Bob-rolling effect (feature review)

I created this code a small while ago, but was told I should ask other players if anyone else wants the feature so it can be merged if anyone does. It's a very small eye-candy thing, and it's disabled by default of course.

The branch is called mirceakitsune/roll_bobbing on xonotic's darkplaces branch. What this does is making the view roll to the sides as you walk (not the same thing as the view leaning when you strafe... it leans the same way but as you keep walking, just like the view bobbing). My aim was to imitate the way this is done in Quake 4 engine. Imo it looks pretty, for someone who likes eye candy.

To test the feature, switch to the branch and compile the engine, then in Xonotic set cl_bobroll to 0.001 (the value it looks best at). You can set it to higher values to see the effect better, but that looks ugly and it's not how it's meant to work.

So if anyone else wants this little feature it can perhaps be added. Makes it look more modern and pretty imo. It's completely optional so I don't think it hurts anything either

If it's not ridiculous, disabled by default, and adds to the game then I'm all for it. I actually like head rolling, that and various other things that can sort of ground the gameplay without actually effecting it make the play experience more immersive and gives you a feeling that you actually are your character.

If it's not ridiculous, disabled by default, and adds to the game then I'm all for it. I actually like head rolling, that and various other things that can sort of ground the gameplay without actually effecting it make the play experience more immersive and gives you a feeling that you actually are your character.

I think all that applies. And imo it does make walking more realistic, or at least more detailed

Looks nice with low cl_bobroll. I find 0.001 a bit high, and prefer about 80% of that; otherwise walking feels a bit too wobbly for my liking. Also it looks a bit weird when bunny hopping, since the view always twitches in the same direction when hitting the ground.

The reason why this is under review is that it is not a Xonotic code change, but a DarkPlaces one, and I don't want to bloat the engine with a feature nobody will use anyway.

So please test this and give feedback on it. If it's good and not annoying, it can go in (even though I personally don't like it and find it irritating even at small settings).

I would use it, but could somebody make a video of it in action? i'm not in a position to download anything.

I would use it, but could somebody make a video of it in action? i'm not in a position to download anything.

Perhaps I can do that later. Last time I tried recording with the build-in video recorder, I remember it was still a pain. For those who can't compile however, here is an exe file which contains my change as well:

Link 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?243ke30bmyi
Link 2: http://upload.ps/epzvbb8dmwsq/nexuiz.rar.htm

Just updated the code and fixed the bunny hopping twitches, by disabling the effect when the jump button is held. This shouldn't be a problem any more

@MirceaKitsune
If I were you I'd upload a video showing the feature, just to get more opinions.

I have tried it, it's nice. I think it should be added as an optional setting which is enabled by default.
btw, I saw this before Quake 4, it was in Quake 3 Arena

Made a quick video of the feature. for those who can't run Xonotic to test:

Link 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?mdygdoln3lm
Link 2: http://www.filedropper.com/dpvideo005

If you don't have a program that can play ogv files, use VLC player which is free. The strong effect is only to show it better, and the normal intensity is the one shown at first (0.001).

+1 for this effect

Added a poll to this.

NOTE: vote yes if you actually would play with this on. vote no if you would turn this off. This is not about whether the feature should be included, but it's a poll whether YOU would actually USE it. This will likely be below 50% yes votes, but this doesn't mean it won't get added. It's merely to see a tendency for how much it actually will be used.

Like the effect!
Thanks MirceaKitsune

i would not play with this enabled. it just dont look like imitating steps and is a bit confusing.if you walk you dont just "tilt" your head around your eyes. thats just wrong.

look at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdW1v9TPNYw at 1:03. if the effect would look like this, i would play with it.

I wouldn't. It distracts me.

look at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdW1v9TPNYw at 1:03. if the effect would look like this, i would play with it.

Yeah, I like that style of view bobbing too. I don't want any of the devs to feel I'm throwing too many features in Darkplaces, but after this is added if / when it is, I'm planning to add a few more effects in the same domain (disabled by default so don't worry). I may get something *similar* to that working

Good news! I just finished implementing a second feature in the bob_roll branch, which makes the existent view bobbing in Darkplaces work sideways too (copied the view bobbing code and made a horizontal version, with it's own cvars). That's supposed to look very close to the video jaykay linked to.

The bob rolling is still there, so if you set the cvars well you can have both the side rolling and side swinging for a good simulation of steps Both are separate however, so you can enable one without the other if you like.

I'm having thoughts about removing the rolling and leaving only the side bobbing only. I think a new pool should be made for this, and a new video. I'll try posting another vid soon.

Ok, I made a video showing the new feature together with the bob-rolling. They're not meant to be used at these values, this is just so everyone sees them well. Here it is (select HD to see better):



Here's also an up to date engine with the bobbing, for those who can't compile DP:

Link 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?n3o5muzje2m
Link 2: http://upload.ps/9rk1wsf3epvx/nexuiz.zip.htm

Try it with the below cvars (you can just copy-paste the line in the console, as ; separates commands). Those are not recommended for defaults unless you like the effects being so strong:

cl_bob 0.025;cl_bobside 0.025;cl_bobroll 0.0025

And again, I know this may seem weird to people who just want to play well and don't want anything that would bother the gameplay. But some players (like me ) would have the view running all over the place if that looked better or more realistic. Of course all of this is optional stuff, and will remain disabled everywhere.

gj Taoki, hope we can enable this by default!

21:30:59 < FruitieX> don't listen to the pro players
21:31:16 < FruitieX> they will disable any kind of feature except rendering the opponents and the collision surfaces on a map anyway

Thank you I certainly wouldn't mind it on by default, but I'm sure few other players would want that, so it will likely never happen. It's probably best this way, since this could incommode some players. I am however planning to add it to the menu, on the same checkbox as the View Bobbing slider in Player Settings (or maybe an additional one) once the feature is in the engine.

Thank you I certainly wouldn't mind it on by default, but I'm sure few other players would want that, so it will likely never happen. It's probably best this way, since this could incommode some players. I am however planning to add it to the menu, on the same checkbox as the View Bobbing slider in Player Settings (or maybe an additional one) once the feature is in the engine.

Looking forward to it.

I was talking in IRC about this, and I think there's an important question to be asked about this feature. The pool is already in use so I'll just write it down:

Now that the branch contains both sideway view bobbing and the roll view bobbing, do we want to keep both effects? I'm tempted to say the side bobbing would replace the rolling, as both bobbing and rolling at the same time might make less sense. There's also the issue of synchronizing the rolling and side bobbing together, otherwise the walking may look wrong (eg. If the view has two roll cycles per single side-bob swing).

So the question is: Which of the two features do you believe should stay? a) The sideway bobbing only, b) The bob-rolling only, c) Both the sideway bobbing and bob-rolling?

I'm personally tempted to vote for a), because the new side bobbing looks even better than the rolling, and also simulates steps better. So I don't think there's a purpose to load the code with the rolling too, if we have something that imo looks better. I'll probably remove the rolling soon in favor for the side-bobbing, but the revision can always be reverted. What does everyone think of this?

[EDIT] I removed the bob-rolling from the branch and improved the side-bobbing to the smallest detail. I can restore the rolling if everyone would want that, but imho it would ruin everything at this point, as the two bobs look great as they are without it.

Updated engine to test with can be found here:
Link 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?miio3wmzay1
Link 2: http://upload.ps/ynvkgk381ij9/nexuiz.zip.htm

To test, set the following cvars (or copy the following line in the console) using the engine in the links above:

cl_bob 0.025;cl_bob2 0.025;cl_bobcycle 0.6;cl_bob2cycle 0.6

I'd give you a +1 reputation for this, if I hadn't done this already long ago and after that tried to do it again but found out I had done it already.

Thanks for your efforts. I really like what you are doing and the way you do it. As for the bobbing effect: personally I never liked it so much if my entire view is bobbing, but if the weapon model is bobbing with the view staying relatively aligned, then wooohaaa. Cool stuff.

I'd give you a +1 reputation for this, if I hadn't done this already long ago and after that tried to do it again but found out I had done it already.

Thanks for your efforts. I really like what you are doing and the way you do it. As for the bobbing effect: personally I never liked it so much if my entire view is bobbing, but if the weapon model is bobbing with the view staying relatively aligned, then wooohaaa. Cool stuff.

Thank you, glad you like Yeah, the weapon bobbing is a separate cvar (cl_bobmodel_*). My aim is helping Xonotic look and feel like the heavy modern commercial games... of course with features I and other players would use. After this is committed I'm planing to add at least one more important feature, but I won't say it to keep the surprise