Key-holing questions
Calgacus
Member Posts: 273
Should the key-holing feature prevent the auto-zoom-in that happens when an object like a wall gets between the character and the camera? I ask as this is what I imagined would be the main benefit of key-holing. For example if my PC is down some stairs going toward the basement and I move the camera around so I would not see him then the camera automatically zooms in very close - so close that sometimes I can't see anything as the camera might be right up against my PC or party members. Also the sudden zoom in is problematic in many instances as it suddenly prevents me from having the wide perspective I need and is jarring at best. I hope key-holing will eventually allow that auto-zoom to be toggled off.
Should key-holing bore through everything? In Sanctum of the Archmage 1 (in Blackwing Lodge) I notice that it does not bore through bookcases or the fire from torches on the wall. I also noticed in Kingmaker that when used outdoors it seems to eliminate grass in the area behind my character.
Should key-holing bore through everything? In Sanctum of the Archmage 1 (in Blackwing Lodge) I notice that it does not bore through bookcases or the fire from torches on the wall. I also noticed in Kingmaker that when used outdoors it seems to eliminate grass in the area behind my character.
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Comments
No it only bores through the parts of a tileset. The objects that you mention are placeables (i.e. separate bits the builder places where they will).
As a builder I have just one question. Will I be able to turn keyholing off in any module that I build? If not this has the potential to ruin a user made module especially those made before its introduction.
TR
I'm also concerned about a few effects that keyholing will cause, namely:
1. Does it also affect placeables positioned between the character and the camera, or just tile geometry? If it's the former, then players could have difficulty interacting with objects that have been keyholed out of view. If it's the latter, it would ruin the aesthetics of area features made by partially concealing or embedding placeables inside tile geometry, which is a common practice.
2. How much of the character must be concealed before the keyhole takes effect? Will things like waist-high fences be affected? What about transparent geometry like curtains, nets, windows, etc? Will they disappear when the character goes behind them, even though he would still be perfectly visible without keyholing?
3. Is the background fog of an area visible when the tile geometry gets keyholed all the way through, for example a wall with no floor beneath it? I can foresee that not looking exactly optimal in many cases.
4. Consider 2 adjacent rooms, with one of them hidden, or in any other way not yet revealed to the player. If I rotate the camera so that it goes behind the wall connecting the 2 rooms, will the engine keyhole through the wall and reveal the hitherto hidden room?
5. To what degree, if at all, is the Obscuring walkmesh property affected by keyholing? Is the camera still "trapped" behind it, or can it be zoomed out beyond it?
6. A bunch of other stuff as well...
When I heard about the plan to change the way tile fade works, I was hoping for some method where the character models are stenciled or outlined when hidden behind geometry, rather than obliterating the geometry itself. I very much appreciate all the work being put into reinvigorating this old game, but I'm very cautious about the unintended effects of this whole keyholing business.
At first, I found it looked a little strange in some tilesets - cutaways and colours not quite what I expected - but after a while the mind adapts, and it just seems normal.
As far as I can see, keyholes open in placeables, too, without disclosing junk hidden behind the scenes.
A lot of interesting questions in this thread, though...
TR