Comments on: Adventures with Guns in a Third Person Shooter Thanks for the kind words! The character is not aiming his gun at a world location nor do we perform any sort of per-frame ray trace. Our weapons all have spread so the pin-point weapon trace location is partially irrelevant. Thanks for the kind words! The character is not aiming his gun at a world location nor do we perform any sort of per-frame ray trace. Our weapons all have spread so the pin-point weapon trace location is partially irrelevant.

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By: Fabrice Lété/2011/05/10/third-person-lessons/#comment-3893 Fabrice Lété Wed, 11 May 2011 19:47:03 +0000 Whoops... forgot my last name. Whoops… forgot my last name.

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By: Paul/2011/05/10/third-person-lessons/#comment-3866 Paul Wed, 11 May 2011 07:16:37 +0000 With laser sights there's an expectation that where the laser hits is where you hit. This is fine if your weapons are very accurate, and would probably of worked with the rail gun discussed in this article. The problem with most of MNC's weapons is most are not very accurate so the "laser sight" would lead to other confusion. Also with a laser pointer does the laser always point at the first thing the camera sees at the center of the screen, or at a fixed point in space past that? You can get away with it always trying to point at the center of the screen for single hit weapons, but with trace through multi hit weapons like the rail gun aiming at the first hit means wild sideways shots across the screen and making intentional multi-hits nearly impossible. The Tank's other weapon, the jet gun, acts a bit like a very fat laser pointer, it always aims at a fixed angle roughly towards the center of the screen about 30 feet in front of the player. Its also the weapon that causes the most confusion for new players. With laser sights there’s an expectation that where the laser hits is where you hit. This is fine if your weapons are very accurate, and would probably of worked with the rail gun discussed in this article. The problem with most of MNC’s weapons is most are not very accurate so the “laser sight” would lead to other confusion. Also with a laser pointer does the laser always point at the first thing the camera sees at the center of the screen, or at a fixed point in space past that? You can get away with it always trying to point at the center of the screen for single hit weapons, but with trace through multi hit weapons like the rail gun aiming at the first hit means wild sideways shots across the screen and making intentional multi-hits nearly impossible.

The Tank’s other weapon, the jet gun, acts a bit like a very fat laser pointer, it always aims at a fixed angle roughly towards the center of the screen about 30 feet in front of the player. Its also the weapon that causes the most confusion for new players.

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By: Forrest Smith/2011/05/10/third-person-lessons/#comment-3810 Forrest Smith Tue, 10 May 2011 17:26:47 +0000 You didn't bring up laser sights. By using a laser sight originating from the barrel rather than (or in addition to?) crosshairs, you can avoid player confusion as to whether or not the shot will hit. You didn’t bring up laser sights. By using a laser sight originating from the barrel rather than (or in addition to?) crosshairs, you can avoid player confusion as to whether or not the shot will hit.

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By: Louis Gascoigne/2011/05/10/third-person-lessons/#comment-3792 Louis Gascoigne Tue, 10 May 2011 13:20:12 +0000 Team Fortress 2 still displays similar odd effects with the Heavy, who also carries his minigun low. If the Heavy is standing in front of a low wall (which are common in the levels) such that his crosshair is above it, he can fire through it even though the minigun is completely behind the wall. In this case opponents see the minigun apparently firing through the wall—with muzzle flashes and bullet tracer effects both originating from the gun position and penetrating the wall.. Team Fortress 2 still displays similar odd effects with the Heavy, who also carries his minigun low. If the Heavy is standing in front of a low wall (which are common in the levels) such that his crosshair is above it, he can fire through it even though the minigun is completely behind the wall. In this case opponents see the minigun apparently firing through the wall—with muzzle flashes and bullet tracer effects both originating from the gun position and penetrating the wall..

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