Game Development Community

Is it possible to fix camera jittering without modifying the source code?

by James Peter Fayette · in Torque Game Builder · 01/25/2013 (1:14 am) · 7 replies

Hi, folks. so, I've been having an issue with the camera producing a very noticeable and headache-inducing jittering motion when mounted to a moving object. after hours of searching, all of the information I could find on the topic is several years old, and most of it seems to require screwing about with the engine's source code, something that I am not prepared to do, as an incredibly unskilled user with little to no other programming experience.

I would like to ask if and how it is possible to fix the issue without needing recompile any source code, and, if it is truly impossible, I would like to know if someone could point me to some information on how exactly I ought to handle the editing of the source code.

I hope to receive a response soon, but, given how long the issue seems to have gone without being fixed, judging by the age of the threads on the topic, my expectations could not be described as optimistic.

- James Fayette, Concerned amateur user
NextNext Thread
PrevPrevious Thread
More from Torque Game Builder


Ahsan Muzaheed
Default Studio Name
#1
01/25/2013 (1:25 am)
"
I would like to ask if and how it is possible to fix the issue without needing recompile any source code, and, if it is truly impossible
"
negative.
but may be there r alternatives to achive same thing without mounting camera to a object.

"judging by the age of the threads on the topic, my expectations could not be described as optimistic"
same problem with platform resource was solved as a payed job.
http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/131656/1#comment-835102
so may be fix not available for public.

https://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/131477

Torque Owner Alpha-Kand
Hunter's Meadow
#2
01/25/2013 (6:22 am)
Hmmm... Well you probably have the scenegraph mounted as rigid as possible right?
What you could try doing is setting the rigidity of the mount to a lower number so the camera JUST lags behind the moving object. As long as the moving object doesn't speed up to ludicrous speed the camera should stay with it.

I read somewhere that the early mario games did not have mario run around but the level move around mario. However for most applications now that is probably overkill.

Torque Owner Richard Ranft
Roostertail Games
#3
01/25/2013 (7:20 am)
I'm going to agree with Alpha on this one - try tweaking your mounting force. That should either fix it absolutely to the mount object or let it "sway" more if you're looking for a softer motion. It sounds like you've got the default force set, which would be fine for mounting a rider to a horse but not so good for camera work.

Also - when it comes to the "age" of a thread, don't be so quick to judge. Unless we're talking about source code. But most script functionality has not changed in the last decade.

Torque Owner James Peter Fayette
Default Studio Name
#4
01/25/2013 (10:01 am)
Thank you for the information. when the camera is mounted with force 0, the character stays in place on the screen properly, but everything else jitters in exactly the same way. if I set the mounting force to around 20, the camera sways behind nicely, and the player looks smooth enough, but it also causes the rest of the world to shudder in a small, but definitely noticeable way. I may consider using graphics that are less sharp, to make it less headache inducing, but that's really just sweeping the issue under the proverbial rug.

also, all of the threads I mentioned were indeed about the source code. If I remember correctly, the source code of version 1.5, but it is entirely possible that my memory is at fault, as it was quite late when I read this.

Torque Owner James Peter Fayette
Default Studio Name
#5
01/25/2013 (11:57 am)
...huh.

Turns out the issue only exists when I run the program from the editor. I have no idea why, but when I properly build the project, the issue disappears. Does this make any sense to you folks?

Torque Owner James Peter Fayette
Default Studio Name
#6
01/25/2013 (12:00 pm)
Also, the issue disappeared entirely when I stopped dismounting and then remounting the camera every tick. I'm still struggling to remove my hand from my face for long enough to write this out.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm a moron.

Torque Owner Richard Ranft
Roostertail Games
#7
01/25/2013 (12:29 pm)
Ah - well, sometimes the easy things are also easy to miss.

The editor does some things differently, so it makes sense that it would not behave exactly as the game does. There are some things that are disabled and/or not completely loaded in the editor to prevent the edited scene from running "live" so to speak.