Dear FPS game developers: please let me centre the gun position in your games!

[Lant_War]

DOOM 2016 was a great game. Non-stop action, lots of cool weapons, good music, but more on topic: it introduced me to this great feature:

​

Instead of your gun taking up half the right side of the screen, you have the option to centre it like in the old DOOM games (and other shooters of course) and it works so much better for aiming to the point where you can easily disable the reticle and still be able to play just fine. The extra screen real state with a very wide FOV is just the cherry on top that turns the game's pace up to 11.

Now, as far as I'm aware the new DOOM games and Quake Champions are the only AAA games that let you choose the centered gun position, which is a pretty big shame. Indie games like Ultrakill or DUSK are better in this regard, but even on that scene it's not a guarantee. I'd love to see this option become more prevalent across FPS games because it makes playing them so much better for me; I guess the counterargument is that it makes ADS a bit redundant and most games have implemented that mechanic nowadays, but I'd love to see it in games like the first few Halo games where that isn't a thing. What do you think?

 

[Caiusto]

No

 

[gabegabe]

What year is this?

 

[TaterTots]

That looks too weird for me. If you were to hold a firearm, like a shotgun, you wouldn't actually hold it out directly in front of you. It would go either to the left or right shoulder. Yes, I know its a video game, but it just looks weird.

 

[Nude_Tayne]

Seems unnecessary to me (for 'realism') when the aim function in an FPS usually centers the gun. No one walks around with their gun perfectly centered in front of them even when they're not aiming/firing.

 

[RKasa]

I have no strong preference, but I did center the gun in Doom 2016 and Eternal for nostalgia's sake. I'd be okay with having the option to do so in other FPSes.

 

[pochi]

Right and left are ok, center is just weird.

 

[Deleted member 12833]

Center make me want to puke

 

[Bulby]

Yeah I love center in Doom 2016. Felt like it made aiming subconciously easier.

 

[Watership]

Do not listen to the OP.

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

Center is an abomination

 

[Patitoloco]

I feel like I've never seen a game with the gun to the left though?

 

[Lant_War]

I feel like I've never seen a game with the game to the left though?

Click to shrink...

Quake Champions and Ultrakill let you iirc, you can also use a console command to enable it in Counter Strike. But yeah, not a lot of games.

 

[Greywaren]

Center makes me picture the character holding the gun awkwardly against their chest like a dumbass.

Please keep your weapon on the right side of the screen, thank you very much.

 

[Com_Raven]

I always found that very weird looking, especially for anything bigger/ longer than a pistol. How are you supposed to hold a weapon that is 75cm long centered in front of you?

 

[Deleted member 8468]

Wolfenstien 3d started that in 1992. I think it's an option that only works well for certain games, I used it on my second and third playthroughs of Doom Eternal.

I feel like I've never seen a game with the game to the left though?

Click to shrink...

It was actually the default in the original mod version of Counterstrike. Plenty of players still do this today. Something about more screen space on the side of the monitor with the dominant eye.

 

[Ahuitzotl]

Looks way too awkward

 

[SJRB]

Hell no, center looks super weird.

 

[Flipyap]

Centered. Running and gunning is way more fun and feels more natural without crosshairs.
It's bonkers how well it works.

 

[SteveWinwood]

i wouldn't mind an option to remove the gun entirely from the screen, leaving just a reticle

but you'd have to plan for that if there is important ui information there, lots of devs love to have led or LCD screens for ammo counts on future guns

depending on how it's modeled having a center option could be a lot more work than you'd think

 

[Springy]

If the argument is you want the gun to not block your view, why not just ask for the option to not draw the model at all like the old Ghost Recon/Rainbow Six games?

 

[Ruisu]

But why would you want the gun centered for aiming when the reticle exists for that exact reason?

 

[Rover_]

Lant for this offense from now on your FPS games will be with gun on the left.

cheers.

 

[Lant_War]

If the argument is you want the gun to not block your view, why not just ask for the option to not draw the model at all like the old Ghost Recon/Rainbow Six games?

Click to shrink...

I still want to see the gun designs, especially on games like DOOM where they're all pretty unique

 

[Springy]

I still want to see the gun designs, especially on games like DOOM where they're all pretty unique

Click to shrink...

Me too, which is why I don't like it centered. You're just looking at this weird tube.

I always felt the shift to having the gun positioned at the side was to show it off better.

 

[dstarMDA]

Reading the thread title, I thought you were talking about the reticle (as many games since Halo 2 have adopted a lower one to have a bit more vertical space).

I was not expecting that. I think it's cool.

 

[SimonM7]

I love it in Doom, and I think it actually makes it register better in my head as a Doom game. I think 2016 and Eternal could easily be proud enough of that heritage to have it centered as default.

And likewise for games that try to evoke Doom, Heretic/Hexen, Quake, it makes a lot of sense and really completes the "contour" you expect from a classic shooter HUD.

But I don't agree that it should be a blanket thing across all shooters. It really requires that your game is either simple enough that gun animations don't need to be readable, or that the animators take both settings into account, which is a lot of extra work with dubious returns.

 

[Belthazar90]

Who even holds a gun like this?

 

[Hyun Sai]

OP is asking for the OPTION. Why are people against this ?

 

[Catilio]

If you have the gun in the center, then you should not be able to aim. To me is like shooting from the hip.

 

[Patitoloco]

Quake Champions and Ultrakill let you iirc, you can also use a console command to enable it in Counter Strike. But yeah, not a lot of games.

Click to shrink...

It was actually the default in the original mod version of Counterstrike. Plenty of players still do this today. Something about more screen space on the side of the monitor with the dominant eye.

Click to shrink...

Interesting, thanks! I wonder the reason why the standard became the weapon on the right

 

[Flipyap]

But why would you want the gun centered for aiming when the reticle exists for that exact reason?

Click to shrink...

Because it allows you to turn off the reticle and aim by feel. It's more fun than just pointing and clicking.

 

[EduBRK]

As an option, sure.

 

[defaltoption]

Okay with the option but I would be pissed if this became the new normal

 

[Ruisu]

Because it allows you to turn off the reticle and aim by feel. It's more fun than just pointing and clicking.

Click to shrink...

Hmm. Maybe it's because I'm a console player so most fps games aren't pointing and clicking in my experience.

 

[OtterX]

Doesn't Doom do it for pure nostalgia?

 

[Chopchop]

Having it as an option is fine.

It feels weird to me, but some people like having the gun centered.

 

[StrangeADT]

Please do not call the disgrace that is Quake Champions 'AAA'. I would imagine the vast majority of the Quake community is praying that the proper id devs working on Doom give Quake the Doom 2016 treatment and bring it back. I actually hate Quake Champions for existing because it's a shit game and has no playerbase so I worry that the decision makers won't greenlight a proper Quake sequel with a proper budget given how poorly Quake Champions is doing.

Who even holds a gun like this?

Click to shrink...

This was a very popular feature in Quake back in the day. I know I used it. Just felt right for that game, especially at a time where screen real estate was much more scarce (4:3 monitors on small screens).

 

[mute]

That seems cool for doom in a throwback-easter-egg kinda way but not something I think I want anywhere else.

 

[Smash-It Stan]

Doom 2016's implementation of it looks absolutely awful

Tf2's quake rocket launcher looks way better

Click to shrink...

Or games can just stop making guns take up 75% of the screen. Sprinting in Destiny was literally like putting a blindfold on, I know this is a more extreme example cause its a heavy weapon but using my old DMR conditioned me to stop sprinting because you would hold your gun basically sideways across the whole screen block my view

Click to shrink...

 

[WellbornWarrior]

It works for Doom if you're into it but I imagine it would be really awkward in every other game once you have to ADS or do stuff like laying on the floor.

 

[Conkerkid11]

Or games can just stop making guns take up 75% of the screen. Sprinting in Destiny was literally like putting a blindfold on, I know this is a more extreme example cause its a heavy weapon but using my old DMR conditioned me to stop sprinting because you would hold your gun basically sideways across the whole screen block my view

Click to shrink...

This is my complaint.

I genuinely couldn't make it through Wolfenstein 2 because of this, especially during ADS. I don't know what it was specifically, but I remember not being able to see the enemies relative to where the crosshair was. And I saw a bunch of people just saying that ADS sucks and to hipfire because of it:

I know the game's old, but it only recently came out on PC so it's a recent offender for me. Wtf is this? It's less bad than your Destiny example because it's not taking up as much of the center, but still.

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

No.

It's fine as a mod, but I want to see my cool looking gun.

 

[hanshen]

Wolfenstien 3d started that in 1992. I think it's an option that only works well for certain games, I used it on my second and third playthroughs of Doom Eternal.


It was actually the default in the original mod version of Counterstrike. Plenty of players still do this today. Something about more screen space on the side of the monitor with the dominant eye.

Click to shrink...

Even in CS1.6, the gun models are showing the right side of the weapon, so it's supposed to be on the left side of the screen.

 

[formatnone]

Also the option to hide the gun. Tho this one is probably possible on pc with console command.

 

[808s & Villainy]

Looks awful and goofy

 

[Choco Momonga]

I agree as the guns in Overwatch take up so much real estate on the screen. I'm not one to disable gun models completely but some choice would be nice.

 

[Epinephrine]

Right is normal, majority of people are right handed. Left is a great option for anyone looking for some lefty representation.

No one holds a gun in the center of their body. No one. Ever. In the history of guns.

 

[Strangelove_77]

I almost want to throw up by just looking at that.

 

[Bulby]

I know the game's old, but it only recently came out on PC so it's a recent offender for me. Wtf is this? It's less bad than your Destiny example because it's not taking up as much of the center, but still.

Click to shrink...

I think for the H3 Rocket Launcher, its meant to be a trade off. You have a 1 hit kill with massive splash damage, but your view is impaired.