MSat wrote:
On a computer, the mouse is ENTIRELY used for aiming, but you have to keep in mind that we're not concerned with that as far as the foot controller goes. We (or maybe just me?) only need it to move and turn the player - fine aiming should be done with a separate device (ie Hydra), which hopefully would be very accurate.
The mouse is also used to change your direction (turning), that we don't aim with our footcontrollers is obvious, why you even mention this?
I understand what you're saying, but I think there are some errors in your judgement. Besides the issue of balance, it's highly unlikely that push->turn->lift would be anywhere as quick as simply just turning your foot.
I think you don't understand. The same argument would be true for turning with a gamepad vs. a mouse then. And for speed, like i said you don't have to lift your foot of the pedal.
The problem with the design you proclaim is, you need to switch the foot over to to the other side to change the direction. You'd be moving your foot a lot more. With the disc design, you can change direction while having your foot pointed in a direction and don't need to switch your foot over.
Which issues of balance do you mean? You have to multitask anyway if you have seperate foot controls and aiming. Issues of balance could only occur with inappropiate WASD pedal design, like incrementally walking and strafing which isn't a reality on PC's anyway. That's a problem made up out of your imagination.
Not to mention that free-wheeling would be really susceptible to overshoot. Even if it only takes you 1/4 of a second to push down to stop the wheel, that's 1/4 second too long
That's only a bonus you can use, stopping the disc would be as quick as pushing a button under your finger. You don't need a lot of space between the pedal and disc, contact with the disc or no contact.
If you only play "hardcore" FPSs, then maybe you're better off using a mouse+keyboard, oh and a regular monitor
Twitch shooters are not ideal games for VR anyway.
I don't want to be limited to singleplayer VR, that's the reason i startet thinking about as good as possible foot controllers which give players the abilities others have with a mouse & keyboard. I think if you master those footcontrols and have something like the Novint, or a gun supported on a stand, you'd be able to compete with anybody out there. This would be the breakthrough and make VR attractive for competitive gaming.
You've already given up competitive VR, very sad..
I couldn't tell you how gamepads are implemented on PC games, as I always used a keyboard and mouse (which I DON'T want to use for VR).
But you mentioned gamepad enabled PC games, that's the reality we're facing here in this discussion, the Rift is a PC periphal.
The reason for me not to use a mouse and a keyboard for VR is that i want to aim with gun controllers or interact with the environment with other tracking devices, that's it. i wish i'd have 4 arms and hands..
I'd prefer something like a Virtuix Omni or other locomotion setups, but i already know that i couldn't use it everyday and all the time, especially if i'm coming home from work and was a lot on my feet that day.
However, on consoles they tend to implement progressive walking speeds, which I believe is much more ideal for VR anyway. Since you're fixated on control accuracy, you should understand the benefit of having finer control in forwards/reverse as well as strafing, and not just in turning. I can't tell you how many times I cursed a PC game because I walked off a ledge due to the terrible on/off nature WASD. Using a foot pedal in this manner would be even worse - you can't move your foot as fast as you can move a finger!
I understand what you're saying and it would be cool if walking would be implemented with incrementally speeds. But the reality is that i don't know any game which does it. Not on the PC and not on the console. The console games i know have steps, walking when you push forward and running if you push it forward to the max.
Which game on consoles does it incrementally? Would like to know.
If you want to build a foot controller as you describe, then more power to you. I just don't think it would work out as well as you imagine. I could be wrong, but then again, I could also be right.
If nobody else picks the idea and does it, so that i can buy it, i'll do it for sure
@ Crespo
Brilliant, yeah that's close, only that you wouldn't have to lift the foot that much, because the space (or not space) between the disc and pedal doesn't need to be so big, 1cm is enough.
Originally i thought about a optical tracker ripped out of the mouse like this guy did
http://www.dossierd.nl/ap_voetmuis_detail_eng.html
But then realized that the disc would also have the advatage to let it spin for itself by pushing and then stopping it for bigger turns, or if you enable fire and let your character spin circles firing, while beeing still able to aim.
Imagine pushing the disc withe a movement, letting your character spin, and then aim freely on every target in sight