The idea its pretty simple really, if your character doesn't have a clear LoS to a light source and anything illuminated by it, you can't see anything that isn't illuminated by that light. Code: Surface Player ------------------------------ Cavern Light House Table ------------------------------ (Shitty i know anyway) What i propose is that the player (Which is on the surface and has below him a solid Dirt/Rock Floor) could not see the house or the table in the cavern even though they are properly illuminated because that solid Dirt/Rock Floor doesn't allow him, if the player where inside the cavern he could normally see whats inside there. Code: Light ! ! Light ! ! ! ! Rock ! Player Something ------------------------------- In this second example the player cannot see the light or the rock from the left because its blocked by a rock wall, although he can see the something on the right because there is no wall block its sight and its properly illuminated BUT he cannot see the light(source) on the right because its blocked by half the rock wall. You might ask what is the purpose of this? Its simple really, it enables secret bases and stuff to be concealed in the darkness, because some of you may know from terraria, that you could hollow out an entire mountain (Without removing the backwalls) and build a base inside, but it would be pretty obvious its there hidden in the mountain since any source of light would show in any side of the mountain, with my idea the base would be hidden on the outside, but perfectly visible on the inside. This also bring me to the second idea that may work well with this: Cameras! If the player have a Portable camera screen (PCS) on his inventory, he can place cameras inside his base to have it completely visible even when hes outside, he would simply have to link his tablet to the cameras to gain the vision of it, and maybe put security in it like a password, so only your allies can get the feed from the cameras (also opening the option of hacking the cameras for the enemies). The PCS also have the nifty utility of enabling you to check on distant cameras no matter where you are (Depends on how world loading works and stuff). The cameras could also come with Night vision/Infrared versions and stuff.
Really cool idea, and I would love to see it in the game. I also like that doors would then serve more purpose than just keeping mobs out.
I want to take this opportunity to mention one-way mirrors(the windows that cops use in interogation rooms) that would enable you to view outside of your base to see if there are any hostile mobs/players. The glass could be a cheaper alternative to equipping your base with hackable cameras. The view would be either short range or or a thin (2-3 bricks tall) line of sight.
Took me a bit to actually grasp what the idea was, as I think my brain died for a moment. Awesome idea though! It would create some great suspense when opening up a door or even a small hole in the wall.
Oh god, yes. Seems realistic and easy-to-implement, while being completely vital for saving the atmosphere.
While I like the idea it would be near impossible to implement. As soon as several people start playing on the server it's going to self-destruct. There would have to be a user-specific field of vision for each person, for each of those persons different things would have to be visible. Constant block updates etc. I like the idea a lot, I'm just not entirely sure it's doable.
Well, I'd imagine it would be client side. Nox had a similar thing going on, and it had no performance issues that I could think of. That was back in 2000 too!
I keep thinking of level design in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where the foreground would dissolve when going from exteriors to interiors (such as hidden caves). This could be applied here
I love this idea and hope it gets implemented. Also it could be switchable ON/OFF for performance on servers(just in case) and for difficulty settings or just gamers that don't like it.
Some effects this suggestion may have in the game: -It will make PvP interesting, hiding will be a reality where you can take people by surprise, bases can be build hiding anywhere in the map. -It will increase the realism in caverns, since you can only see ahead or behind you creating some sort of claustrophobia. -It could allow new mechanics to deal with the limited vision like cameras, even possibly tools to map underground caves or discovery ore deposits.
Only issue I see if you connect this with terrarria style a bit ,is trying to find extending or adjacent caves as one usually only got a faint idea of them by seeing a really light light transfer of the light source. It would make the finding of extending cave systems a lot harder as one would have to probe dig a lot more.
Which is, actually, desired by most of us That`s more fun and, beside, there may be devices for searching hollow areas underground...
I like the idea, but I agree with enemarius86 that it needs an ON/OFF button for single player and then server owners could pick if it's activated or not. I also think there needs to be a way to see a person's entire house, having everything around you dark and scary isn't very welcoming, now is it? windows would allow you to see outside of course, but still, the home being a safe haven needs to make it seem as such, maybe certain materials (wood) would allow you to see inside them, or any room with a window in the background would always be visible. That would still allow for building little panic rooms that no one can find you in (or stowaways! ). Overall I think it's a great idea underground wise, but could use some tweaks for above ground (maybe it only activates after a certain depth?)
Ok one thing that would be nice is a sonar device that could tell you were caves are direction wise by having the echo come back or not come back when you point it in a direction.
Like i said, my second idea that goes along with this one its the use of cameras to make certain rooms fully visible as long as you have a certain item with you and that certain item must be linked to the cameras inside your house. A third idea i had (Playing Firefall) its the use of some sort of scanner to check an area below you for stuff like hollow caves, ores and such. It would be a tierable technology in which higher tiers are more accurate in telling you whats below the surface you use it for (Low tiers can give you false positives or put a lot of blocks in the "Unknown material" category), increased scanning range, and some really advanced one could possibly make certain materials (Like ores) glow for some time. All tiers should be able to map caves though (By showing every hollow space as glowing, as not to spoil what may be inside that cave) Oh and yes, they idea should be a On/Off option, its main audience will be Multiplayer since there is little use for it (Besides from some hardcore realism) in Singleplayer.
I just feel that players shouldn't be made to build an object for every room in their house, and then house guests would have to sync with those cameras (and if the owner doesn't want to it'll still be dark), which is why there should be a way to make rooms visible with something as simple as glass, and that any player can see. And while they confirmed there will no fog of war in the game, that would still be pretty neat. I think that seeing into rooms shouldn't require cameras, but I do like the idea of cameras to see your home when your far away would be a great idea (it would basically show an area equal to your view, except centered on the camera instead of your character.
