Camera pitch/roll using AI nodes

[Gotolei]

One of the limiting factors this game seems to have is the camera is designed for flat tracks only. Any incline, any drop, and it still keeps pointing straight forward. This is especially a problem on steeper inclines, since somewhere in the game's logic it seemingly decides to pull the camera in towards the car, making it even harder to see ahead. Track makers, as a result, might avoid having any significant amount of verticality.

Because tracks already have AI nodes that follow the geometry, would it be feasible to have the camera logic read from the AI nodes to get its initial plane? Yaw would try to orbit to the back of the car as usual. But when the track hits a slope or starts bucking around:



The camera would follow suit, with pitch and roll moving with the track and having basically the same inertia that yaw does.

(An alternate way of anchoring the camera could be having it match the car, but shockwaves, bombs etc throw a few wrenches into the works)

[URV]

+1. This would also open the possibility for some fancy gravity shenanigans on sci-fi custom tracks, like driving on walls or upside-down. We could finally have proper vertical loops and all, too.

[607]

Huh, that's an interesting idea. I wonder to what an extent it would change the feel of the tracks in your example. I also wonder if it might get annoying on some tracks.
When you're in the air, the camera probably shouldn't change orientation, as that would make it look strange when jumping over a slope.

[Gotolei]

I guess another possible way to go about it would be having something similar to the orientation force field, but for the camera. Probably as a trigger box, where the other camera manipulators are? Wouldn't do much good for existing tracks, though.