Third Person Shooters - Camera and Player Control

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ReiKumar

16

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Joined: 23rd Sep 2008

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Posted: 22nd Oct 2009 10:42

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Hey guys, I'm trying to make a third person shooter and I'm having a lot of trouble getting the camera and player control right.

I currently have a player object and a control object which can move around the player object (forward, back, strafe left/right).

What I need help with is the camera placement. I need the camera to act like a third person view, so that its over the shoulder of the player and when the player rotates the camera it also rotates the player object.

I was wondering if you guys could make a few suggestions for me on how to get it working right.

Also, any code samples would be appreciated.

[Below is my code, but its such a mess because it doesn't work at all]

+ Code Snippet

void TPS::Update()
{
	// create a rotation axis based on controller movement
	fCameraAngleX = dbWrapValue ( fCameraAngleX + controller->GetVeiwX() );
	fCameraAngleY = dbWrapValue ( fCameraAngleY + controller->GetVeiwY() );

	// rotate camera
	//dbXRotateCamera ( fCameraAngleY );
	//dbXRotateObject(player->id,fCameraAngleY);
	 dbTurnCameraLeft( fCameraAngleX/250 );
	dbYRotateObject(player->id,fCameraAngleX);

	dbPositionCamera( player->x+50, player->y+100,player->z-50 );
	//dbPointCamera (player->x, player->y, player->z); 

}

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_Pauli_

AGK Developer

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Joined: 13th Aug 2009

Location: Germany

Posted: 22nd Oct 2009 11:40

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I think the easiest way to do this, is to first position the camera at the players position and rotate it as you need.
Then you just move the camera out a certain distance.

Here is an example:

+ Code Snippet

dbPositionCamera ( player->x, player->y, player->z );
dbRotateCamera ( fCameraAngleX, fCameraAngleY, 0 );

float distance = 20.0f;
dbMoveCamera ( -distance );

Now the plot thickens, the fps decreases, and the awesomeness goes through the roof.

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ReiKumar

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Joined: 23rd Sep 2008

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Posted: 22nd Oct 2009 12:29 Edited at: 22nd Oct 2009 12:39

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Wow, thanks!

A simple solution that works very perfectly.

I actually have another question for you, although this one is in FPS.

I want the model to be there in FPS mode, because I hate looking down and not seeing your models body. In this case, I just rotate the model and the camera at the same time, however I need to place the camera at a specific position so that it looks like your looking from where the head is. I need to do this in 3D, so I'm not sure how I would be adding to the Z value when the object has moved around.

Below is the commented code that I have so far.

+ Code Snippet

void FPS::Update()
{

	// create a rotation axis based on controller movement
	fCameraAngleX = dbWrapValue ( fCameraAngleX + controller->GetVeiwX() );
	fCameraAngleY = dbWrapValue ( fCameraAngleY + controller->GetVeiwY() );

	// rotate camera
	dbYRotateObject( player->id,fCameraAngleX );
	
        // the camera always needs to be 83 units above the origin of the object and always needs to be 20 units in front of the object, even if the object is facing a different direction (i.e. facing the X plane instead of the z plane)
	dbPositionCamera ( player->x, player->y+83, player->z );
	dbRotateCamera ( fCameraAngleY, fCameraAngleX, 0 );


}

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_Pauli_

AGK Developer

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Joined: 13th Aug 2009

Location: Germany

Posted: 23rd Oct 2009 13:08

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I think you can do this with these commands:

+ Code Snippet

dbNewXValue
dbNewYValue
dbNewZValue

But I'm not quite sure how to use them in this case, but in general they are handy in situations where you need a 3d position relative to an objects angle.
I'll post back if I have a suitable solution, but I have stuff to do right now...

Now the plot thickens, the fps decreases, and the awesomeness goes through the roof.

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_Pauli_

AGK Developer

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Joined: 13th Aug 2009

Location: Germany

Posted: 23rd Oct 2009 13:13

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Well, ok the x & z position would be like this:

+ Code Snippet

float offset = 20;

float new_x = dbNewXValue( player->x, fCameraAngleX, offset );
float new_z = dbNewZValue( player->z, fCameraAngleX, offset );

dbPositionCamera ( new_x, player->y+83, new_z );

Hope this helps...

Now the plot thickens, the fps decreases, and the awesomeness goes through the roof.

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