Great suggestion from the Steam forums

[Pilluminati]

An example of 'clunkyness' with object interaction is the ranged based nature of it. a simple fix would be when i click and hold an object i can interact with the player should move in a straight line towards it until it is in within range... then start manipulating it.

It sounds very convenient. You could also apply it to dropping items so the character would move automatically towards the position where you want to drop the item if it's out of range and then drop it.

 

[Vold]

Out of curiousity, is there a game out there (old or new) on which we are able to interact with game objects in a similar way to exanima?

On the topic, I am a little lost. The suggestion is for the character to move towards the object untill that it's at hand?, in that case it would be a mess I think. If not, there currently is a limit of range, moving the character towards the item to shorten the range won't make it any more realistic in my opinion.

What may work maybe is some feedback coming from the pointer. For instance, modifying the shape for a hand or something like that.

 

[Cpt Dave]

All he means is that if you try to interact with something that is too far, instead of doing nothing, your character should automatically walk towards the item/door/container until you get in range, while you hold down the left mouse button.

 

[Vold]

Oh I see. That makes more sense. Thanks.

 

[Downstairs Eddie]

I responded to that suggestion in the Steam thread. The problem is we can do things very quickly and freely now, which would become slow and limiting if this suggestion were implemented. Think about how you can close a door in the middle of combat to separate enemies. With this suggestion, it would interrupt combat while your character walked over to the door and closed it while zombies are trying to kill you.

Vold, games that comes to mind are Penumbra and Amnesia, which also involve clicking and dragging objects, including doors and drawers etc. But those games are first person, so the "invisible hands" aren't a problem. We're accustomed to having invisible bodies in first person games. Because we can see ourselves in Exanima, some people find the disconnect weird.

But I maintain that this just doesn't matter once you've played the game for a couple of minutes.

Another game that comes to mind is the most recent Thief reboot, which is first person but showed the player's hands when you opened doors and windows, etc. I hated it, because it took control away from you while the character went through the pre-baked animation to open the door. I'd rather stay in control at all times and simply imagine that my character is interacting with objects -- which, after all, is what we've always done in first person games that have invisible bodies.

 

[Pilluminati]

I responded to that suggestion in the Steam thread. The problem is we can do things very quickly and freely now, which would become slow and limiting if this suggestion were implemented. Think about how you can close a door in the middle of combat to separate enemies. With this suggestion, it would interrupt combat while your character walked over to the door and closed it while zombies are trying to kill you.

Vold, games that comes to mind are Penumbra and Amnesia, which also involve clicking and dragging objects, including doors and drawers etc. But those games are first person, so the "invisible hands" aren't a problem. We're accustomed to having invisible bodies in first person games. Because we can see ourselves in Exanima, some people find the disconnect weird.

But I maintain that this just doesn't matter once you've played the game for a couple of minutes.

Another game that comes to mind is the most recent Thief reboot, which is first person but showed the player's hands when you opened doors and windows, etc. I hated it, because it took control away from you while the character went through the pre-baked animation to open the door. I'd rather stay in control at all times and simply imagine that my character is interacting with objects -- which, after all, is what we've always done in first person games that have invisible bodies.

Who said your character would walk over there without you being able to interrupt it? It would only do it while you hold the mouse button obviously. Come on, a little more imagination please.

 

[Downstairs Eddie]

But how do you propose getting around the problem I mentioned? Right now you can quickly slam a door in the middle of combat, for example. With this suggestion, you can't, not unless the character moves at light speed. This suggestion requires giving up player control for the sake of animations. I'm just saying I'd prefer that doesn't happen.

 

[Evilprovolone]

I think its just pure laziness to not just put a finger on the right mouse button and get closer to the object. As far as combat goes i don't see a problem, it is simply a new design at least its new to me. I know there have been other tps combat games. maybe people are expecting diablo?

 

[Pilluminati]

But how do you propose getting around the problem I mentioned? Right now you can quickly slam a door in the middle of combat, for example. With this suggestion, you can't, not unless the character moves at light speed. This suggestion requires giving up player control for the sake of animations. I'm just saying I'd prefer that doesn't happen.

I think you are misunderstanding something. The character would only walk until it's in range for interaction. If the object is already in range the character would not walk at all. The proposal is not for the character to physically carry the object or anything fancy like that, interaction & interaction range would be exactly the same as before. It's just meant for convenience, for example when opening a door, instead of having reposition yourself and test whether you're in range (I see even experienced people doing this).

I think its just pure laziness to not just put a finger on the right mouse button and get closer to the object. As far as combat goes i don't see a problem, it is simply a new design at least its new to me. I know there have been other tps combat games. maybe people are expecting diablo?

So lets add more steps to it then because laziness is so bad? You now have to do 10 push ups before you're allowed to interact with it. I don't see any argument against it here, just "hurrdurr casualfags are lazy".

The only good argument I've seen against it is what Madoc said, the controls would become messy. They are already quite weird and this would make them even more so.

 

[Faelivrin]

The only good argument I've seen against it is what Madoc said, the controls would become messy. They are already quite weird and this would make them even more so.

That's what i thought when i did read it, yet another movement possibility to the quite complex movement schema. However:

You could also apply it to dropping items so the character would move automatically towards the position where you want to drop the item if it's out of range and then drop it.

This sounds better to what we have. Currently attempting to place an item might result in that it returns to its original place. In fact it happens quite often... to me at least. This system sounds more flexible and less time consuming.

 

[Vold]

One thing that might cause some troubles is that the mouse pointer would need to be locked while the button is pressed, because as you move, the distance between you and the mouse does not change and the distance between you and the object does.

 

[TwoPumpWarrior]

Character will have to auto-path for this to work as intended. There will certainly be instances where things are simply in your way. Having the character walk blindly towards the target will cause many trips and falls. Now at what point is it more useful to just navigate the environment? I only see it useful for clear rooms which is not the case.

Besides, I very frequently switch between WASD and RMB movement out of combat.
The usefulness of WASD is incredible and usually works great for adjusting g distance.

 

[Faelivrin]

Just thinking it might cause issues when you are trying to setup traps while in combat. A step closer than you intend to before gently placing that chair over his head and.. voilà your throat is cut open.