Implementation of a "Total Immersion Mode"

Wishlist
, ,
1 
                                                              **IMPLEMENTATION OF A TOTAL IMMERSION MODE**

Mandatory Disclaimer: Everything proposed here is with a toggle in mind so players that prefer other playstyles can also be happy with their game.

When I heard Kjun’s previous experience in the MMORPG world I got both intrigued and excited of what this could entail when it comes to a life simulator game; my hopes beign partially confirmed right off the bat with the WASD control system or left shift to sprint, to name two examples.

I have always been a big fan of open world games and particularly MMORPGs, so with this in mind, I present here some more direct control proposals and examples that I believe would give inZOI an even more unique twist.

In this post I include a 'Loading-No-Loading screen idea already discussed by me here that could be fitting for KJun’s last comments about the issue over at discord, as well as some examples of how the world could feel fuller without it -hopefully- beign too taxing.

This would be Immersion Mode, vs Classic Mode which would be the one that we have currently.

HOW TOTAL IMMERSION MODE WORKS

Players would activate/deactivate immersion mode through the UI, or if the players are okay with it, by pressing “V” or any other more convenient key. In this case, pressing twice would ‘change’ modes.

WASD: Expand a bit the interactability of it by adding a few interactions with the enviroment:

  • When pressing “S” with a wall or a bench directly behind; the zoi leans/sits
  • When Pressing A/D with a wall or half wall, a car or similar right by the zoi’s side, the zoi leans.

Adding the posibility for zois to interact with their environment and other zois through keys in the keyboard or controller instead of having to click, which allows for a more immersive experience. The keys could be as follows:

  • M: To open the city Map as its set currently.
  • I: To access the inventory (bag). Players can go through the inventory items using tab or clicking if its more comfortable.
  • Spacebar1: Jump. (If collision with objects might be an issue, it could be set so that Zois cannot jump over furniture, etc. Just simple adding some jumping animation to give an extra sense of freedom). This means that a different key should be bound so that the player can switch characters.
  • Spacebar2: When equipped with a fishing rod, standing in front of a body of water and pressing ‘spacebar’ would start the fishing activity.
  • R: to Ride/Dismount (?) a vehicle you have summoned (or parked if we get parking back).
  • T: when approaching a Zoi, pressing T would stop them and open the Talk Options Menu/ Pie.
  • E: When close to certain objects or spaces, pressing “E” would make the zoi interact with said object. Ex. Enter a Building /Pick Something Up /Interact with Animal / ATM/ TV / Wardrobe… Prompting their alreayd assigned pies.
  • P: Pressing “P” would prompt the Phone menu to open. You can sort through the phone just like you do through the inventory, using Tab or clicking if you find it more comfortable.
  • C: would prompt your zoi to consume whatever consumable they have in their bag.

Using a single key to prompt to talk. Example from NCSoft's Throne and Liberty
Using a single key to prompt to talk. Example from NCSoft's Throne and Liberty1920×1080 283 KB

Quick Wheel Menu for the first six to eight items in your inventory. By pressing Q, a wheel menu would pop up with your inventory items. You can sort through then by using Tab, and choose to interact with any of the items by pressing “E” as stated above.

starsand island screenshot
starsand island screenshot2560×1440 209 KB

Quick Interaction Keys. There could be some keys that allow the zoi to make an interaction with other zois directly without sorting through the interaction menu.

ONLY WITH FAMILY, LOVERS AND CLOSE FRIENDS
H: To Hug
Shift + H: To HighFive
K (Romance): To Kiss

IF FIGHTS ARE ADDED
Right Click + W: To Punch
Right Click + Left Click +W: To Kick
Wheel + W: to push

EXTRAS FOR IMMERSION

Addition of ‘filler npcs’. Instead of filling the world only with fleshed out npcs that carry a lot of information and are taxing on our systems and ram memories, I suggest the addition of ‘filler npcs’, npcs without full simulations or a background that will make the world feel fuller and more active. These npcs go around the city and engage in activities, but are not as interactable as active npcs, that are wholy simulated like the ones we have right now.

Addition of filler npcs DOES NOT mean all npcs will be like this. The current npcs that are interactable and have a life of their own would still exist.

If we are to have leading screens, please make them feel seamless. Makign them be an animation of the currently active zoi entering a place would be great, like in the video bellow:

What do you guys think? Yes or nah? Would you add something?

9 Likes
2

I would love this, really!

This plus the collision mechanics in BDO (that the people you bump into actually reacts) would be just perfect. Personally, I think it would be just the cherry on top for this game, and given Kjun’s experience with MMORPGs, I hope its on the table for the long run :psycat_blush:

2 Likes
3

Regarding this article – if you take the existing gamepad layout, you can easily bind the same buttons to their keyboard equivalents.

(X) / A for action (PIE-menu) can be mapped to Key 1 (E?)
(L-Stick) for personal actions (self PIE-menu) can be mapped to Key 2
(O) / B to cancel current action – to Key 3
([ ]) / X for HUD/UI Focus – to Key 4

I just forgot how to close the PIE-menu. I’ll check it a bit later, once I finish sketching the CAZ UI for the boutique Nook’s and the Music Player on the smartphone (ugh, so much prep to do). Hope you’ve got the energy to post tomorrow too as briefly as possible so Kjun can read it fast. :slightly_smiling_face:

tbh, I can see that simmers / most life-sim players don’t really care about the game, so I like your ideas that help the game adapt to a broader audience.

2 Likes
4

I agree with this.

More direct control would help with immersion, but since I am used to playing MMORPGs it might be less popular than I am thinking now? haha

Yes @Moooody post it tomorrow in the new thread

Looking forward to your next posts and ideas @GDfromRivendell, as always!

2 Likes
5

Aren’t they planning on doing the exact opposite of this right now? Last I heard, we were getting load screens so that we can support Mac 1 users.

I would much rather have this instead. I enjoyed the bit of walking around towns I could already do.

2 Likes
6

No one really knows what they’re thinking right now. On the one hand, they’ve said they’re optimizing the engine with partner teams, and they’re also upgrading to Unreal Engine 5.6 (if I got it right, developed by Epic Games in partnership with CD Projekt Red for Witcher 4 – meaning optimized shaders, simulation, Mass AI, etc.).

And the biggest part, still semi-private – EA is working on Project X using the Rene engine (Unreal Engine 5). It’s more like Sims 4.5 at this stage but with large neighborhoods with no loading screens, subway, built-in weather, way more sims, simulated stories, and events in the city, including more on a single lot/in the family. Release is planned through late 2026. This news is about to get pushed hard, since the closed worlds were the main red flag for players and now they’re making them nearly seamless. Plus simple import of sims from TS4 with full data. Plus Rene + Paralives. What market share is left?

(While players mostly push the same old Sims into inZOI, basically sending it into a direct clash that’s not its own.)

3 Likes
7

Funnily enoguh I’ve never realized there was controller support, but then it shouldn’t be too complicated to give a keyboard alternative to the controls that we already have for the controller, right? I think it would make inZOI even more unique.

Those keybinding ideas are great, and I’m looking forward to see your update on the smartphone UIs. Man I think at this point they should hire you, you clearly have lots of experience in the industry and good ideas! I’m excited and curious about how the devs will bring in these ideas now that they have finally taken notes :crossed_fingers:

I’ll try this afternoon! I’ll do my best to put it in a short straightforward message although summarizing is not my forte :sweat_smile:

@itsmechiie7 I hope it is popular! I think it would make inzoi even more unique and boost immersion, so hopefully people will be open to it. We’ll try this afternoon after the Friday video. Please lend me two braincells to put this in a way that can be read at a glance :sweat_smile:

@kaos0007 We’re still unsure how loading screens will be implemented, it seems like it will be for very big buildings only, and even that is subject to change as Kjun said there will be efforts to reach a middle ground when optimizing. The UE5 upgrade seems to be a good sign. Let’s be hopeful!

4 Likes
8

Thank you so much! Frankly speaking, dev experience matters less than accumulated exposure. One of my yearly goals in gamedev is to research and play current releases. It doesn’t matter if the game we’re working on is in one genre and I’m playing another. So just like your background is in MMORPGs, mine is often rooted in AAA action/action-RPGs, FPS, and so on.

And you can do even better if you develop each of your ideas step by step and adapt them for the frontend. Dev isn’t always as enjoyable, especially if you end up stuck in a junior role :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

2 Likes
9

Yes, but if you bind/replicate all the controller buttons symmetrically and add extra ones, it makes sense. For example, if you have an action and cancel button on the controller, it’s logical to replicate them on the keyboard first and then add additional inputs. On the controller, those extras are currently mapped to the extended button combination (like △ + on Dualshock/PS5 or Y + on Xbox), but none of them are currently available on the keyboard.

3 Likes
10

I hope it will be popular too!

I was thinking some more keys, let me know what you think:

Left Ctrl + LShift + W: Sprint

Left Shift + W: Jog/ Soft run (as it is now)

W + LMB: Push (drama purposes…)

Upper row 1-6 keys: Consume “consumables” in the 1-6 slots of inventory.

Num Pad “+“: Acces Bubbly app (maybe? at GDs discretion!)

“Enter” while inside photo mode: to take photo.

2 Likes
11

Upper row ~/1-4, 0 keys: Time speed (pause, 1x-4x by default, the most familiar layout since Sims 1, another options will confuse.)

“C” enter photo mode + “C” / “Enter” while inside photo mode to take photo (another familiar layout from Sims 2, change will also confuse.)

In game design, it’s crucial to account for muscle memory shaped by games within a specific genre. The most iconic misdesign was assigning jump-via-dash to the spacebar in Dark Souls, then introducing a proper jump on the F key, dodge on the spacebar in Elden Ring. It broke genre muscle memory so hard that players immediately went into settings to rebind it.

It’s fine to take inspiration from MMOs, but the key layout must feel like a native part of the life sim’s game design.

1 Like
12

I couldn’t, I am too used to Spacebar to jump :psycat_sad: I rebind it everytime (this is a feature that I greatly miss in Inzoi, jumping)

With the numbers, I was thinking Silent Hill, but you are right (and more knowledgeable than me) that it would be more intuitive for sim style players to use them for time speed. Maybe 5-8 then? Depending on what keys they have in mind to add to building mode to resize objects (personally 9-0 would be okay).

“C” enter photo mode + “C” / “Enter” while inside photo mode to take photo (another familiar layout from Sims 2, change will also confuse.)” I guess changing this would confuse people, surely, I think enter inside photo mode is intuitive, but I stand corrected as I have no dev experience… at all.

I trust your judgement and I do hope, as Moody says, the end up hiring you as it is incredible how much we all are learning with you!

2 Likes
13

It was so uncomfortable to play souls with a keyboard that I used a gamepad. In inZOI, assigning switch to the spacebar is exactly the kind of misdesign that breaks usability at the level of muscle memory.

As for photos, pressing C twice would be simpler: once to enter, once to capture. That’s exactly what you want to do in inZOI after sims, but you can’t.

As for consumables, I’m not even sure – the game (and all life sims including console spinoffs) doesn’t assign inventory items to numbered slots. Until you do, the game has no idea what you want to use. So the UI layer comes first, and only then the keybinds. But yes, once set up, it’s convenient.

I wouldn’t be able to work on inZOI – it’s stressful and the final goal isn’t clear, whereas my work is mostly predictable and follows a very strict discipline.

2 Likes
14

I’m in favor of any additional options.
Personally, I almost never use the WASD keys, even when walking the Zois around town because I’m not good at it :). I don’t play MMORPGs because it’s incredibly tiring.
I’d like the option to use the arrow keys instead of the WASD keys because I find them easier.

4 Likes
15

Yes, the space bar being the switch is definitely an issue. I usually just jump constantly in other games because I guess it makes me feel like I’m going faster (guilty), so I have wrongly switched family members sooo many times.

I didn’t know about how inventory works in a game like this, but it’s good to now it could work if it was implemented rightfully.

It’s still great to have you on board sharing your insights and ideas. I hope we can get some of them noticed, like the ones Kjun already metioned, and just generally enjoy the process of this Early Access and see where it takes us!

1 Like
16

I think arrow keys are a bit uncomfortable for most of us because how they are positioned, but I do understand WASD might not be everyone’s cup of tea! So I think having more options, as you said, it’s always a win-win. Maybe if they add control customization you can change your WASD to arrow keys? (Not sure if you can already customize it, I haven’t checked tbh).

2 Likes
17

We can’t really claim that the inventory system is wrong, given it’s been in the genre for 16 years (since 2009) and consistently received solid feedback. Just because it works differently in RPGs and action/survival games with simplified RPG elements doesn’t mean it’s incorrect. In point-and-click/context-driven games, it’s always worked like drag-and-drop.

Sure, it can work differently, but in life sim terms that’s not really the problem, the real issue is stuff like missing drag-and-drop, and that’s what feels wrong.

Take another sim, No Man’s Sky, for example. The inventory is used throughout most of the game, for crafting, transferring items, and so on. There’s direct character control, but since most systems are drag-and-drop/context based, there’s no quick-access slot assignment.

2 Likes
18

We put it out there for Kjun to see! Let hope for it to get some notice, although if the feature is not popular is understandable if they don’t give it the time. Me and @itsmechiie7 will keep bringing it up from to see if it sticks!

2 Likes
19

No, that’s not possible for now, or at least I haven’t found the option to do so.
Being able to change the key functions would be a very useful option.

1 Like
20

I see! I hope they will add it soon. I think more options is always a good thing

3 Likes