Good idea, but I didn't enjoy playing it, sorry. I found myself looking between the two 2D views all the time. Also, very difficult to tell when impact is about to happen as of course my monitor only displays 2D. For this to work better I think you need to use a different projection - one where the player's view is not directly behind the bat.
Viewing post in 3D Pong jam comments
Thanks for the feedback! :)
I agree that it's hard to tell when the ball is going to hit the paddle, that's why I added the 2D views and made the paddle flash on impact (+ sound effect).
I experimented a bit with the camera placement, but putting the camera further up, at an angle, would make it too difficult to tell where the paddle is in relation to the ball.
Placing it in the middle, at the end of the playing field (behind the paddle, but not moving along with it), also made it too hard to judge the ball's position.
I also thought about adding lines to the walls that show where the ball is along the Z axis, like in this video. But since I wasn't using wireframe graphics, I couldn't think of a way to add them without looking distracting or out of place.
Do you have any suggestions how the camera could be placed instead?
I see what you're saying. I suppose with with it being fully 3D, it's difficult to simply display it on a 2D screen. There was an old arcade game by Sega I think (can't remember the name) that had a guy with a jetpack who you could move around the screen while shooting at baddies in the distance, I can't remember the name, but maybe you could get some pointers from it?
I think having other visual cues and clues would help better than camera placement. Some ideas that'd be easy to implement would be
- shadows or ghosts on the walls (mimics the 2d view, but in the same 3d scene)
- have the ball transition in color/rotation/whathaveyou as it approaches: for example, red vs blue, and have it go red as it approaches player and blue against the computer.
- Have the ball leave a tail (easier to extrapolate visually where it's going, especially if the tail has perspective).
- Change the field of view of the camera, might exaggerate the perspective and make it easier to place it.
The grid is a great idea! I think it could look good, or adjusted even. Maybe make two orthogonal planes with some transparency that center on the ball?