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realizing line-of-sight
Soldat Forums - Soldat Talk - Game Improvements / Suggestions
zyxstand
October 2, 2005, 10:51 pm
this idea will probably take quite a considerable amount of work effort to accomplish:

we all know realistic has currently quite a lot of prblems, including line of sight. that, i believe, is the biggest one!

my solution to this would be to create a view angle for each person and if an object (enemies, projectiles (nades, bullets, m79 shells, etc)) are in that viewing angle then it should be shown. if only part is in, that only show that part.

this pic might clear things up:

[IMAGE]

assuming that you're the blue person, all that is green is what you can see - all that is white you cannot. the red dude at the bottom can only be partially seen (all that which is in green).
In game, it'd be cool if all that is not in your view could be kinda shaded out. to make it more efficient, this should be handled by clients individually (otherwise it'd lag immensly).

also (not shown in picture), your view angle should not be only either left or right, but instead 85 degrees left and right of your cursor line*

SPARTAN_III
October 3, 2005, 12:39 pm
yes.

the areas you cannot see should be bluury, not grayed out.

you can do it with sniper line, but that is not as good as this.

Keron Cyst
October 3, 2005, 6:17 pm
My stick figures are better!!

This is only for Realistic Mode, right? :-P

Deleted User
October 3, 2005, 8:25 pm
I'd actually try playing realistic mode more if this were done. The whole "people suddenly popping up in front of you and killing you" thing is a major turnoff for me.

Also, I assume the line of sight would be centered on your crosshairs..

Deleted User
October 3, 2005, 9:01 pm
Doesn't make much of a difference for me, but maybe this would help bring in more people to the Realistic side.

F3nyx
October 3, 2005, 9:55 pm
http://soldatforums.com/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=18562

This idea (well, a very similar one) got some support last year but I think it's mainly been forgotten by now... thanks for reviving it!

BManx2000 created this picture as a concept illustration:
[IMAGE]

My main question is, should terrain be invisible also, like players, bullets, etc.? Personally I'd say yes, but shading the invisible areas would be good enough.

a-4-year-old
October 3, 2005, 10:08 pm
how 'bout a flashlight like thing where if there is a guy he has 2 white lines (kinda like above) but everyone can see it, they can only see within the flashlight (follows cursor)

zyxstand
October 4, 2005, 1:28 am
neh, a-4-year-old... that kinds sounds lame...
uhm, yes YoMammasMamma, i did mean centered on your cross-hair... i did try to say that but its a bit hard to explain... the viewing angle should be about 160 degrees total (80 each direction).

and, sure F3nyx - darken/shade the scenary out of your line of sight - but if by terrain you mean polygon, then no*

Silent Soldier
October 4, 2005, 6:40 am
I was just going to post somenthing like this. It's easier to "see" like this. I'd think that the area that you can not see would be dark.

Zegovia
October 4, 2005, 11:02 am
I like this idea, but perhaps the angle of the line of sight could be smaller. since when you are looking down , you wouldnt see whats above you (unless you can see through the upper end of your eye socket!). same goes when you look up too much, you wouldnt be able to see whats underneath or in front of you as good....

And keron! i betcha my Stick figures would pwn yours!! >:D

Keron Cyst
October 4, 2005, 3:49 pm
Mwahaha. I've been drawing stick figures all my life. That's why I was hooked on the Stick Soldiers series so much.

Anyways, I think Marcinkowski would've implemented this already if he could instead of just making players invisible. I'm not saying this is a bad idea, by no means...

zyxstand
October 4, 2005, 4:23 pm
i just tested for eysight view-angle: i got about 80 degrees above and somewhat more than 85 below - however, if you just go 80 degrees both ways in soldat that'd be ideal*

most of you are apparently forgetting the main issue here:
- if the server would have to render every player's view, then it would lag a lot!
- however, if player renders that for themselves it would be much faster BUT it would be more vulnerable to cheating.

F3nyx
October 4, 2005, 5:14 pm
Is realistic line-of-sight rendering, as currently implemented, done client-side? Let me rephrase: does the server tell each player whether they can see another player or not, or does each computer figure it out for itself? If the latter, then it shouldn't be a problem to add additional client-side features... it wouldn't introduce any new vulnerabilities to hacking.

Server-side rendering of shaded terrain is right out the window, there's simply no way that would work.

zyxstand
October 4, 2005, 5:47 pm
i'd like to think that currently it's server-based though i'm not rly sure.
and yes, it would be nearly impossible for the server to render this new method for every player. if big M would implement this, then it should be every computer rendering this for itself* (and a good anti-hacking section for this as well!)

Deleted User
October 4, 2005, 5:49 pm
I seen that suggestion before ...
...but I still like it.

tRaQs
October 6, 2005, 10:09 pm
Would it be that hard, a basic programming of this would only involve coding that polys equals vision?

IDEA: Rather than see right through another soldat, why not make vision of players behind a soldat in vision range more transparent. My reason for this is because in full blown 3d view(like we see) a person would only block so much of our view in front of us(depending on size XD)

So bassicaly it would be
Closer to person= more vision angle cut = more transparent incoming soldats are

this could be the case with enviroment pieces such as hedges or rocks on ground etc.

You guys catch my drift? or should i make a pic?

xtishereb
October 7, 2005, 1:23 am
I think that in the area you aren't looking at, everything should be darkened/not shown except:
Scenery
Polygons (duh)
Muzzle Flashes
Ammo Crates

The last two is to encourage stealth, if you pick up something from a crate or fire at someone when you're behind them, if they're paying attention, they should notcie this and turn around to crack some shells/bust some caps/drop a bomb into your face/crotch. I got the idea from [URL], where when fog-of-war is turned on, you are able to see muzzle flashes in areas you would not normally be able to see anything.

Colliders/other players obsuring vison? That's kinda cool, and kinda annoying. I know it's like that in FPSs, but I think it's going a little bit overboard in realism.

Also, the crotch should be made a vital point. C'mon, it's realistic mode, people! You'd die if you were shot in the crotch. :P (j/k)

F3nyx
October 7, 2005, 5:27 am
quote:Originally posted by xtisherebI think that in the area you aren't looking at, everything should be darkened/not shown except:
Scenery
Polygons (duh)
Muzzle Flashes
Ammo CratesWait, so you think only Soldats, weapons, grenades, and bullets should be shaded? And you think muzzle flashes should be visible? Did you read the original topic? "all that is not in your view could be kinda shaded out"

It sounds like you actually want MORE to be visible in Realistic Mode. Seeing muzzle flashes hundred of feet OPPOSITE the direction you're looking is completely lame. Why do we need to "encourage stealth"? People are already VERY stealthy in Realistic Mode -- using their jets less so they aren't heard, etc.