Comments on: Situational Awareness Part 3

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:50:22 +0000

I definitely think moving the camera a lot helps – it gives your brain a lot of small, almost subconscious clues about where you are (or your character is). Think about when you move about in real life – your eyes aren’t fixed straight ahead and don’t move through the world like they’re on rails; your head moves up and down a little, your eyes dart all over the place, you turn your head often; all of this feeds your brain with information about your position in 3D space.

By: ReversionLFM

ReversionLFM — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:30:39 +0000

Thanks for the feedback. It can be hard for explanations to cross the divide. It is amazing how peopled brains can be actually wired differently. Me, I do see things in 3d but I can’t spell my way out of a paper bag. The way the paths of the brain all work together is a mysterious thing. Unfortunately, as you can see with your boyfriend, it is hard to imagine yourself into someone else’s thinking and then give them a way of coping.
But my blog muse will not let me leave it be so I will try again.
Yes, moving the camera lots is key. Normally humans have binocular vision and other subtle clues to allow them to gain depth perception and piece the 2D into a 3D ‘situational awareness’. Panning the camera back and forth allows your brain to see things from slightly different angles so it can do the same thing. Try this, close one eye. No depth right? Now move lean side to side and try to see different angles of something. Sorta helps right? Not as good as two eyes but it is extra data.
The thing is that some brains are hardwired to put all those inputs together into a complete picture really fast. And some just plain aren’t. But there are ways to cope.
So, the cloud thing. That is partly aim point…. I am going to need pictures. I will add to my post. See above later this afternoon for more details

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 09:03:49 +0000

I… no. I read this and I can’t even understand half the things you’re talking about… does that mean I’m hopeless?

I’ve tried explaining how I can’t see in 3D, but it’s not really working. My boyfriend just tells me to try harder. Sometimes I manage – I actually healed Valithria once without losing stacks and missing half the clouds! But usually I just aim towards something and, even though from my angle it looks like I’m right on top of the cloud, when I move the camera it turns out it’s 5 yards below me. I wonder if all the people who rock at this just move their camera a lot…

Or maybe it’s simply related with general orientation. I’m usually crap at it, both IRL and in game. Take me to a neighbourhood I vaguely know and tell me to get home – chances are I’ll try to picture the map and I’ll choose the completely wrong direction. I ran Kara for months and I still had my personal warlock summon one night out of two. I think this has something to do with flying… if I can’t find my way in 2D, 3D is out of the question

(And still… I did manage to do Malygos and I don’t find it very hard now, after some practice. Maybe it’s just flying with my character that’s challenging? MgT, Valithria, Kael…)

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 07:26:16 +0000

I think a big part of the problem some people have with Oculus is draw distance: when it’s at max, it’s much easier to navigate because you can see more of the instance, so you have more clues as to where you are and which direction you’re facing. When your draw distance is set quite low, though, you’re often just looking into a sea of fog, making it very hard to navigate.