The camera's in the wrong place

[Marceror]

I've been trying to figure out exactly why I bought this game, played it a bit over a single weekend, and never went back to it.

The main reason that I've come up with? Camera placement. I like to see my character and his immediate surroundings. I find first person perspective grating, and even though I can scroll back a bit, the game becomes a huge chore to control.

I think that's the main reason. I want to look down from the sky. Is that weird?

The other big reason is that I hate the console interface. It's so restrictive and awkward.

If it wasn't for those things, I'd probably have continued with the game.

I'm not sure why I posted this. I'm not necessarily expecting any big discussion here, as I haven't asked any thought provoking questions. This is sort of my Tourettes post for the day I guess.


Oi vey! This was supposed to be posted in the Skyrim forum.

[henkie]

It's not that weird in my opinion. I had two major gripes with Oblivion. One was the UI. The huge icons in the inventory and stat screens really annoyed me. I don't buy a high dpi screen just so I can have absolutely no overview at all. A maximum of just five items to be shown in your inventory is just plain ridiculous.

The other point was the level scaling. No feeling of my character getting stronger at all and pretty much the same difficulty in all of the fights just makes me lose interest.

The camera never really bothered me that much. I usually stick with the first person view, though. The third person view is just for walking around a bit and if I want to look at what I'm wearing.

[dmc]

Hmmm - Aldeth is playing on console, so he can address this, but I have no problem with switching between first and third person views, I just use the "F" key. It would definitely be a pain if I only had first person view.

[Paracelsi]

You just have to get used it. Take your time exploring the world (or just figuring out how it works), none of the major quests have time limits. There are also builds that allow you to control the flow of the battle from the sidelines, if you find being in the thick things yourself too chaotic.

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

I play on XBox, alway use 3rd perosn view, and I find it completely easy to go for maximum viewing by simply clicking and holding the right control button, and pulling back (towards yourself) with the left control stick. You can scroll back really far and see exactly what's happening around you. Hell, you can probably even get an overhead view of your character if you'd like, although I think that would be suboptimal for accessing stuff on shelves. Seriously, have you clicked and held the right control stick? You can do pretty much whatever you like with the camera. (And if you play on PS3, I'm sure a similar function exists.)

[Marceror]

I should have been more clear when I said "console interface." I'm actually playing on the PC, but the interface is restrictive like that of a console. I can't just click on whatever I want with my mouse to select it. I have to arrow my way to it one item at a time. I find this exasperating.

I realize there is a third person play option, but I was never able to find a comfortable place to put the camera that seemed to work for all/most situations. As you mention Aldeth, there's a lot of stuff to be picked up from shelves and the like that requires a much closer view of the surroundings in order to handle efficiently.

Now realize, it's been a good 8 months since I've touched this game, and I have clocked in maybe 8 hours total in game (a lot of that was just running around). My recollection of details is hazy I'm sure. But it seemed to me that first person view (which I'm not fond of) was the most natural way to play the game. There were third person views, but controlling the game while using those was fairly awkward.

Maybe if I tried it again and gave it more time I could get used to it. But for whatever reason I lost interest before I could reach that point.

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

But it seemed to me that first person view (which I'm not fond of) was the most natural way to play the game. There were third person views, but controlling the game while using those was fairly awkward.

I disagree. Perhaps it's the best when trying to select specific items from a shelf, as you can be a bit more precise in your clicking, but I totally disagree in terms of general gameplay. 1st person view is very limited, and it kind of gives you the tunnel vision effect. I absolutely hate it for combat. I like to see what other people are doing around me, and I don't like that the only thing I can see in 1st person is the guy right in front of me.

So for me it's 3rd person except when I need the zoom in to pick up specific items.

[henkie]

Originally Posted by Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

I disagree. Perhaps it's the best when trying to select specific items from a shelf, as you can be a bit more precise in your clicking, but I totally disagree in terms of general gameplay.

I'll just say as a disclaimer that I haven't played Skyrim, but I suspect my experiences in Oblivion and Morrowind are relevant for Skyrim as well.

For me, walking around in third person works quite well, but fighting doesn't really work in third person. Ranged combat is right out - I can't hit anything with a bow in third person. Maybe you get some kind of aim assist on the console version?

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

Originally Posted by henkie

For me, walking around in third person works quite well, but fighting doesn't really work in third person. Ranged combat is right out - I can't hit anything with a bow in third person. Maybe you get some kind of aim assist on the console version?

That I do agree with. I switch over to 1st person when aiming a bow. And there is a perk eagle eye, that I always pick up, that zooms in the aim even further. But for melee combat I still prefer 3rd person.

[dmc]

I agree with that 100%. The only time I don't go third person in melee combat is if I know for a fact that there is only one opponent (or I so hopelessly outclass the enemy that they could whale on me a few times and I wouldn't notice it).

[joacqin]

I always play first person in the ES games. The games just don't seem meant to be played from third person. It was actually one of the reasons why I stayed away from Morrowind so long ago, I was and still isn't fond of first person. Haven't played a single shooter I have enjoyed.

[Sir Rechet]

My biggest cripe with the camera is that it sometimes just freezes solid. Just like the rest of the game, whenever that happens. Dunno why but anything close to Ivarstead is especially prone to sporadic freeze, to the point of me expecting several reloads/reboots if I need to visit the place for whatever reason.

[Topken]

Sir Rechet you playing on consoles or PC if PC pick up the unoffical Patches from nexusmods and I would say pick up SkyUI from nexus for those running the PC version it is just a whole lot better then that damn console UI they stuck us PC users with. I am so glad I grabbed the PC version and mods like SkyUI and the unoffical patches. They just help make the game that much better over the dumbed down Consoles. I dont mind them dumbing down a console version but do not dumb down our pc version becuase you decided to aim for the consoles. The older Elder Scrolls were all made with the pc as the base platform and it honestly feels like that was swapped with Skyrim hence the crappy UI on pc for instance. Beth should stick to their roots which would be the PC for Elder Scrolls and keep that as the base then change the Ui for the consoles if they decide to but give us a functional UI on PC instead of the crappy console one.