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[Stiler]

If you ask people what one super-power they would want if they could pick one it wouldn't be too uncommon to hear people say flying. For many people it's fun, a dream to be able to fly and go where you want.

In video games however the power of flight outside of actual flying-sims has been largely underutilized for yeas.

In the recent decade or so with the recent popularity of "super hero" video games (IE Prototype, Infamous, Batman, etc) you would think more games would be built to allow for your character to fly, however almost all of them hold it back.

Infamous? Can only Glide
Batman? Just gliding (makes sense for Batman himself, he's not superman, but he does have the batwing for flying)
Prototype? Again, just gliding.

Then you have MMO's. The ones that feature flying of some type almost always hold it back, either you can't flying 100% of the time, there's a low height ceiling, or flying simply feels like using any land based mount (WoW for example), the flying in mmo's has never in any single one I've played felt like actually "flying" (IE you can't turn on your axis, bank, do loops, dives don't give you more speed, etc).

Why do video games seem so afraid to give people the ability to fully experience flying in a fully realized way?

Flying on a dragon
Being like Superman

Just seems like a lot of untapped potential while we just get more of the same ole same ole.

WoW seems to have spoiled most people. Everytime I see someone post on an mmo game with "flying mounts" as a topic so many people flame them or say "NOOOOO" because of how terrible of an experience it was in WoW, yet people don't want to actually give it a chance with a good flying system,w here it could be soooo much better.

Imagine flying on a dragon in an action rpg, being able to dive and fight against an entire army of people on the ground, swooping down and picking some up with the dragons claws, or landing and using your dragon's breathe, then launching up into the air while doing a barrel roll to dodge a harpoon or arrows from a ballista all with an actual depth to flying (IE variable speeds, complete axis of movement like you'd expect to have while flying).

 

[Piston Hyundai]

hard drive streaming can only take our characters so far

 

[Blobbers]

Those other mechanics you mentioned are much more engaging and fun than just flying, boooringly.

 

[Crayolan]

Unless a game is built around it, flight tends to be a game-breaking mechanic.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

I want a new WOWHAWK, Sony!

 

[Darkness Unleashed]

I have something for you

gorgeous game in every sense, waiting anxiously for the sequel

 

[Deft Beck]

Draw distance?

 

[lazygecko]

Unless flying would be a central mechanic, like in say a Superman game, I think it works better as more of a temporary and gated reward which lets you fly in limited spurts. I think using Aviana's Feather and the shredder jetpack in Warords of Draenor feels much more rewarding than just using the mundane flying mounts.

 

[blame space]

super mario 64 perfected flying so no one else really wants to try it.

 

[Seraph_Nicholas]

Well, because when you're in the air, the ground is inconsequential. Kind of breaks any attempt at level design, except in cases specifically built for it. Most of the games that limit you to gliding do so so the character can be hemmed in when appropriate. I think Infamous: Second Son had a good compromise, wherein you were allowed to quickly whisk up climbable surfaces and seamlessly glide off the top of buildings. It felt like flying to me, at least, even if it didn't blow open my movement options.

 

[bomblord1]

Because if you can fly you can escape their carefully crafted levels and see the glitchy mess behind it.

It also means you have to use invisible walls on all corners of the map.

 

[thedan001]

Unless a game is built around it, flight tends to be a game-breaking mechanic.

This is especially true for platforming games, even super mario 64 flying wings hat had flying limits

Mainly due to game design, check out that sonic boom game with knuckles jump-fly bug that broke the game

 

[Gr1mLock]

I too have been waiting for crimson skies 2 op

 

[Rapscallion]

Can reveal how limited and small the world actually is.

 

[Dominator]

No lie, I played the Superman Returns game a lot when it came out just to fly around. I don't remember if there was a demo but if there was I played the hell out of it. If not then I actually bought it lol I don't remember.

I'm not saying it was good flying mechanics, but I liked it as much as swinging around as Spider-Man.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Imagine a game version of this.

Flying is so broken. Wouldn't mind more super jumps though.

 

[Disgraced]

Unless the character is an airplane, it's probably going feel floaty, because flying is floaty. Floaty doesn't feel good. I like my controls tight and responsive. Flying could be cool, but I think it'd be tough to make it feel good.

 

[Ants]

It is not an issue of player perception, but an issue of implementation. Flight is extremely difficult to balance a game around. It would become a centralizing element of level design. The ability to move on all 3 axes freely trivializes a majority of traditional obstacles. You'd see a resurgence of invisible walls and the like, or Metroid-like tiered destructible barriers stopping progression.

It's not that you can't design around it, but it would require very specific and unconventional obstacles whose implementation would be very difficult to make natural. The same as how Revengeance couldn't have you cut literally anything because that would make you able to just bypass the entire level.

 

[twisted h3art]

I have something for you

gorgeous game in every sense, waiting anxiously for the sequel

Fall again

Spoiler

TGS please

 

[Wozman23]

Superman 64 did that much damage.

I'm curious to see who Insomniac handles the jetpack in the Ratchet reimagining. From the look of things, it seems like you're free to fly anywhere you please. That's gotta be gamebreaking in some respects, especially for the pure platforming elements.

 

[Allforce]

Megaton Rainfall might be the solution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVwoQ-l7OY4

 

[NervousXtian]

Because it's incredibly hard to make a game around that mechanic.. unless it's.. you know a flying game.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Imagine a game version of this.

Flying is so broken. Wouldn't mind more super jumps though.

.gif sums up everything that was wrong with Man of Steel.

 

[spazchicken]

Imagine a game version of this.

Flying is so broken. Wouldn't mind more super jumps though.

The funny thing is, he didn't even need to move at all. He's Superman.

I think with games like Just Cause 3 and Batman, where you need to keep doing something to stay air born, it is like a game in itself. The ability to press the stick and fly up would be too easy and make that portion of travel boring.

Even in Crackdown, jumping over large masses of land is so much more fun than if they just gave you the sky. You jump, get the endorphin drip from how high up you got, then you get the pleasure of lining up your landing from one building to the next.

Unless the game plays like Ace Combat or Star Fox, constant flight just wouldn't work.

 

[chemicals]

It's real basic stuff. Flying can easily break a game. Most games use barriers of some kind that you need to go through in order to progress. If you could just fly over it all, where's the fun in that? You know what we call that in my neighborhood? CHEATING. Lol. Just busting balls for laughs

 

[Reset]

In inFamous:FoB you were able to fly by turning into bats. Even though you were able to fly in FoB, I found using the Ice Jump plus the electric gliding powers to be a lot more fun in inFamous 2.

 

[Kouriozan]

There is/was an MMORPG where flying was the major feature, Fly For Fun or FlyFF.
It got a bit nerfed (there was a flight level before) and it's been years since I played it so I don't know how it is now.

 

[Haly]

Flying negates level design unless it's strictly limited and the level is designed with flight in mind. That's too demanding for a one-off skill.

The Portal Gun and the Gravity Gun work because the entire game is designed to make them work.

People don't complain about WoW flying because it's some kind of terrible experience. They complain it because it turns the world into a flat plane. That's just dull as fuck.

Anyway if you want to fly around and dogfight I suggest picking up Elite: Dangerous.

If you've played Kirby Super Star, you'd know how Kirby could float indefinitely in that game, and that if you actually used it you'd wind up skipping half the content. This is what a poorly implemented flight system does to your game, and why flying is typically reserved for games built up around flying.

 

[lastplayed]

Should play War Thunder. Flying for everyone!

 

[Hypron]

I loved levitation in Morrowind but then they took it out of all the subsequent game D:

 

[TheVampire]

What was up with that Matrix Path Of Neo game?

He can fly in the movie but you couldn't in the game?
Only hover or something wasnt it?

 

[120v]

i have an idea in my head for a game with verticality.. like a mashup of mario galaxy and the magnet shoes in zelda. you "fly" across distances between obstacles, enemies, dodging projectiles.

you're welcome devs

 

[kubricks]

I have something for you

gorgeous game in every sense, waiting anxiously for the sequel

Saw the thread title and immediately thought of this.
The feeling of flying through the city felt so good!

Now, where is my sequel?
I hope they don't change the lay back nature of the game lol.

 

[dallow_bg]

You can fly like crazy in Gat Out of Hell.
Right from the start.

 

[Dr. Black Jack]

SAINTS ROW IV MOTHER FUCKERS

EDIT: ^GooH too

 

[Fasty]

Yeah I don't get it either. Just Cause 2 is an example of being able to fly anywhere in a game... You just have to be in a plane or heli. Having a fun game where you can fly unassisted could be done and could be fun.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

i have an idea in my head for a game with verticality.. like a mashup of mario galaxy and the magnet shoes in zelda. you "fly" across distances between obstacles, enemies, dodging projectiles.

you're welcome devs

Congrats you just described Gravity Rush!

 

[Almighty]

Probably because most designers are used to designing levels/areas in certain ways(ie no flying) and they would have to rethink everything if flying was allowed.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

i have an idea in my head for a game with verticality.. like a mashup of mario galaxy and the magnet shoes in zelda. you "fly" across distances between obstacles, enemies, dodging projectiles.

you're welcome devs

Uh, yeah, about that.

I have something for you

gorgeous game in every sense, waiting anxiously for the sequel

 

[soultron]

Load/unload ranges for objects, tracking/referencing entities that need to be loaded for objective-focused gameplay, texture streaming, LOD switching, packaging and indexing objects and information in a way that optimises all of this, and so on.

I've worked on a few open world games and the speed the fastest vehicle can travel at is always carefully designed to respect many of the technical reasons listed above.

Not all open world games are the same, so some arrange and optimise their data differently to achieve different goals with respect to player movement (on foot or in a vehicle) and speed.

Aside from some of the technical aspects I've mentioned, there are obvious level design concerns with this as well, as some people have mentioned. If a game is built entirely around the character's ability to travel freely on 3 axes at high speeds, it could be an enjoyable experience.

 

[LiK]

you can basically break the game or exploit it. even WoW is taking away flying mounts because of it.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Performance.

 

[thelastcrusader]

Imagine a game version of this.

Flying is so broken. Wouldn't mind more super jumps though.

Why the hell doesn't he just stop it? God what a shit movie.

I have something for you

gorgeous game in every sense, waiting anxiously for the sequel

This! And it was a damm handheld! But I'd spend hours flying around in this game.

 

[greg400]

For 2D games it removes some challenge, which is fine when that's what you're going for like an introductory platformer (Kirby).

For 3D games there are so many different things that could go wrong if a game was not built from the ground up with a flying mechanic in mind.

 

[Matty77]

SAINTS ROW IV MOTHER FUCKERS

EDIT: ^GooH too

Yeah, I agree. It combined super jumps, glide, wall running and multiple boosts to get as close to flying without being game breaking or boring.

And I know prototype and infamous did these things first, but SR4 did it better.

 

[Graphics Horse]

If you don't mind setting your game on an island in the middle of an infinite ocean (Just Cause, GTA3-V edit: Saint's Row) then there's no problem.

 

[SSReborn]

What was up with that Matrix Path Of Neo game?

He can fly in the movie but you couldn't in the game?
Only hover or something wasnt it?

That game wouldn't work with free flight.

OP play dcuo and pick the flight movement type for you character and you'll be able to fly all around to your hearts content. I assure you it will get boring really fast.

 

[Imm0rt4l]

Unless a game is built around it, flight tends to be a game-breaking mechanic.

This

 

[Overside]

Whats that, you wanna fly bro?

Here, heres a giant fricking robot that transforms into cars and motorcycles, and can fly.

Lets go fly around and kill some space dinosaurs n shit.

 

[autoduelist]

True flight is, as others have said, potentially game breaking.

A lot of a game is navigation... suddenly, all paths are straight A to B, with no obstacles. It's possible to do, it just risks making a game boring, so it's avoided. Gameplay must be fun, even if that means we don't always get what we think we want. Heck, designers have to change gameplay they really wanted all the time when prototypes prove what they thought they wanted wasn't actually fun.