FPS: disconnect movement (steering) from aim

Are there any games that disconnect steering from aim? So you have WASD for relative direction with strafing, and mouse for steering. It irritates me that aiming = steering toward your target. For instance, running east while firing north is a real world possibility. I guess the only way to allow for this is multiple monitors with head/eye tracking?

ie: you’d have monitors like:
_
/ \

so your movement is WASD/mouse, and your aim is tracked by something like trackir?

I feel like this would add a new element of skill to fps’s, where environmental awareness (move in a direction you want while focusing on a target in a different direction) would add a whole new dimension.

I could have sworn I could move in one direction and fire in another in FPSs already.

Check out this Tested video on the Oculus Rift support added to TF2:

Apparently they’ve added a number of modes (accessible via command line) that divorce the “head tracking” portion from mouse aiming in a number of different ways. In one, aiming is completely mouse driven and looking is completely head tracked (I think maybe the opposite is there too). They’ve also done one where there is a “dead zone” where you can aim the mouse freely without moving the view as long as you don’t go to far from the center of the screen, which seems a real-world possibility. There is also a discussion / disagreement about whether it’s easier or harder to perform well under those conditions.

Yeah I get you can do it on consoles with direction/hat, maybe you can do the strafing with shoulder buttons or something. I’m thinking in terms of keyboard/mouse. You can move in a direction while aiming, but you have to be pointed (steered or strafing) at the target. There’s a dependency between aiming and movement, which doesn’t exist (to that extent) in rl. (yeah rl, game, whatever)

yeah I think this is awesome, and definitely the future of vr, but my requirements include not having to mount a house on my face.

Arma 2 with Track IR allows head tracking to allow head movements independent of body movement. I’ve never used it myself so can’t guarantee it’s what you’re looking for.

that sounds cool, does trackir track head position or eye movement? edit: doh ok head tracking

After further thought, I guess “what you see is what you hit” kind of eliminates the skill (eye-hand coordination element), unless you’re using a fallout type system where what you aim at is hit based on skill factors.

So mouse or some kind of eye-hand coordination device for aim (mouse or some kind of tracking “aiming” mechanism to retain the eye-hand skill element), and a device (keyboard?) that allows for direction/movement (including distinction between turning and strafing). The problem seems to be the complexity involved in the controls versus the rl ease of these functions… what seems to be missing is an intuitive input method for movement, that accommodates turning vs. strafing… all the while allowing for other inputs (weapon change, ir mode, rate of fire, jumping, crouching, etc.)

This all implies some kind of at least 180degree visual (multiple monitors, curved monitor, vr goggles).

System Shock had no mouselook. You moved with directional keys and aimed with the mouse.

You don’t even need TrackIR for that to work in the Arma series. There is a freelook key(default is Left ALT, I think) so you can use wasd for movement and mouse for aiming. One of my most wanted feature in other fps’s since opflash came out.

System Shock 1’s controls really are very strange. It (and Ultima Underworld) seem to be the missing link between Dungeon Master style stepwise dungeon crawlers (GUIs that just happen to have hotkeys) and Wolf3d era FPSes (controls directly mapped to actions).

Also I remember a bad amiga robocop game with FPS sections which also used point-and-click aiming without mouselook. You turned by flicking the pointer to the edge of the screen. Do not want.

I have no idea how “running east while shooting north” is an example of something you can’t do with WASD/mouse.

I think he wants to be able to run and look forward, while firing blindly behind him. To unhook gun aim from viewport altogether. Or, more generously, to be able to aim off-center from the viewport, like in a light gun game, but with full movement options.

But it’s really hard to come up with any actual situations where you’d want to do that.

Isn’t that most mechwarrior games?

Trackir in arma is bounded to head movement, the weapon and steer direction is still the same.

Ideally you would control body movement, head movement and weapon aiming in three separate ways, but there are limits on what you can do with just 2 hands.

This is how I’m reading it. Think standard FPS with light gun aiming mechanics (but with a mouse). So that you can shoot at shit that’s not in the direct center of the screen. Is that right Gat?

Battlefield on PC allows you to do that. Driving a tank is one of the redeeming qualities of the franchise. Unsurprisingly, most people can’t pull it off well, few who could get “nerf tanks” cries in general chat.

Umm have you never played a fps on a PC ever? Ever heard of the (in)famous “circle strafing” term?

I advise trying out a PC fps or watching videos. You can move backwards or strafe to either side. Good players can combine this with aiming with the mouse to be moving in one direction while firing in another. This allows you to be do precisely what you seem to want, unless i’m understanding wrong?

I think you should reconsider your irritation. Games model this sufficiently with strafing. It’s not a perfect simulation, but it doesn’t detract from the experience, which is the important thing.

I was intrigued by deadzone aiming until Dslyecxi mentioned he didn’t think it was realistic or relevant. As he’s a diehard Arma geek, I trust that he cares and thinks about these things.

Dslyecxi is casual! He plays with crosshairs! :P :P

I actually like a bit of deadzone. I always liked the idea in the original Operation Flashpoint, how it gave the impression you were a real soldier with a weapon in hands, instead of a turret with a weapon attached in the corner. It’s a immersion thing.
Of course I know it’s really worse than playing with no deadzone, if you measure how fast/accurate you are with or without it. But I don’t play Arma to be the fastest shooter in multiplayer, but to have an immersive realistic experience, so…