[Feature Proposal] New Lean for TDM 2.12

[Daft Mugi]

Demonstration Video

I wondered if I could implement an improved lean for The Dark Mod.

How was the result? Please see for yourself by checking out the video.

The video shows:

1. Leans from multiple games that show less view angle and more slide.
2. Comparison between Thief and this lean proposal.
3. Comparison between TDM 2.11 and this lean proposal.
4. Aiming and shooting arrows while standing and crouching.
5. Tap lean ability.

Motivation

There is something about the original Thief game's lean that feels really good. It feels close to actually peeking around a corner while not jarring the view.

In an interview with former Looking Glass Studios developers, the interviewer asks them how they got leaning to feel so good while other FPS games have not.

Quote

I [...] have a strange question, which [...] I can't articulate in any other way: Why is the lean so awesome in Thief? Because there are so many first person games that have a lean [where] the screen kind of [moves awkardly].

 

In a tweet by NamelessVoice, the author of the widely used Thief FM script library called NVScript, he said:

Quote

[Amnesia: The Bunker] is another game that has leaning that just doesn't feel right. Too much tilting your head and not enough sideways movement. Makes it feel awkward to use to look around corners. It's not a huge thing, but when I was implementing my own leaning system, I found it felt so much better after I increased the horizontal movement and decreased the camera rotation.

https://twitter.com/VoicelessName/status/1674565251067412480

New Lean Proposal

Provide a lean that is more similar to Thief-style lean.

• Less view angle, more slide.
  • Feels more natural, less awkward.
  • Easier to aim and shoot arrows.
• Unlean more quickly.
  • Feels like snapping your head back after suddenly seeing a guard.
• Improved lean during crouch.
  • Compared to TDM 2.11, this lean can be used to see more around corners while crouched.
• Tap lean ability.
  • Compared to TDM 2.11, this lean allows pressing the lean keybinding in rapid succession.

Other:

• Fixed "lean getting stuck sometimes" bug in TDM 2.11.
• Fixed "lean getting stuck after saved game load" bug in TDM 2.11.

Technical Details

Bug Tracker

https://bugs.thedarkmod.com/view.php?id=6320

Cvars

At the moment, the new lean is toggled on via the tdm_lean2_mode cvar.

Other cvars include:

pm_lean2_time_to_lean      (default "400")
pm_lean2_time_to_unlean    (default "300")
pm_lean2_slide             (default "200")
pm_lean2_angle             (default   "8")
pm_lean2_angle_mod         (default "0.5")

However, I didn't know how to proceed with this section.

• Does the new lean replace the old lean?
• Does the new lean become the default while keeping the old lean available?

Code

• TDM 2.11 uses a sine easing function. Instead, this new lean uses a cubic bézier easing function.

For a 2.11-Like Lean

For a lean that is similar to 2.11, its cvars can be set to the following:

pm_lean2_slide "100"
pm_lean2_angle "18"
pm_lean2_angle_mod "0.8"

The following video shows a comparison between 2.11 and this new lean proposal with those cvar settings.

 

[Daft Mugi]

Here's the draft code patch so that folks who compile TDM themselves can give this proposal a try in game. And, if you do, I look forward to your feedback!

https://gist.github.com/daftmugi/43a23ca3471ae1d49eb0b9aa92ea8457

1. Install TDM v2.12 (dev16818-10434)
2. Get the SVN repo
3. Download "r10452-add-lean2.diff "
4. Apply SVN patch: "svn patch r10452-add-lean2.diff"
5. Compile
6. Copy TheDarkMod.exe and glprogs to TDM (dev16818-10434) directory

Or, @Wellingtoncrab has provided a Windows build. (includes new frob and new lean)

1. Install TDM v2.12 (dev16818-10434).
2. Download @Wellingtoncrab Windows build: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1062478154310103120/1154930878162669750/TheDarkModx64.exe
3. Copy the TheDarkModx64.exe binary to your dev16818-10434 directory.

Or, @Daft Mugi has provided a Ubuntu/Linux build. (includes new frob and new lean)

1. Install TDM v2.12 (dev16818-10434).
2. Download @Daft Mugi Ubuntu/Linux build: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kUZtQrkAQpPHVRUX_JrhxSeWkzZX8P4D/view?usp=sharing
3. Copy the thedarkmod.x64 binary to your dev16818-10434 directory.

[jaxa]

Your video really sold it to me. Good work.

I knew the TDM lean was kind of an awkwardly huge angular turn, but it's one of those things you don't think about after a while.

How about lean forward? And does anybody remember that lean trick in T1/T2 where you basically wrapped yourself around a corner in 2 directions?

[Daft Mugi]

6 minutes ago, jaxa said:

Your video really sold it to me. Good work.

Thank you!

4 minutes ago, jaxa said:

How about lean forward?

Yeah, I thought about showing the forward lean as well. But the difference between TDM 2.11 forward lean and the new forward lean is so small that I thought it wasn't worth showing.

8 minutes ago, jaxa said:

And does anybody remember that lean trick in T1/T2 where you basically wrapped yourself around a corner in 2 directions?

Yep!

[nbohr1more]

No objections here.

I can only suggest that perhaps TDM's lean is designed to look different than Thief's to avoid some sort of legal issue with such a closely matched design?

[Wellingtoncrab]

Looks great! The example with firing the water arrow really showed the potential benefit.

Looking forward to trying it out!

[jaxa]

1 hour ago, nbohr1more said:

No objections here.

I can only suggest that perhaps TDM's lean is designed to look different than Thief's to avoid some sort of legal issue with such a closely matched design?

I don't think they have copyright over a "cubic bézier easing function".

[datiswous]

From the video presentation, I think I prefer the current (2.11) lean. I also currently see no need for it, but maybe a testplay can convince some of us folks. Is there another way to test this than building tdm? For example creating seperate unstable branches that can be set in the installer. This should be possible.

Edited September 20, 2023 by datiswous

[Daft Mugi]

@AluminumHaste Would you mind making a Windows build, so folks can try out this new lean?

[datiswous]

2 minutes ago, Daft Mugi said:

Windows build

I'm not on Windows

[Daft Mugi]

2 minutes ago, datiswous said:

I'm not on Windows

Which OS/distro are you using?

[datiswous]

Manjaro linux

I think you should wait for an installable version, so everyone can test it. Instead of pretesting done by a select group of people who do compiling.

Edited September 20, 2023 by datiswous

[Daft Mugi]

3 hours ago, datiswous said:

Manjaro linux

Here's an Ubuntu build. I don't know about Manjaro and Ubuntu binary compatibility. So, please give it a try and let me know. Just remember to get the latest dev installation first and then use this binary instead. Bonus: It also includes the frob proposal changes, if you are interested in trying those out as well.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kUZtQrkAQpPHVRUX_JrhxSeWkzZX8P4D/view?usp=sharing

3 hours ago, datiswous said:

I think I prefer the current (2.11) lean.

What do you prefer about the 2.11 lean?

If you would like a similar lean to 2.11 with this new lean proposal code, you can set the following cvars:

pm_lean2_slide "100"
pm_lean2_angle "18"
pm_lean2_angle_mod "0.8"

Check out this comparison video between 2.11 and 2.12-FP with those cvar settings. Does that look better to you?

 

[Amadeus]

I quite like the new 2.12 lean, especially the crouch lean. In Daft Mugi's video at 1:23, you can clearly a big difference in shooting a water arrow while crouched. Overall, I think this is a really nice feature! 

[AluminumHaste]

11 hours ago, Daft Mugi said:

@AluminumHaste Would you mind making a Windows build, so folks can try out this new lean?

I was about to but in the process of cleaning out the previous patches, I accidentally did a svn cleanup command with delete all unversioned files, without realizing I had done so on the Darkmod game directory, not the source code directory.

Now Tortoise SVN claims that all these files would go to the recycle bin, but it's empty. Can't recover these files either, tried with several recovery tools.

So all that work in progress stuff was lost, maps, textures, shaders, etc. All gone, last back up was....2014. All my fault, but this is too crushing, I'm done with this project for now sorry.

[Wellingtoncrab]

15 minutes ago, AluminumHaste said:

So all that work in progress stuff was lost, maps, textures, shaders, etc. All gone, last back up was....2014. All my fault, but this is too crushing, I'm done with this project for now sorry.

That is awful. I know the sympathy won’t bring your work back, but I am very sorry to hear this happened to you.

[Daft Mugi]

39 minutes ago, AluminumHaste said:

So all that work in progress stuff was lost, maps, textures, shaders, etc. All gone, last back up was....2014. All my fault, but this is too crushing, I'm done with this project for now sorry.

I'm so sorry to hear that. It's truly crushing to lose all of those files. I feel bad about this, since you were helping out with these proposals. I hope the files find a way back to you.

[datiswous]

Ok, I tested and it's (imo) indeed better. I think the current (2.11) lean looks more like peeking around the corner, but doesn't realistically works with the bow and it bends the view a little too much.

Edited September 21, 2023 by datiswous

[Skaruts]

I would love this. You had me 100% at "less view angle and more slide". I've always disliked this about TDM movement. It feels very unnatural to me (as well as the rotation in the view bobbing, which fortunately can now be turned off).

[Wellingtoncrab]

Here is a patched windows executable I compiled with both @Daft Mugi's lean and frob patches. I played through all of A Bridge Too Far with and it appears stable to me. [irony] The crypto mining worm I included is pretty light weight so you will only notice a modest FPS drop. [/irony]

For what it's worth I think the new lean is an improvement. This combined with the frob changes made the game feel in general like there is less friction when I was trying to quickly snuff a candle, fire off an arrow, move a body quickly out of the way etc.

Edited September 23, 2023 by Wellingtoncrab

[thebigh]

What's this about a crypto worm?

[Wellingtoncrab]

 

14 hours ago, thebigh said:

What's this about a crypto worm?

[irony]

Its a worm that makes crypto.

Kind of like a silk worm, but instead of fabric it weaves jpegs of boring monkeys using you local ms paint install or something.

I am not current on the technical details tbh but it’s nothing to be concerned about it. 

[/irony]

Edited September 23, 2023 by Wellingtoncrab

[Skaruts]

On 9/20/2023 at 12:25 AM, jaxa said:

And does anybody remember that lean trick in T1/T2 where you basically wrapped yourself around a corner in 2 directions?

I would love to know how they did it, because if I ever do my own little thief clone, that's a feature I must include at all costs. It was just plain awesome.

[Daft Mugi]

15 minutes ago, Skaruts said:

I would love to know how they did it, because if I ever do my own little thief clone, that's a feature I must include at all costs. It was just plain awesome.

The player model is a snowman.

 

[datiswous]

20 hours ago, Wellingtoncrab said:

[irony] The crypto mining worm I included is pretty light weight so you will only notice a modest FPS drop. [/irony]

Another reason to ditch Winblows!