- KneeChee27
- |
- Exalted Mythic Member
"I blame canser its going slutting itself around now so are bodys act like were aging faster stupid whore of a desies" ~ GruntX
Posted by: P3P5I
Posted by: KneeChee27
I'm going out on a limb, here, but it seems that he has qualms specifically about Natal being used to move throughout the environment, aim and fire weapons, switch between inventory, etc. (and rightfully so).
Natal simply can't be expected to perform all those functions, or even a select few of them, with 100% accuracy. In a game where accuracy is pretty much the essence of its core gameplay mechanic (i.e. shooting), that would be undesirable, indeed.
I understand what you're saying. Natal can't make players hold their crosshairs over targets forever like controllers (assuming Reach implements full UI). What I odn't understand about the above paragraph is how it's not possible. Here's my solution to your problems:
1) Aiming- I don't understand this, I guess you would hold up your weapon.
2)Turning- This is a small problem that shouldn't be the spearhead for the anti-natal argument. Solution, just have small motions translated into magnified motions on the game. Example, turn yourself 30 degrees and your player will continuously turn until you point forward again.
3) Movement- Another small problem. Have a "hotspot" on your floor and if you move between the hotspot and your television then your character moves forward until you move back to that hotspot.
4) Switching inventory- My guess would be to reach for your back like you're going to scratch it (simulating taking heavy weapons off your back). For smaller weapons holstered on your hip, simply reach for your hip.
I don't agree with your opinion that accuracy is the essence of the game. In fact, I think immersion is what makes games good. Making yourself feel like you are in the game (Why we will never see MC's face). I believe that Natal could revolutionize games and pave the way for future virtual reality technology.
The problem, I'm afraid, is that Natal can't do any of what you're proposing. It's simply a technological impossibility.
What most people are unaware of is that 3D motion capture technology is very finicky. Development studios that focus on 3D motion capture, and nothing else, can spend upwards of $100,000 for a 3D motion capture rig.
These studios have large, open spaces dedicated only to recording and animating. The walls and floors are plastered with highly reflective paper -- often coated in microscopic glass beads. Anywhere from 8 to 18 cameras are placed strategically around the recording area to fully capture the movement being performed. The room is then lit in such a manner than light is being reflected directly off the surrounding walls and floor into their respective cameras. On top of that, some studios make use of infrared cameras to measure distance in all three dimensions.
The use of highly reflective materials is for the purpose of aiding the camera in determining the difference between actors in the scene and the scene itself. The environment is made to perfectly reflect light so that the cameras can differentiate between white (the scene) and black (actors, foreign objects or scenery, and virtually anything else in the scene). Even with this setup, actors limbs are often confused with the background, sometimes their entire body getting mistaken by the capture equipment as being part of the scene itself.
If you need an example of what I'm talking about, look no further than the actual E3 presentation footage for Natal. Specifically, this infamous scene. Pay attention to the avatar's legs and arms. Notice how they begin to flip and jitter unnaturally. That's the device losing sight of the actor's limbs, and it happens quite frequently in motion capture studios.
If it weren't for the avatar's model being rigged with IK handles (IK stands for Inverse Kinematics), the avatar's legs and arms would have just floated off into 3D space. This brings me to my next point, which is that Natal's major function isn't to trace movement accurately, but to get a gist of movement and then make an educated guess as to what is actually being conveyed.
While that works for simple games, where an educated guess is enough, games like Halo, where your player is constantly moving, running, ducking, aiming, switching weapons (both on the ground and in one's inventory), etc. assumptions can be the difference between the player's life and death. To implement Natal for something like that would be ill advised.