Stars Reach Talks Camera, Movement, Hanging From Things, And Leaving Fall Damage Craters

I've been covering the blogs from Raph Koster and the Playable Worlds team since they started posting them. Sure, I'm personally and professionally interested in what their Stars Reach MMO may potentially offer the gaming space, but, as a software engineer, I love talking "shop" and seeing all the behind-the-scenes info and thought going into development.

That said, I'll admit that the most recent post from the team is going to be a little drier than some previous posts that talk design philosophy. I'll also say, I freaking loved the post. What's on tap? Camera and Movement. Yep, that's it. The most fundamental things a video game offers. You move and you need to be able to see. Funny how some games get both of these wrong to amazing degrees, isn't it? Sure, they are basic functions, but they're the type of functions you want players to not even think about. If players ARE thinking about them, it's usually because there's problems with the design of both.

I don't think that's going to be the case with Stars Reach, though. With a few players finally being allowed in for some recent testing, the team had to give players something to actually do. Sure, what the team really wanted to test were things like launchers, Steam keys, and more, but if players had zero to do, why be there? What's the answer? Have the testers test some of the things they'll be doing the most. Walking, moving a camera, and chatting. If any of these irritated you in a game, how long have you actually played, even if you loved the game's concept?

In short, if you screw up your camera or movement, you will lose players, and you'll lose them quickly.

You'll probably be delighted to know that Stars Reach will use two camera types, both of which are familiar to MMO players. You'll have the more fixed, over the shoulder, third-person camera, and a more free-form "hold right mouse to move the camera"...well, camera. Both will have slight variations if you have a tool in your hand and users are free to swap for any given activity as they see fit.

Now, the movement portion of the blog is quite a bit longer and examines many aspects of moving, including some that the team ended up removing. Swinging from ceilings? Cool thought! Wait, I'm getting stuck to the ceiling of every small cave I jump in. Ok, let's cut it. Sliding on ice? Yeah, pretty cool! We're going to need an animation for that, though. (Calls art team).

I love this kind of discussion. If you've watched any of my streams on MMOBomb, you know fall damage ALWAYS comes up. We're constantly testing things "For Science" in stream. Yes, Stars Reach does feature fall damage. Flying around on a jetpack means you kind of have to have it, right? At one point, if you fell from high enough you left a crater. Makes sense in a world with terrain that can be altered in real-time!

Check out the post for a discussion on the most basic MMO functions you've ever thought about...or didn't think about if it was done correctly.