Add a Screenshot/Selfie Camera for screenshots

[gameboy1234]

Big thread here for posting in game "selfies."

 

 

However it's been noted in a lot of places that the default camera isn't great for taking in-game screenshots.  So I think a special "selfie mode" would help.

 

Ideas:

 

1.  Special "selfie mode" w/ hot key.  I think using a special "mode" would actually be easier than trying to add existing controls to the current camera.  Just guessing tho, needs technical evaluation.  Adding a hotkey that could be assigned by the player in Keybindings would make customizing this easier on the player.  If a /slashcommand is available too it would be possible to make a macro too.

 

2. "Look At".  The main problem I think is that the current camera is always looking at the top of our character's head.  Probably we need to be able to choose the location on our character that the camera is pointing at, at least anywhere in a line between the top of the head and our knees.  Rotation and Zoom should still work.

 

3. WASD.  We should be able to move around and use emotes when in the selfie mode.  I think we could use the hotkey as a toggle to end selfie mode rather than trying to cancel out as some other key that might be in use.

 

4. Bonus:  Micro-Move.  Sometimes getting an emote to work just right with the environment can be a pain.  I'd like to see a micro-move command that doesn't cancel the current emote pose.  Maybe Ctrl plus the WASD keys could be used.  I do mean "micro," slower than Walk to make fine adjustments easier.  Probably around quarter speed of Walk or maybe even less.

 

5. Bonus: free position camera.  At least within a radius of our character, just allow us to freely move the look-at point (Alt-WASD?) and still use rotation and zoom as needed.  If possible, implement both.  The camera location would be simple if it was always looking at our character, making #2 the easier mode to deal with.  Free movement would effectively be advanced mode.

 

 

 

Costumes and our personalized characters are really a central part of CoX, I think having better selfies would be one way to enhance this experience.  It also has the advantage of not requiring any geometry or player costumes to be created.

 

Edited October 4 by gameboy1234

[biostem]

I wonder how difficult it would be to simply implement a strictly out of combat or only-affect-self power that creates a completely intangible, yet visible duplicate of your character at the moment it was used - so you pose yourself how you want, use the power, the duplicate is placed at your location, and you are then free to move about and take any pictures you want.  The mirror tech already exists for illusion's phantom army, so it need only be applied to this temp power, and locked into the pose/emote you had applied when it was used, (which we also know NPCs can be directed to do via AE)...