VR ISSUE: POV camera orientation (easy fix)

OldWolf1970

Congrats for the great work!

I am testing 5.0.2b with the DK2 and though it works now flawlessly without crashes, there is an issue with what i think it would be a quick fix.

So on POV mode you attach the camera to the head. So you see what the character sees. Its great! BUT

There's one reason for it to feel strange: The orientation. Keeping the floor and the ceiling on place. Let me explain:

So lets say there is a character laying on a table, facing up. What you will see is that the ceiling is in FRONT of you, not in top of you. because you feel the gravity pushing you down, but what you SEE does not match what you feel.

BUT!

If once you go POV, you orientate the YAW to match the character, but leave ROLL & PITCH exactly the same as the viewer position, you will get a real feeling: The ceiling will be on place, so will the floor and the whole scene. Of course, if you want to feel "right" on the character laying on the table POV (leaning on floor head up) you will have to tilt your head up.... but it will give it a real feeling.

Another example is one animation of a horse pumping a bunny: Since the horse's head is sightly looking down, the floor is not right, its tilted forward.

In any case, keep up the great work!

odes

Thanks!

Glad to hear it's working out better this time around regarding VR.

Yeah, I see what you mean. Tbh, it's a preference issue. Some might want to mimic the pose irl, and thus get gravity correctly and all that, while others just want to sit in front of computer in a chair and use the characters head default orientation. I'm not sure I consider it a problem since, as you say, it can be adjusted in the game by turning the characters head around. But I suppose I could add a setting for how camera should behave when VR is attached and POV is activated. Or perhaps a button that toggles between character head orientation or device orientation.

I'm not promising anything.

OldWolf1970

Thank you for answering.

About this fact being a preference issue, I believe you havent understood me. The feeling of being in a room tilted or rotated is a very uncomfortable experience. In VR, anything that changes from reality might feel uncomfortable and even cause motion sickness, and even might ruin the sense of realism. Scale factors and many other things are much more noticeable in VR than on screen.

To give it an idea of how important this issue is, this is the very first VR videogame Ive found with the world missaligned with the head orientation (except for ADR1FT, which is a space, zero gravity experience). It also happens in these games where you are inside a vehicle/pod/rollercoaster. It does not feel wrong because you always have the vehicle as visual reference.

So if you have any beta tester testing VR, please do ask him to read this and experience by himself. I am certainly sure that the VR feeling will be much more realistic with that setting. If you test it with both options and dont find it more comfortable, then please ignore this message. Its not a request, just a suggestion to make VR experience as comfortable as possible.

In any case, I might be totally wrong, and once the camera is aligned it ruins the experience. But guys, please, have an eye on this (and send a test build to some beta tester with vr, im sure the camera align is just a couple lines of code)

Regards!

odes

I do have a VR device and I have tried using it.

If I'm understanding you correctly, this is what you're getting at:

Current behavior:


https://gyazo.com/672628080b6ffaa1f4d28ba562da29b1


What you're suggesting:

https://gyazo.com/e81ce19004f29cd75b5d3d69b01d5ae1

In the first image, the camera is tilted according to the character's head, while in the second one, it isn't (using device orientation). (Note that I did offset the camera model a bit so it wouldn't clip with the head.)

If this is the case, I still very much think it is a preference issue, because I know at least I wouldn't want to have to lie down or angle my head to get the "correct" viewport from the horse's eyes. I want to sit in front of my computer without having to tilt my head awkwardly.

OldWolf1970

Great representation, and yes thats exactly what I meant. Again what i suggest is testing it in both modes: Look at the room and the environment and check if it looks comfortable in both. Perhaps what i mention is not worth it.... but perhaps it is.

One thing is sure: most immersive poses on VR right now are these where the character you use for POV has got his torso straight and face forward (for sitting on desktop emulation)

odes

Would adding a camera tilt/roll option help? In addition to the current yaw and pitch axis. Then you'd be able to tweak the camera rotation as desired.

OldWolf1970

Camera tilt/roll option? In the position editor? Uhm, I don't think that would be useful, I dont think users would find it useful.
In short for what you mentioned I find two situations:

1st Situation: Standing/non-laying positions where the camera fix i mention would be great: i.e. a doggy stile scene where the top character's head is tilted down sigthly to stare at the bottom character. The fix I mention would remove the feeling of tilted room

2nd situation: Laying positions where It is recommended to leave the camera as it is now (unless you want to use yiffalicious on your bed on funny positions, where it would still feel more immersive).

So I absolutely agree with your first post: Adding an option to switch from POV>> Real headset orientation / Character head orientation. So when you press f8 to recenter, it aligns to Real world if enabled, to character head if disabled.

I would give a try. If you dont find it worth it then discard it. It does not look like a complex coding and I am sure it will be a well invested time.

OldWolf1970

A much less intrusive vay:
F8 > Align to Character head orientation
Shitft + F8 > Real headset orientation

odes

In the upcoming patch, camera will snap to the closest 90 degree angle (for the up direction).