[sldev] Request for help with modifying client camera behavior

[Argent Stonecutter]

On 2008-08-29, at 07:18, SignpostMarv Martin wrote:
> Argent Stonecutter wrote:
>> I have often wondered why SL does that ... keeping the camera on  
>> the same side as "big enough" prims ... instead of doing what many  
>> other games do and leaving the camera free to move but hiding the  
>> objects that would obscure the avatar.
>

> There are several methods of hiding objects, some of which can  
> affect the FPS performance (anyone who has played Neverwinter  
> Nights 2 will know what I'm talking about).

Yes, and I know that other games have advantages over SL. You don't  
need a "perfect solution", though, you just need one that's better  
than what we have now... and I don't think that requires even dealing  
with most of the issues you bring up. The client is already doing  
most of the work needed, in rendering the scene, and whatever was  
more efficient could be used without hurting the immersion... because  
almost every prim that would be hidden is a prim that is already not  
visible, since the camera currently moves between those prims and the  
avatar as you move around. I doubt very much whether content creators  
would even notice.

> You could fade an object to semi-transparent or remove each prim/ 
> object obscuring the view.

Simply eliminating the prims would be best. SL gives you a  
cinematographic view of the world, and cameras in movies and TV  
already "pass through" walls that are not shown because they are not  
present in the set... people are used to that. The "x-ray" view whare  
portions of the scene are faded out, though, would be disruptive.