[How to do platformer movement]

Hello Leadwerks people, I haven't been here in a while and it is good to be back, however naturally I bring a question with me

 

The question is about character movement in a 3d platformer, in particular something like in Jak and Daxter, shown in this

which is not the best example but gets how the player moves across. What I'm trying to do is get the player to use WASD to go any direction they want and the character freely turns in that direction. Not only that, but the camera follows the character in the game and rotates around the character to get behind it again if it changes direction, which in turn readjusts the controls for the direction (forwards means forward relative only to where the camera faces). Hard for me to explain, but it makes the movement feels much more free, letting you go in any direction.

 

The problem is how to do such movement like in the video, with just WASD, on the console obviously players just use a joystick on the controller meaning there are more directions. While I am confined to 8 directions max without going out and buying a joystick, and getting any other PC players to do the same. I'm sure there must be some fancy trick that can be done with cameras and character controllers to get this movement going. So does anyone have any ideas?

[2.5D platformer in Leadwerks = Overkill?]

Thanks for the advice on the platform issue guys, your workaround of the physics commands is quite a nice idea Rick However I do platforms though, I see now how I need to involve the physics (whether that be the force or joint commands), which wasn't how it was before. I don't understand how in my program the non-physics commands didn't cut off the physics for the object, but I'm removing those now anyway so oh well

 

Modern platform games are using advanced graphics already, such as Bionic Commando Rearmed and Shadow Complex, which usually involve advanced lighting, FOV and physics... so technically he would be on par with commercial titles, which is neat.

 

That is very neat indeed. I'm not really certain where the platformer is going yet in terms of the gameplay and everything like that, because at the moment it is simply me making the basic engine. The point of Casual vs. Hardcore/Veteran games is one I need to think about though, and those are some interesting points you make about that which I will probably consider at some point.

 

Give me Geneforge with leadwerks graphics, id be in heaven

 

Or any retro game for that matter, hehe

[2.5D platformer in Leadwerks = Overkill?]

I'll ask this here to save space, but how would you go about making a controller move with / stick to a moving platform. At the moment it stands on top of it, but doesn't go with it (and so just falls off). Is there a specific command, or would I have to do a check to see if the collided object is moving and then make controller move with it in the code?

[2.5D platformer in Leadwerks = Overkill?]

5 out of 6 eh? That's a very interesting statistic LE is more accesible than I imagined then, which is a promising sign.

[2.5D platformer in Leadwerks = Overkill?]

Thanks for all the replies

 

It depends on the quality of graphics you want. It would be pretty interesting to see a 2.5D game with nice lighting. You could make some new gameplay mechanics with it, like giving the player a flashlight (torch) to light their way.

 

True, such a game could play off of a lot of LE's strengths. As well as the lighting, if physics were used well for the gameplay, or indeed shaders were used cleverly, then the game could have a lot of unique aspects to it. The flashlight isn't a bad idea at all.

 

I suspect you could do a very nice job using Leadwerks. Plenty of other people have expressed interest in doing exactly this! Just bare in mind the graphics card requirements for the engine, however this is becoming less of a problem as time goes on and SM3 cards become more of a standard low end component.

 

I think you would need to do a little research.

How many people that play 2D games in general are going to meet the LE hardware requirements?

I'm not sure LE is the engine for this at this point.

 

The hardware requirement is obviously of key importantance if a game like this were to get released, especially if it were capable of being run by an engine of lesser power or hardware needs. I suppose a survey would have to be considered at some point if this project intended to be released, whether for free or otherwise. It all depends really on whether more hardcore gamers would consider playing, if the game showed impressive graphics and other features etc. which are also commonly seen in 3D games, and also whether a number of casual 2D players also tend to have good computers as well. It's all a complicated question, quite a lot of things I need to consider. LE may be a worthy engine, but it depends on certain factors and how the game ends up.

 

But then, as Pixel said, I could spend so long on this in theory that by the time it is finished there will be many more players with the needed hardware, hehe

[2.5D platformer in Leadwerks = Overkill?]

It's in the title really. I've had my fair share of 3D physicsy flashy game attempts. But after playing Super Mario Bros Wii I have to say that I fancy making a platformer (of the 2.5D variety most likely, that being 2D gameplay with 3D graphics). Would you say that Leadwerks is too overkill for this, as in too many unnecessary resources used, and that something more basic should really be used. I can't really face going back to BASIC oriented languages because I have forgotten a lot about them, but I don't know if Leadwerks is the most efficient thing for the job in this case.

 

Thanks.