FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION

Avatar-Oriented Steering

In avatar-oriented steering, the only suitable model for first-person games, pushing the joystick up causes the avatar to move forward in whatever direction she cur­rently faces, regardless of her orientation to the screen. However, implementation of avatar-oriented steering varies somewhat from one device to another, so the fol­lowing sections treat these devices individually.

Avatar-oriented steering remains consistent regardless of the camera model. It pres­ents a slight disadvantage in games using aerial perspectives: Avatar-oriented steering can be rather disorienting when the avatar faces the bottom of the screen, yet the player must push the joystick up to make the avatar walk down to the bot­tom of the screen.

JOYSTICK AND D-PAD CONTROLS

As stated earlier, pushing the joystick up makes the avatar move forward in what­ever direction she faces. Pushing the joystick down makes the avatar move backward away from the direction she faces, while continuing to face the original direction; that is, she walks backward. In some vehicle simulators, down applies the brakes rather than reversing the direction of movement, and the player must press a separate controller button to put the vehicle in reverse. Pushing the joystick to the left or right makes the avatar turn to face toward the left or right or turns the wheels of a vehicle. The avatar does not move in the environment if the joystick moves directly to left or right; the player must push the joystick diagonally to get forward (or backward) motion in addition to a change of direction. This feels more natural with vehicles than it does with characters.

MOUSE-BASED CONTROL

With mouse-based navigation, now standard for first-person PC games, the mouse only controls the direction in which the avatar faces, and the player uses the key­board to make the avatar move. Moving the mouse left or right causes the avatar to turn in place, to the left or the right, and to a degree in proportion to the distance
the mouse moves. Up and down mouse movements tilt the camera up or down, which becomes important if the player wants the avatar to climb or descend, but these commands do not move the avatar. Considerably more flexible than a joy­stick-based system, mouse-based navigation allows the player to look around without moving the character.

Keys on the PC's keyboard control movement. The standard arrangement for play­ers who use their right hands for the mouse and left hands for the keyboard uses W to produce forward movement in the direction the avatar currently faces; move­ment continues as long as the player holds the key down. S works similarly for moving backward (or applying the brakes). A and D produce movement at right angles to the direction the avatar faces, left or right respectively, thus producing the feeling of sliding sideways while facing forward. This sideways movement is often called strafing. Left-handed players usually use the arrow keys or the I, J, K, and L keys, whose layout mimics the W, A, S, and D keys.