The 2010 demo showed a cockpit. I don’t remember a time when the devteam was in agreement that there would be no cockpits, and I have been on the devteam since 2007.
I see sarcasm and parody still have trouble transferring across an internet connection. But it’s nothing I have not seen or personally experienced. No one gamer is that totally jingoistic, true, but I’ve seen so many of them behave in such ways or carry such myopic opinions that it honestly wasn’t hard at all to combine them all into the extreme (and ranty, I fully admit) parody above. Such gamers tick me off, I fully, readily admit, but I also know that not all “hardcore” gamers are not like that.
But since I’ve got you here, let me ask a question I’ve been dying to ask “immersion” gamers for months now.
Why do you need such audio-visual aids to “get into” a game? Surely a fun game would be “immersive” regardless of the presence of absence of such?
Trouble is that is the kind of post you would see on the internet, but it is meant sincerely, not as a parody.
Not sure if you’re still writing with sarcasm or as a parody but… I personally do not need audio-visual aids no, but games should be treated the same ways (in some cases) as films - or indeed art. I don’t need a cockpit view. It is not vital for immersion I admit, but it just helps.
I, possibly wrongly, view the actual Infinity game (not Battlescape) as a space exploration game as apposed to a combat simulator. As I’m exploring the universe, I just think looking from within the ship to the outside feels more like I’d be exploring myself. Battlescape is obviously the introduction to an amazing universe to give us a taste of exploration - with they key focus being on combat.
Kind of rambling here and still not sure when or where you are being sarcastic. Immersion gamers? I play Space Station 13 and to me that is one of the most immersive games I have ever played. Despite the fact it is 2d, that game doesn’t need fancy graphics or fancy sound (personally I care little for in-game soundtracks - I’d prefer here the sound of the engine(?))
A fun game will be fun. Immersion is just how believable the game feels. Games by nature are artificial and part of the challenge of making certain games is removing that artificial feel and I believe Infinity is one of those games.
I think the idea is that you don’t NEED anything to enjoy a game, but the easier the game makes it for you to feel like you are inside that universe, the bigger is the impact of whatever happens in the game. If you feel like an npc character is nothing more than pixels, you won’t give a rat’s buttocks if he dies, for example.
If you are inside the ship with no real windows/cockpit, you feel like you could be anywhere, even piloting it from a remote location(or maybe its just a simulation). But if you see a cockpit in front of you it gets easier to believe that what’s outside that window is real, and you start to care more about what happens in that world. The fact that windows are fragile also gives the player this sense of danger, being so close to the vacuum and the flying bullets around him.
I think that a VR headset like the Oculus rift would make cockpits even more important. Being a floating camera in space is one thing, but being a pilot in a cockpit is a whole new level when you realize you can look down and see yourself.
But even after all that, Ill probably go full first person anyway.
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There is this article about Occulus Rift and flight sims (IL2, to be precise) and how it may be one of the games it helps the most. Granted, in I:B you will flight in space, far from any landscape, but it seems that cockpits helped a lot.
Okay…why? Why is it so important to convince yourself that your not doing something that you, in reality, are? Why is it important to force yourself to think that you are physically in the world of the game for it to be “believable”? Why can a game only be “believable” if you can convince yourself that you’re a character within it? Why can a game only be “immersive” if you can convince yourself that you’re a character within it? Why is it so important to convince yourself that you’re a character within a game?
Why would a player, any player, want that though?
I have always preferred cockpit views. Maybe it’s because I started off with Wing Commander games, not sure.
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I’ve been immersed in many games. Games with more or less detailed graphics and or story, cockpits and believable interfaces.
But your qustion was:
The key thing is emotions. I myself love games where I can be emotionally connected to the games and everything they try to convey: Be it story, personality, drama, action or some kind of morale. A thing only books come close to achieving the level interactive games can.
What has this to do with immersion? It helps, talking for myself, emotionally connecting to the game and what it is trying to say. Sometimes I try to say something trough the game. It isn’t always one way.
Not to say that I don’t like games that aren’t that immerse. …
I think immersion is kind of a false argument actually. For me, it’s more about context.
For example, my first time round playing X3: Reunion, I loved it. I was very immersed in the world and the story and enjoyed the depth of gameplay. However, it still had a stilted and unrealistic quality because I was flying a disembodied camera around that magically shot green/red/whatever stuff at some enemies that tended to be icons for most of the time.
I would argue that a cockpit makes it easier for your brain to include the context of the fight - that you are in a spaceship too. It also improves virtual spatial awareness by giving you a frame of reference (although this is only important if you have accurate hit mechanics).
The other thing is that in X3: Reunion, big ships flew exactly the same way as little ships, just more slowly, because there was no frame of reference. Then I got a mod which had a battleship with a 1st-person bridge and the difference in feel was phenomenal. Suddenly I felt like I was in command of a huge, dynamic warship.
Simple change, massive effect.
Like the difference between 2D Ultima on line and 3D Everquest when it came out.
There are old games I like but just can’t get into them anymore.
Being able to louse one’s self in the experience.
Interesting…Cockpit-as-frame of reference. That makes more sense.
Keep the Cockpit view, They are awesome
3rd person feels stale & childish, the future is in First Person… Everything… Cockpits included
Dont skimp out because of resources, get more.
You will see from our crowd funding video that we do indeed plan to incorporate cockpits.
Ha. Easier said than done.
But don’t worry:
1st person has always been the plan. The only thing being discussed really was the extent of the cockpit interiors… 1st person with HUD like the ICP or fully modeled interiors like SC and Elite.
Well, the '010 Tech Demo had a “fully modeled” cockpit interior.
Yeah, problem is: they can’t hire more yet as they are working on their spare time. Things will get better once the kickstarter is done … hopefully ^^
Anyway, i’ve always been mitigated to “glass-like” cockpits that ressemble earth aircrafts. After all, having a breach in the glass cockpit is not necessarly lethal in earth’s atmosphere. Hell, you can even escape your (military) aircraft with an ejection seat, with only the minor problem of having a warm protection suit and possibly a oxygen breather for high altitude.
But in space? You better hope not to have any breach EVER, or wear your space protection suit at all time during fights, which includes some kind of helmet. Not the best way to have a good vision.
It might still be an acceptable option for small spacecrafts, as a layer of metal, relatively thin, is not that better than some glass-like structure. For bigger spacecrafts however, the operationnal center should not have the flaw of being possibly directly attacked through the window. Therefore, the operationnal crew should pilot the spacecraft from a well-protected inside, with sensors, cameras or what-nots.
Oh, and by the way … nice zombie dig 
Fully modeled unique cockpits are the plan, up to a certain size ship. We do not plan on bridges for ships frigate sized or larger.
Yes but Flavien was quite clear at the time that it didnt mean the game would have cockpit interiors.
Ok. I’m interested to see what the visibility is like.
I’m interested too and many others probably, but do you really think that they will throw a pic at us?
We will not show the cockpit before the KS video is released.