The Feel of Socom

Video embedded below.

To me and I think with many the feel of Socom starts with the view: camera view, camera angle and camera collision. (sorry long read but it isn't easy to explain...The video has dual perspective comparisons and my commentary speaking on the issues I wrote below.)



If you look at past games the camera view was that of Socom 4... a mid thigh cut off but there was a difference! The difference was in the camera positioning... what I mean by that is in Socom 1, 2 and 3 we had a camera that was lined up with the character's head and pulled back far enough so that we saw the thigh up causing the field of view to be greater above the head and to the left and right. In Socom 4 we have a camera positioned at the mid back level which to get the same view the camera had to be pulled back less... this caused the character to appear bigger on the screen at times impairing the field of view above the character.



That isn't all the camera in Socom 1, 2 and 3 also stayed in the same position at all times only deviating from that position when the camera collided with objects behind you. When collision occurred the centered above the head camera just pushed in over your head which did not obstruct your view. Now in Socom 4 the camera moves in as well but at its level behind the back... this causes the camera to move into OTS view because the whole reasoning behind the camera being at the S4 position is due to the use of OTS.



Lastly there is the HUD, as silly as it sounds in Socom 4 your vision "seems" to be obstructed by the static HUD at the top center of the screen. In Socom 1, 2 and 3 we had a box that appeared only when necessary. You may not think this is an issue but you actually tend not to look in the area above the HUD or through the HUD... this causes the feel to be more constrained.


It really isn't all that difficult now that I saw side by side footage to see why the feel is 'off'... the OTS view caused this and it was visible in Confrontation. The camera needs to just be slightly adjusted and collision needs to be fixed. The camera also needs to be made static no matter what speed your character is moving... the collision should be the only occasion where that view changes at all.

The view of Socom 4 literally makes me queezy. I have to stop playing after about an hour and give myself a break. The feel of Socom is the camera view for sure, but the environment is what does it for me.

Thought I would wake you up. HEHEHE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8BRbM52gpc

Same here PAUL, i cant play for more than 1 hour and i get a very bad headache right behind my eyes, i think you said it right , if they would shift the cam angle would make a big difference in the game, a least you could play longer..

PAUL-AWOL- wrote:Thought I would wake you up. HEHEHE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8BRbM52gpc

Nice! and applicable... it is sad but true... funny I post this a lot on the forums for that reason!

RadRon wrote:Same here PAUL, i cant play for more than 1 hour and i get a very bad headache right behind my eyes, i think you said it right , if they would shift the cam angle would make a big difference in the game, a least you could play longer..

Same here... I got so frustrated as to why the game feels awful so I studied and found this... then made the video.

I think you nailed it. The player size with a Classic view would help.

The HUD, and the entire user interface really, is terrible to navigate/use.

I'd like to disable it all when playing, it doesn't feel right