Last Week We Talked About Camera And Movement In Stars Reach, Today Let's See It All In Action

"When movement and the camera in an MMORPG are not done well, it feels like sandpaper irritating the gamplay experience."

While that's not Raph Koster's EXACT quote in the latest video from the Stars Reach team, it's the jist of the entire preview with me making it a bit more "Twain-ish.". I said as much in my piece on the "Movement and Camera" blog that the team posted last week. If the camera and movement in any game, but particularly an MMO, are done right, they become something the player simply doesn't notice.

We've all been there, playing a new game we love and finding odds and ends about the way the camera behaves that irk us. Moving through a beautifully designed, wonderfully detailed cave and then becoming frustrated when our damn character keeps crouching when we want them to get ready for a running jump instead.

Sandpaper.

Last week, we talked about how Stars Reach has implemented both a fixed reticle and a free cursor camera system. Swapping between them is as easy as pressing a single key and both serve the functions of space exploration, terraforming, building, and combat equally well. It all comes down to preference.

It's all well and good to SAY those things though, how about showing it? Stars Reach is happy to oblige with a new video from Playable Worlds. If you've never worked on software of any type, you may be surprised by exactly how much goes into the basics. Watching the video you'll see movement tests, aiming tests, testing against various slope sizes, jumping with momentum, and, of course, flying.

There were three points I found particularly interesting. The first was examples of why grappling from ceilings was removed. You'll see why when you watch the video. From an animation standpoint and edge case view, it was a wreck. I literally would have been screaming at my PC if I jumped in a small cave and kept grabbing the ceiling accidently. I'm glad it was removed for now.

Second is flight. While free flight is great for quick traversal, the team quickly learned that it's also boring. If everyone can just free fly around, it becomes just as interesting as walking. Enter the jetpack. Think Tribes (or Raph's reference to the old Joust game, which I loved) and you've got the right idea. Introducing a "skill" or "gameplay" element to flight is smart.

Finally, the grappling hook. Yes. Apparently this was one of the recent testers' favorite movement tools. In a great decision, the team has the grappling tool now part of the basic movement package. It used to be a "tool" in your hand which limited being able to hold other tools while using it. That's no longer the case.

Dive into the video below, see how it all comes together then hit up the full post for some great excerpts from the recent test.