Serious Sam HD: Deadzone | Dotgraph Turok 1&2 Remaster: Deadzone | Dotgraph Here are just a handful of games I've tested. Of course, these don't illustrate any issues with the general acceleration, but you can see a lot of the issues from these graphs. The quality varies wildly between these games and only a relatively small handful use modest deadzones in combination with circular deadzones. Unfortunately, the arena-styled shooters have traditionally been given some of the worst controls on console(UT3, Quake 3, Serious Sam, Painkiller), which only exacerbates the stereotypes surrounding controller competence in that genre specifically. I've included Halo Wars mainly to show this doesn't just affect shooters or cursor movement but everything. This negatively affects all types of cursor movement, and is why we see aim assist even being applied in cursor based menus in Destiny or AC: Origins when that should be ridiculous. Of these listed games, only really CoD, Overwatch and Titanfall 2 have a proper velocity system, and of those Titanfall 2 is the only game that offers every basic option(and more covering "turning" and ADS options). We've seen games like Battlefield 1 offer deadzone and acceleration options as well as Overwatch offer acceleration curve options(Aim Ease) which are good improvements, but not quite there(OW needs deadzones, and BF1 needs curve options), but these games are still heavy outliers. There are also a number of other games that do implement proper velocity systems, but also cripple themselves by not having adequate options. ImplementationDespite some comments I've seen over the years, creating a proper aiming system is not difficult. This blogpost has been linked a number of times, and it's a great representations of everything I've shown here, but I'll expand on the sample psuedo-code it offers. Doing Thumbstick Deadzones Right I'm far from a competent programmer so I'm sure this could be cleaned up a bit, but this is all you need to create an idealized aiming system. This is what makes up games like Overwatch's, Titanfall's and CoD's core aiming. You don't need to invest years into implementing a circular deadzone, correct diagonal movement and normalized acceleration. Even without any options aside from sensitivity, this aiming system is above the grand majority of games. Adding options for the deadzone size and degree would make it uncontested among anything but Titanfall 2. Here is a graph of what this looks like and what the given options would change: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/idygzo2fhi You can of course modify this to include separate X/Y sensitivities, ADS sensitivity, edge/turn acceleration and smoothing. ConclusionHopefully I've been able to show these problems adequately. Controller aiming can be significantly better simply by changing the way the input is handled and offering a few of options. I also want to reiterate that while the system I've described and especially Titanfall 2's additional options are what I'd consider idealized, these are basic velocity system with options. There have been attempts to mimic mouse acceleration for thumbsticks(cursor moves faster the faster you move the stick) in the M&KB emulator Antimicro's Extra Acceleration options and seemingly in GEN1US's emulator, to allow faster turn rates while maintaining easily accessible precise speeds. This is something developers could be looking into at this point, but we're still getting AAA games with incorrect diagonal movement and no deadzone options. Edit: fixed code error [link] [comments]  |
| Far Cry 5's soundtrack is genius Posted: 27 Apr 2018 09:02 AM PDT Disclaimer: I won't be spoiling any major plot points but I will be going over the main antagonists so if you don't want to hear anything about these characters then you have been warned I'm gonna go through the contents of each of the 5 soundtrack albums, and how they help create a wonderful and memorable experience for the player. Far Cry 5: Original Game Soundtrack - This is the original score for the game. Anyone who has played the game will be transported back to the main menu as soon as the first tune begins playing. A lot of it comes from action sequences so it isn't all exactly easy listening, but it really adds to a lot of the scenes, while still using a similar set of instruments to keep you in that same country/rural vibe. Not much of an expert on scores so I'm sure there is more to say about this one. Far Cry 5 Licensed Music Soundtrack (contents found here) - This is pretty straight forward given the 'Rock, Flag, & Eagle' theme of FC5. Lots of great rock songs that really add to the badass mechanics of the game. Some of them are used in set pieces (Barracuda) and makes for some of the most memorable moments in the game. The list is great and I'm sure everyone will recognise a good few songs form it. This is where it gets interesting. The other 3 albums contain the same 10 songs, performed in a unique style for each album. In the game these albums can be heard on the Project Eden's Gate radio station whenever driving vehicles or from radios in Peggy territory. The lyrics directly relate to the antagonists and you will hear a lot of rhetoric in the songs that the various antagonists use throughout the plot. When The World Falls - This is performed by what Ubi have dubbed 'The Hope County Choir', which is a full choir accompanied by a guitar. This album plays in John Seed's area and fits perfectly, with John being the evangelist of Eden's Gate, and other than Joseph, being the closest to a 'minister' sort of character. Into The Flames - This album is performed by a full band, and has quite a few different singers throughout the album. This album plays in Jacob's region, and although it doesn't really correlate to his character, it fits the setting of the game hearing a full country band playing songs that relate to the characters and themes within the game. We Will Rise Again - This album contains 'reinterpretations' of the 10 songs, which make use of soundscapes and ambient music to perfectly capture the essence of Faith's region. Aside from them fitting the trippy and drug fuelled vibe region perfectly, they are actually very well put together and extremely good listening. I think that this approach is genius, and really drills the themes into the players head as they hear these songs in different style throughout the game. If you want an example of how the different styles create different moods, pick a song, and listen to how it is performed on each album. I have actually listened to these albums quite a bit, and it feels really rewarding to hear references to events and themes from the game in the lyrics of the songs. Sorry if this is a bit verbose, but I needed to get off my chest how clever I think this approach is, and I think Dan Romer did something really special with these 5 albums. [link] [comments]  |
| Is semi-open the best game design? Posted: 27 Apr 2018 04:15 AM PDT Apart from full on open world games and games that absolutely require total linearity, isn't semi-open level design by far the best way to go? The player can have a completely linear experience, with great storytelling and wonderfully scripted events. Or they can go off and explore the world. Some games that pull this off pretty well are God of War 2018 and Dishonored. More games have been doing it more or less, like Uncharted 4 which was a lot more closed off but still had some room for exploration every now and then. I feel like these games are so satisfying to play because you can have a linear experience that takes you through a story, but at the same time you can spend some time wandering around and actually getting in some freeform game time. [link] [comments]  |
| What did I miss? When did it became an accepted fact that Bioshock Infinite is shit? Posted: 27 Apr 2018 08:29 AM PDT When Bioshock Infinite came out it was THE game for me. I loved everything about it. I adored Elizabeth, and still think she's the best and most helpful co-op npc in gaming ever. The whole premise and setting were amazingly crafted, both lore and design of levels, that were often one and the same in the various "museum" types of levels. The combat was fun, always encouraging to move around and use different weapons and powers, as ammo and mana were not that abundant. The levels were often large open spaces and had alternative routes, so I needed to do some backtracking and explore around to find hidden supplies and voice recordings. The music... those alternative time-appropriated song covers were done perfectly. The story was exciting and captivating from the very start to the very end. Every twist threw something interesting in my face, just to turn it up to eleven with that ending. After finishing the game, I was thinking about it for the next two weeks, turning it over and over in my brain. Listened to the soundtrack and re-played parts of the game. And came to appreciate even more how masterfully the whole thing was put together. The opinions about Bioshock Infinite were, at the time of release, kind of the same as mine. Universal appraise from reviewers, love from players, tons of fan content and cosplay, hundreds of theory and explanation videos and it got all the end-year awards it could possibly get. ~ `fast-forward to today ~ When I'm online, I always peruse the gaming side of the internet, and more and more, I notice that everybody... kind of dislikes Bioshock Infinite? Every time it comes up, it's used as a well known example of a disappointing and bad game. Like, someone would say: "It's not like this is Bioshock Infinite or anything. Remember that? Yeesh... " and everyone nods along. Combat is considered stale, the story - mediocre, the ending - shit. why? Why? W H Y ? Also, maybe it "explains everything", but I tried and couldn't enjoy the first two Bioshock games. The repetitive hand animation, the clunky weapons swap, and plus the story got spoiled for me. Not bad games, just not for me. [link] [comments]  |
| New Tomb Raider trailer is out take a look. Posted: 27 Apr 2018 08:50 AM PDT There is a new Tomb Raider trailer, its the final part in the series. Take a look I think its looking pretty cool, I loved the first one in the reboot, only played part of the second. Havent watched the movie yet. But love the Mayan vibe. [link] [comments]  |
| The old God of War games were so bad, but the new one is so good! Posted: 26 Apr 2018 05:54 PM PDT Does anyone else have a profound problem with the way so many game publishers and developers openly bash the old games in franchises in order to sell new ones? They approach games as just products being iterated upon, instead of creative works that have artistic value. The worst thing about it is how many people buy into this and then start bashing the old games as well. I can't even name how many people I have seen on various forums bashing the old God of War games after taking a cue from Cory Balrog.
I mean I understand saying something like, "we wanted to take a more narrative based approach to the new games compared to the older ones." This would be fine and get the point across, but in several of his interviews he highlights how bad Kratos is as a character, as a way to promote the new game. It comes across as, "Hey, our old games are shit, but the new one fixes them and is so much better!" This seems to be a constant approach to sell new software in the game industry. Molyneux was famous for it with the Fable games and Bungie did it with Halo 2. The belittling of older titles to sell new ones diminishes the industry. I hate it. Anyone else? [link] [comments]  |
| It's difficult to get into singleplayer games as a lonely person. Posted: 23 Apr 2018 02:11 PM PDT I don't know if anyone else feels the same way about this,but for the past few years I prefer multiplayer games for the interaction with other people and the feeling of not being alone.For this reason I can't get myself to play singleplayer games anymore,because most of the time it makes the feeling of being by myself unbearable,if I try to play for a longer time.Also,sp games make me feel unproductive,or like i'm wasting my time,even though i'm aware that mp games are a big waste of time,but at least I get to interact with others...I think this might be the reason mp games have become so popular.I'm wondering how people who don't have any friends or are lonely,manage to remain focused on sp games? [link] [comments]  |
| Here is my favorite instance of unorthodox solution to an objective in a video game. Posted: 22 Apr 2018 03:26 PM PDT This is gonna be a long read, but I really want to share one of my most memorable moments in gaming while playing Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. For those who don't know, this was the predecessor of the ARMA series, a military simulator with extremely unforgiving combat. In the game, there is this especially grueling mission where you have to destroy enemies' nuclear launcher. The target is heavily guarded with troops and tanks. You are only given a small squad, and the option to call in attack helicopters and ground supports at any given time. The game suggests you two approaches: do it stealthily, or attack head on. But at the time I couldn't succeed at either of them. The mission takes place in broad daylight, so infiltration is nigh impossible. Enemy forces also completely outnumber you, so chances of destroying the target and escaping alive is very slim. I spent several days and countless attempts failing over and over again. Then I sat down and started brainstorming. Now there is this neat thing in this game, is that that it does not restrict where players can travel. Each mission takes place in a huge, open world map. Before you start, the game generates enemies, allies and objectives. You can abandon mission site and go to the other side of the island if you please. Another thing about this game, is that you can fully interact with any vehicle and weapon, whether it belongs to enemies or allies or even civilians, with a few story related exceptions. During the mission, I had my eyes on the helicopters that you can call as air support. They are by far the most powerful assets in this operation, yet their usefulness is completely undermined by the stupid AI. They fly in, miss most of their missiles, then gets shot down by anti air. If they wanted, they could totally have destroyed the target from long range and left unscathed. And that's where an idea sparked in my head: what if instead of relying on the AI, I conduct the airstrike myself? If I can find the helicopters, I can pilot them! The map is a pretty huge island though, so I can't just blindly search any area. I knew the direction the helicopters came from, so I narrowed down which part of the island to start with. I knew that air bases in this game were usually located in fairly large, open areas, so I pinpointed all those places. Then I hopped on my truck and started the search. And not long after, I found those helicopters! I "stole" one of the pilot seats, then coordinated an attack along with the remaining forces. I completed the mission after three tries using this strategy. I've never felt more accomplished. This was one of the rare moments where I had to think outside the box to find a really unorthodox answer. It was enabled by the game mechanics, which allowed me to completely bypass scripted events. Do you have any similar stories where you ignored the script to do things completely differently? [link] [comments]  |
| Subverting expectations - when you thought you had figured the game out Posted: 23 Apr 2018 10:12 AM PDT First, i apologize for not having really good examples of the phenomenon I'm trying to explain. I only have a general idea of what I'm looking for. I'm hoping for a little help from my fellow enthusiasts here. A few hours into a game, we generally have an understanding of what the rest of the game will be about. We might not have any clue about what will happen in the game regarding the story, enemies, or even all of the mechanics. But a few hours in we've generally seen the pattern. I'm going to list a few examples here. Obviously some spoilers. Skyrim: a few hours in, we've learned (among other things) about fighting and magic mechanics; quests and leveling. We've learned that enemies get tougher, that all caves have a shortcut to the exit, that there are cities (probably a few of them) and other places to discover; that companions can be hired and that they each have their own quest line (or was that only Fallout?) Horizon Zero dawn: a few hours in, we've learned (among other things, obviously) that there are different weapons in the game, that will allow us to overcome more dangerous enemies; that we will get new skills by leveling; that we will find more powerful coils as we go; that we can buy stuff from vendors; that yellow ropes in the mountains means path we can climb; that there are bandit camps with patrols and an alarm system that can't go off; that tallnecks are to be climbed, which will make a new portion of the map visible. HZD is actually a good example of what I'm trying to highlight (bear with me): we know a LOT about which concepts the game will contain by just going through the menus. It says how many enemy types there are to discover, and generally tells a lot of what there is to be found (banuk figures, hunting trials and so forth). Another example, which is less obvious about what it will contain. Bloodborne: A few hours into the game, we know (among other things) the fighting and movement mechanics; how blood echoes work; that new weapons can be found and upgraded to become more powerful; that the level design always uses shortcuts (or hidden paths) that quickly will take you back to bossfights; that you are trapped in a "nightmare fog" during bossfights; that you'll get insight, item drop and find a lamp after killing a boss. Now, this is not a bad thing. Not at all. Explaining the concepts, and sticking to them, creates reasonable expectations. It makes for a coherent, engaging experience. But the downside of always sticking to your already-established concepts is that we gamers sort whatever the game throws at us into these categories. Examples: Skyrim:
Horizon Zero Dawn:
Bloodborne
Again, knowing what to expect while playing is not a bad thing at all. But my thought is when you know what to expect, you are never surprised. Very few games try to subvert the expectations that you gained after a few hours of gameplay, and my hypothesis is that these subversions would work pretty often (and totally depending on how it's done of course). To sum it up, the expectations that i would like to se subverted more often are the ones that concern what's in the game and not, after hours of gameplay. I'm not talking about plot. I'm not talking about "more of the same", but rather something that's different. I'll list some examples: that do work, and a few i've made up. Skyrim:
Horizon:
Bloodborne: Admittedly, this game already subverts a lot of the expectations, which IMHO is part of why it's a great game.
Note that my examples aren't necessarily things that would work in the forementioned games. I hope that they do convey my idea of working against expectations. I do realize that a lot of the subversions aren't really subversions if they happen several times. If it happens a few times, it's a game concept/mechanic on it's own, and one that will start expecting. I also realize that some of my examples (though not all of them) are cost-inefficient. For instance making a tallneck that fights in HZD. Of course they'd not want to build that whole thing to use it only once. My point, though, is that many games would benefit from the developers looking at what the players have come to expect after, say, 50 percent of the game, and then ask themselves if something we take for granted by now could be flipped over. Not in a cheap way, but creatively. I think that this question might keep us players on our toes and provide some unforgettable moments. Thanks for reading this far. Do you have any thoughts on when subverting expectations work and not (if ever)? Do you have any examples of when it's done right? Ideas of how existing games could have subverted your expectations in a good way but didn't? [link] [comments]  |
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