"True First Person" Mode for idtech4
For quite a while I have been thinking about to implement the so called "True First Person" mode to idtech4 to unify the way the player models are represented in first and third person views.
Especially when you start working with stereoscopic 3d rendering and Virtual Reality, the benefits of such a unification become evident.
But also the traditional 2D monitor gaming benefits from such a mode by rendering a more consistent representation of "body awareness" which can contribute to both aesthetic (seeing your own playermodel body cast shadows onto itself and the environment and therefore connect you stronger with the environment) and gameplay (where making sure that enemy AI or players are able to detect your presence via lighting and shadows).
It also simplifies the content creation process as only one set of shaders, models and animations have to be created which then can be used as a generalized solution in any situation...
Here a very first and very rough example footage of that concept...