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Best head-bobbing in a video game?

S

Spring-Loaded

Member
While watching the latest trailer for Mirror's Edge 2, it struck me how there was no head-bob going on. That makes some sense though, since the player character is used to running and jumping around, so since it wouldn't be disorienting for them, it shouldn't be for the player either. I imagine some head-bob and distortion will be used to improve the sense of speed at some point.

What first-person games do head-bob the best? Sometimes I really appreciate it, other times I turn it off/wish I could turn it off. Is there any in-depth analysis of head-bobbing in video games?
 
S

Sini

Member
Head bobbing is terrible idea. It makes me feel sick and often also makes it seem like your character is limping.
Also your vision doesn't shake like that in real life.
 
M

More Fun To Compute

Member
Head bob is a bad feature. If anything what it simulates is shaky cam footage from holding a camera in the hand not how a person sees the world. It's like lens flare or droplets on the screen but worse since it actively makes people want to spew.
 
D

Dictator93

Member
Considering it is actually physicalized based upon what character eyes see (aka, the camera is where they eyes are on a 3rd person model), I find the head bob in ARMA and in Star Citizen to be pretty awesome.
 
B

Bergerac

Member
Head bob is terrible. We don't head bob in real life. Our bodies make adjustments for the impact of walking and keep our eyes generally level or greatly minimise the perception of moving. If anything our heads meander side to side, like a snake, due to alternating between the right and left legs.

If you pay attention whilst walking (a proper walk, at full stride) you'll find your eyes are going left and right more than they are up and down.

I remember in PC games I'd turn the slider way down to smooth. F.E.A.R. 2 was the worst. Headbob to the extent that kinetic moment, the stunted footsteps, was the equivalent of walking without bending your knees (try it).
 
D

Dictator93

Member
Bergerac said:
Head bob is terrible. We don't head bob in real life. Our bodies make adjustments for the impact of walking and keep our eyes generally level or greatly minimise the perception of moving. If anything our heads meander side to side, like a snake, due to alternating between the right and left legs.

If you pay attention whilst walking (a proper walk, at full stride) you'll find your eyes are going left and right more than they are up and down.

I remember in PC games I'd turn the slider way down to smooth. F.E.A.R. 2 was the worst. Headbob to the extent that kinetic moment, the stunted footsteps, was the equivalent of walking without bending your knees (try it).
Click to expand...

And if games are smart, they model the automation our brain and eyes do for us whilst maintaining head bob (cough cough star citizen and ARMA).
 
C

CronoShot

Member
giphy.gif
 
Coreda

Coreda

Member
More Fun To Compute said:
Head bob is a bad feature. If anything what it simulates is shaky cam footage from holding a camera in the hand not how a person sees the world.
Click to expand...

In one of the Star Citizen presentations last year (?) they explained how their head bobbing worked which was to simulate how our eyes focus naturally. It pretty much eliminates the bob while giving the sense of running. Worth watching.
 
B

blamite

Member
Sini said:
Head bobbing is terrible idea. It makes me feel sick and often also makes it seem like your character is limping.
Also your vision doesn't shake like that in real life.
Click to expand...
Isn't it the exact opposite? I remember the XBLA port of Marathon Durandal releasing without head-bob and making a bunch of people motion sick, so it was patched in to fix it.
 
V

valkillmore

Member
Can't really call it 'head bobbing' but I get what you're talking about. The bumper-cam in prev. gen GTA V was fucking amazing. You really got a sense of the acceleration of each vehicle with that cam. The FPS driving in next-gen GTAV doesn't have that same bobbin' going on and I really miss it. I was actually really disappointed to discover there was no bumper cam in in NG GTAV.
 
T

Tunavi

Banned
valkillmore said:
Can't really call it 'head bobbing' but I get what you're talking about. The bumper-cam in prev. gen GTA V was fucking amazing. You really got a sense of the acceleration of each vehicle with that cam. The FPS driving in next-gen GTAV doesn't have that same bobbin' going on and I really miss it. I was actually really disappointed to discover there was no bumper cam in in NG GTAV.
Click to expand...
this is totally different but hood camera is back in NGGTAV in the settings
 
T

The_Architect

Member
Mass Effect 1

Camera shake and a lack of image stabilization can create a documentary feel, which when used properly, can really be a good thing for cinematic realism. Mass Effect 1 has amazing camera shaking when you walk and run. It is almost as if there is an imaginary camera following you in third person (think Mario 64), and therefore the camera is subject to shaking, lens flare, glare, film grain, motion blur, etc.

Unfortunately, the camera system in the original Mass Effect was altered as the series progressed. Mass Effect 2 removed camera shake when walking and a subtle version occurred only when you ran. And Mass Effect 3 completely removed camera shake/bob for BOTH running and walking; so it has a clear and vomit-free feel, but also feels like you are on rails - it is too perfect and actually can take people out of the experience. Essentially, the camera system used in ME3 does not feel real from a film/camera experience but rather from a human eye experience. It is rapid, responsive, light as a feather, and favourable to a more mainstream experience.

If a game is aiming for cinematic realism, then it should have a heavy/weighty camera system where there is noticeable camera shake. But because there seems to always be a divide on the issue, it might be best for developers to create settings for camera shake which can be turned on or off, similar to Field of View (FOV) , motion blur, and other user-accessible settings.
 
O

Oreoleo

Member
60EffPeeEss said:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl had some amaaazing head-bob...
Click to expand...

wanderingprostheyltite said:
Yeah this would be my pick as well. Wasn't too exaggerated but helped me feel grounded in the world with movement.
Click to expand...

No. No. No.

The headbob in SoC is COMPLETELY exaggerated. I don't mind it in most games but in SoC I had to turn it down to like 10% of the original value to be able to stomach it. Y'all are nuts.
 
P

pantsattack

Member
Dishonored had it set to 100 and it felt really nice. Not too pronounced and added to the fluid feeling of the movement system.
 
T

TriangularDuck

Member
Like everything else about Destiny's core mechanics, the headbob is at the perfect level to add momentum to the gameplay without being distracting. Now as long as The Taken King actually brings the rest of the game up to the same level as it's core mechanics...
 
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