LR: Replay Camera Mechanics

[seraquiem]

Does anyone know exactly how the overview replay function of, for example, Last Raven, works?
For the ps2 AC games, there are usually three replay modes that can be cycled through by pressing square. They are usually Player 1, Player 2, a third mode that i'll refer to as overview because it is a non-player perspective view of the entire battle.
I think in LR, the camera follows the first player for a couple of seconds and then follows the second player for a few seconds. At the end of the battle, the camera zooms into to record the final moments of the losing AC.

However, I believe that the camera records differently depending on the armaments an AC has. For example, a parry blade-equipped AC will receive a back shot, followed by a side shot, and then followed by a front shot of the AC. An AC equipped with any other weapon will receive a flyby sequence.

What the overview camera captures is different by stage and will occasionally be obstructed by structures.

It also seems that the camera is attracted to cannon fire and pre-cannon fire, such as the charging of the Ladon railguns and that the camera always avoids missile firing sequences entirely to focus on the target of the missiles instead.
If orbit cannons are used, the camera will focus in on the intended target along with many flashes of green or blue, depending on the model used.

A successful blade strike will force the camera up close to the point of the strike with both ACs in full view.

The camera will zoom in on an AC that has parts blown off in all situations except for the breaking of the legs (where there is only the generic break sound and generic sparks emit from the bottom of the core.)

I determine all of the above myself. However, I don't understand what happens between, not including, the opening scene (views of both ACs) and the ending scene (view of the losers destruction). Anyone care to give an explanation of the functions of the camera that are not listed here?

[Grim]

This is interesting! The only thing I really noticed was yeah, the camera zooms in on the losing AC before it explodes.

Any other observations, guys? I know Nix and Rick watch a lot of our own match replays.

[medusa0]

Now that you've mentioned it, there are other times when the camera will switch objective:

1. The camera will zoom to get a back shot of an OBing AC. This is apparent in battle with AI ACs that OB often, such as Foxeye.

2. Missile that successfully hits will get a special "bullet cam" where the camera follows that missile into the target AC ending in an explosion then zooming out. Best tested with vertical missiles as they are least likely to be intercepted or dodged by an AI.

3. Camera zooms into first person view of an AC that gets shot by grenades, triggered by both back cannon version and arm version. The camera will shake with each impact. Easy to test by equipping two grenade rifles and whale on a tank AC.

There should be more...

[seraquiem]

3. Camera zooms into first person view of an AC that gets shot by grenades, triggered by both back cannon version and arm version. The camera will shake with each impact. Easy to test by equipping two grenade rifles and whale on a tank AC.

Which reminds me, this does not only apply to grenade launchers. The only other weapons I discovered this are with the Ladon series Rail guns. I guess it should work with other single shot cannons such as the linear guns.

[adiyel]

here's how camera mechanics work. just like anything in modern video games, a random number generator is cranking out random numbers that determine the "random" aspects of gameplay. all the while, the game is only recording the exact movements frame-by-frame of all the involved AC's (kinda like how practice mode in fighting games records your controller movements). it doesn't record a video per se, but a list of directions to recreate a video. the first two camera views are self explanatory, whereas the third is displayed based on a list of action priorities (for example, > zoom in behind when OB, if not executed in last 240 frames, and if random number is greater than...); btw, it doesn't zoom just on grenades or high stun weapons, it zooms sometimes when you get hit by high attack weapons (what qualifies as a high attack weapon is anything that will hit and completely vaporize in 1 hit those revolving targets in the practice arena). also, the cpu stops recording directions a short while after you lose control of your AC (about 300 frames or so).

now that RNG i talked about earlier, that comes into play with the video only in the third view. what happens is that the random numbers are used to determine what angles and whatnot are used, based on when you switched to the third view. to test this, when an AC is zoomed in on upon death, cycle views back to yours, then theirs, then back to third, and i bet it will no longer be the same since the kill shot has already passed.

btw, i bet you'd get a kick out of it when the cpu mis-records a few frames of directions, because both AC's will do everything they did during the match, except the'll be shooting in the wind and no one will die!

[NiX]

Hahaha I didn't know there was so much to the whole replay function. This is really interesting stuff. It'll be great to keep this in mind the next time I record a match vid.

[seraquiem]

here's how camera mechanics work. just like anything in modern video games, a random number generator is cranking out random numbers that determine the "random" aspects of gameplay. all the while, the game is only recording the exact movements frame-by-frame of all the involved AC's (kinda like how practice mode in fighting games records your controller movements). it doesn't record a video per se, but a list of directions to recreate a video. the first two camera views are self explanatory, whereas the third is displayed based on a list of action priorities (for example, > zoom in behind when OB, if not executed in last 240 frames, and if random number is greater than...); btw, it doesn't zoom just on grenades or high stun weapons, it zooms sometimes when you get hit by high attack weapons (what qualifies as a high attack weapon is anything that will hit and completely vaporize in 1 hit those revolving targets in the practice arena). also, the cpu stops recording directions a short while after you lose control of your AC (about 300 frames or so).

now that RNG i talked about earlier, that comes into play with the video only in the third view. what happens is that the random numbers are used to determine what angles and whatnot are used, based on when you switched to the third view. to test this, when an AC is zoomed in on upon death, cycle views back to yours, then theirs, then back to third, and i bet it will no longer be the same since the kill shot has already passed.

btw, i bet you'd get a kick out of it when the cpu mis-records a few frames of directions, because both AC's will do everything they did during the match, except the'll be shooting in the wind and no one will die!

So you're saying that the camera receives commands from a pre-determined hierarchy, such as shoulder cannon fire is higher in the hierarchy than movement, so the camera tracks the AC firing the cannon instead of the AC moving into position. And that the RNG will reset once you exit and reenter the third view, allowing you to view different scenes at the same point of the replay?

I believe that the replays are static and do not change once recorded. For example, LR begins its replays in the third view, I played a video several times over (to see if I got the footage I wanted), and each time I replayed the replay, I would view the same video over and over again.
I think the RNG factor is determined by the game itself while the battle is going on. The RNG selects certain camera angles and connects them together to form a single replay file, well that's how i see it.

Just to make sure, which AC game are you talking about specifically? I believe each AC game has varying camera mechanics. For example, AC2 overview replay would zoom out until both ACs could be seen firing at each other and is unaffected by hierarchy, unless I'm mistaken, I haven't played in a while.

[adiyel]

@seraquiem

I was talking about LR mainly. A recorded replay has the random numbers recored, so they're the same everytime. If they weren't, them. Missiles might twist a bit differently, and a kill shot might not be a kill shot. Besides, a recording saved starts on 3rd view, no? If you do it fresh after a battle, you'll know what I mean. Replayed directly after the fight, the cpu knows what player you were, so that's where it starts.

[seraquiem]

Come to think of it, certain scenes are triggered by certain equipment.

[darkdragon_ycart22]

I got a frontal view when I tried to OB while jousting NIOH on an AI... And when I asked TM for a schematic screenie (of the same angle), he got a similar (a rather zoomed out frontal) NIOH joust.

http://armoredcoreuniverse.net/forum/ind...st&p=15878

[seraquiem]

I got a frontal view when I tried to OB while jousting NIOH on an AI... And when I asked TM for a schematic screenie (of the same angle), he got a similar (a rather zoomed out frontal) NIOH joust.

http://armoredcoreuniverse.net/forum/ind...st&p=15878

The more I think about it now, the more i believe that the replay function is based off a hierarchy of "inputs".
The parry blade, in its attack position, might have priority over OB. When you wield and fire any other R-arm weapon while OBing, the camera is focused behind the AC.
In addition, the camera will remain focused behind the AC until the OB is canceled (manual stop, collision with object/surface, energy depletion). I found this out when I OBed for 5-10 minutes straight (using Gameshark, in VS mode, but that's a story for another time). The replay camera remained behind the AC at all times as I maneuvered it through the Orbital Platform.
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Note: Only applicable to LR. the 3rd person replay function of previous games are different. 4 and 4A lack such a system to begin with.
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Hierarchy Theory (incomplete)
-An RNG is used as a base.
- Most camera angles seem to be produced at random. Especially in mid-range fire fights.
-OB activation has priority over regular movement.
-OB movement has priority over weapons, the exception being the parry blades in attack position.
-At the opening of the match, each AC gets a set amount of screen time, I think 2-5 seconds each.

Unsure:
Weapons: These only apply if the projectile makes contact with the enemy. If not, then these are ignored. For a specific scene,unless the ACs are standing still, the camera remains in a relatively fixed location. It will not keep a constant distance with the AC. For example, if the camera starts out close up (which I will regard as a close-up shot) and the AC boosts backward, the camera will not change position and will view the AC as farther away. The angle will remain that way as long as the AC is viewable on screen, if it boosts forward into the camera, the angle changes. If the AC is no longer visible to the camera at any given time, the angle changes.

-Long range weapon attacks usually have panned out camera angles.
-Close range weapon attacks, such as parry blades and energy blades, and relatively short range weapons, such as handguns, receive up close shots, while firing.
-Medium range weapons (rifles, AST rifles, linear, AST linear, bazooka, spread bazooka, laser, hi laser, plasma, pulse, Missile(?), Rocket(?)), receives mid-range camera angles.
-For missed shots, regardless of whether they barely missed the target or were blatantly off target,
Not completely studied with back weapons.
OR:
-The replay system could be produced from a hierarchy that has a number of potential angles that is randomly chosen.
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I deduced these points from the aforementioned thread as well as a few of my own replays (non-competition).
I suspect that the system itself has errors. For example, some scenes last only one frame.

[Caspian]

most of my replays are always viewing my opponents. (Always when Im fighting Trigger happy 99)

You guys know how to avoid this?

[NiX]

Which AC game? You can switch views by pressing square, IIRC.

[medusa0]

I think he meant the 3rd person view for LR, which seems to be quite random to begin with. You could try blading the guy to get a close-up of your own AC.

[Caspian]

Yeah ,I meant the third view for ACLR. It always views my opponent, which really kills the mood.