Skip to main content
TheVividLight
Participant
October 10, 2013

Crosshair "lock" in first person games

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I posted last but my newest gun-troller is working really well with the rift (more on that in the future - very cheap alternative to what most people are doing at the moment), and the last real problem that I am running into is (am I may be phrasing this wrong, but someone please correct me) "unlocking" the crosshair from the center of the screen in unreal engine games.

An example of this would be in a game like bioshock infinite: there clearly is a way to unlock the crosshair so that it can move around the screen (and always remain on screen) from watching the playstation 3 version of the game using the ps move. I have tinkered and searched for a few days now and have had no luck. I'm positive that it has to be some console command or a cfg command that im missing, but does anyone have any solution for this? Or can anyone point me in the right direction as to where to start looking for a solution?

Thanks in advance everyone! And if this is posted in the wrong forum, please let me know!



**edit** I should mention that while a "keyhole" effect would be nice, and eventaully what I will be working towards, right now I think the first step should be finding a way for removing the "locked" nature of the crosshair as it is right now in each engine. Putting deadzone parameters later on would be the obvious next step, but you gotta take steps before you take strides :) **

    5 replies

    DarkJames
    Up and Coming
    October 10, 2013
    So kind of like moveaim modes 3 and 4 in the Source engine?
    http://media.steampowered.com/apps/valve/2013/Team_Fortress_in_VR_GDC.pdf

    Unfortunately I have no Unreal experience but figure that might help to clarify the movement system for those who do.
    Seeing is believing
    TheVividLightAuthor
    Participant
    October 10, 2013
    Yes exactly, and of course that would be the end goal with a lot of work. Right now I'm just having a hard time finding the "entry" point into implementing that in existing games.

    My main goal is to implement a free moving crosshair or free moving crosshair within a "Keyhole" (controlled by mouse more than likely) on an existing game built on the unreal engine. For instance, lets say Bioshock Infinite (which uses a version of unreal 3 engine). We already know that the cross hair can be free-moving from the PS3 version we see being used with the Playstation Move, and you can see many of the (disabled) XBOX 360 and PS3 settings littered throughout the game's .cfg files.

    My conclusion has been that there has to be some type of either console, .cfg, or script that could be run to (and I use this term roughly) "unlock" the crosshair from the center of the screen. I keep using Bioshock as an example but if anyone has had any luck doing this ssame thing with another game built upon the unreal engine, I would like to hear about it. Or if someone has another method of going about doing this I would be all ears.

    I really am just trying to get my foot in the door on this, and to see if anyone else has had any experience with this or run into the same problem
    Danos256
    Participant
    October 11, 2013
    I have a feeling that the general concensus with this is it has to be done within the source code for the game thats only usually available to the developers, as it has been done already where source code is available redaily, it's been done with quake 2 where I believe the source code is available (correct me if im wrong) as an example. Though more power to you if you manage to find a workaround for this or to any other savvy modders as im really not a fan of the gun locked to your chin model in VR, something i have discovered with vorpx. It feels way more natural to have your head and aiming decoupled to a degree. The main problem is always walking in the direction you are looking, it soon becomes a clusterf**k of co-ordination. Not to mention it feels way more accurate aiming wise with a floating keyhole style aiming crosshair, and not so jarring when twitch aiming and having where you are looking being pulled by your hand movements.
    TheVividLightAuthor
    Participant
    October 21, 2013
    I agree, I'm starting to realize that too now. Especially with the coordination of moving and aiming. A "keyhole" aiming style would rock, but even in the half-life vr updates you still don't exactly get it. Moving your cross-hair to the left-most or right-most of the keyhole will inadvertantly move your head right or left.

    If there was just a moveaim_mode with a free moving cross-hair that did not move your head that would rock. haha.

    Oh well. these problems will be solved in time... I did finally give up on my ps_move gun-troller after 8 months due to lack of api support and the inability to use it without the pseye (line of sight is an issue). Then a new way to control the crosshair hit me in the middle of the night (I'm trying to stay away from a hillcrest or YEI sensor, and figure out my own way). Lol. Back to the drawing board, but im already further along with this new plan than my previous one.

    Thanks for the input guys
    Danos256
    Participant
    October 24, 2013
    I guess, but if the keyhole aiming didnt have the boundries at either side of your periphery then you could just keep moving the crosshair left or right and eventually off the screen, with no way of turning your avatars body, so I like the fact that it gives you the freedom to look with your head, aim within a zone in front of you without affecting head movement, but also turn if you move the crosshair far enough over, this is the most practical control soloution if you are using a normal control method like an xbox controller ot mouse and keyboard. As for gun controllers with the omni and a setup with body movement sensors or similar then I can see how a complete decoupling would be good, then you could shoot at your flanks without even looking, even cooler if dual weilding could be implemented ha! :D
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement