[MUD-Dev] Viewpoint and motion sickness was:Neverwinter Nights

[Rob Ellis II]

Making me come out of lurking!  Shame on you all!  I'm Rob Ellis II,
graphical online only fanatic since the first day I got my Kingdom
of Drakkar disks in the mail.  (Ok, since the first day I found out
about the game, but once I had the disks it was a done deal!)  I
served as Lead Level Designer and Game Designer for much of Meridian
59's life.  I've been tinkering since, including a short stint with
UO Third Dawn.

This subject is very important to me and I've always feared the
growing trend toward the use of first person 3D in role playing
games.  At the end of a long day of working on Meridian 59 I would
be pretty physically spent, but because the engine was so crappy, it
didn't effect me very much.

However, just about any engine built after Quake will lay me out in
a few minutes as Tamzen described.  As a level builder this made my
life pretty tough.  I would build small sections that I could
quickly check over in game and pop back out to the kinder gentler
level editor.  =) WHEE!!!  Luckily, =) some games, such as Quake 3 I
can play in a small window on the desktop without getting sick.

For the most part it seems that people that don't have this problem
just don't get it.  They want to try to make it seem like it's all
in our mind.

Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com:

> Hmmm, I used to get this when I first watched other people play
> Doom, it would make me feel pretty ill. I found that your mind
> acclimatises to it after a while.

Oh how I wish this were true.  It certainly hasn't worked for me.
I'm still ready to puke after a few minutes in just about any 3D
game.

> Have you ever tried those 'acupressure' wrist bands that
> alledgedly help motion sickness? They sell them in airports and
> gadget catalogues generally.

The solution!!  The product I use is called Sea-Band.
www.Sea-Band.com They are small wristbands that you put a few inches
below your wrist with a pressure "bead".  I'm considering writing
the company and offering to be a spokesperson for them; encouraging
them to advertise in gaming magazines.  I used them first after a
recommendation from my Uncle, a pharmacist, when I was forced to fly
in an airplane.  (Flying and riding as a passenger in a car will lay
me out in a couple of minutes as well) Before the trip I tried the
Sea-Bands to play Quake3 and for the first time I was able to play
full screen, high detail, high resolution.  Sure I sucked, but I
hadn't been able to play a shooter since Heretic on a crappy laptop.
I do believe I played all night.

In fact, I just got done with a few hours of Anarchy Online Beta
with the Sea-Bands on the whole time.  =) Although I find that games
with an avatar front center with a chase-cam generally don't make me
quite as sick, AO did after a little while.  I think it may be
because the avatar sways a little as you turn and doesn't stay glued
to the center.

I don't know how the Sea-Bands work, but the certainly do for me.
They may be a placebo, but don't let my brain figure that one out!
=)


-R

**************************************************
...and I'll never make the same mistake-
  the next time I create the universe
    I'll make sure you participate

       ...just to play it safe      [Bad Religion]

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