The purpose of this topic is to discuss the level of realism you would like to see in the first person perspective. I think most people would like to be able to see their body, but what about even more realistic things like breath and helmet shadow?

Here's an example of what my idea of the first person Helmet view would be: http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w216/Adamhay123/elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110211094543003_640w.jpg
Isn't that awesome? It looks like you're peering out from under a helm!

Now I know some of my topics have been been on the controversial side lately, but this should be a nice tame one which most of us can agree on and discuss in a civilized manner. (Many of you will be pleased to know that I ended up being suspended as a result of my last couple topics)

I like everything but the helmet outline. It may be unintrusive but I would find it annoying.

That's why you take your helmet off when not in battle, like a civilized hero hehe

The helmet thing wouldn't be believable unless it was intrusive. I mean the visors on most of the armor are pretty narrow, so I say no to that.

Hahah true. But then that would bring your defensive total down

Yeah the helmet thing is alittle too realistic for me, and I imagine the textures would struggle alittle with being so close to your field of view (unless all you saw inside your helmet was black except for the slit, but man that would restrict you from seeing so much of the gorgeous world)

Visible legs, yes. I don't think this is really even something to worry about. It's in just about every first-person game these days, it's par for the course.

Foggy breath, only in situations of intense cold and snow. If I'm in the autumn-looking forest as seen in the screenshot with the deer, I shouldn't see my breath then. Otherwise, I'll go with yes on that too. I'd also like to add that it should be rather non-intrusive and a very small see-through type of thing.

Seeing the outline of a helmet, absolutely not. I've seen games that attempted something like that before and it was just awful and it got in the way and in general it made it a very unpleasant experience. This is one of those situations where I think realism needs to take a hit for the sake of gameplay.

Yes to all those. Really helps me get immersed in the setting.

The helmet outline isn't immersive as your monitor cannot represent the full spectrum of eyesight. You are putting space constraints on your field of view if you believe a helmet outline should be visible.

That would actually depend on both the size of your monitor, and the design of the helmet in question. The restricting visibility effect of the helmet would depend on a factor of the distance squared (X^2), that is, the distance between your eyes and the eye "sockets" of the helm. Some helms actually do restrict vision quite a bit (speaking from first hand experience)

I'd like the movement/combat to be more momentum based... kinda like Deadly Reflex, Dark Messiah, or Mirror's Edge.

1st person body awareness is a must in any next gen first person game. The ability to slide into cover would also be welcome.

Barring using multiple monitors, a two dimensional flat screen monitor couldn't represent the visual perception of a real person. The technology isn't being sold to consumers yet. While I will concede that you could manufacture a helmet that would greatly reduce vision to a degree that could be represented by a two dimensional monitor, it would have to factor in all the degrees of vision that the monitor itself isn't accounting for (on display).

EDIT:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Eye_Line_of_sight.jpg to a sketch of visual perception.

Yeah, restricting vision would have to be approached very cautiously for it to work well. Should be optional if implemented. It should be possible for a modder to add it.

All sounds good except the helmet thing. Might be interesting to try out by would need to be a toggle if it was in the game, cause seems like it could become bothersome.

I believe the foggy breath is in, as I'm like 90% sure I saw it in the trailer during the dragon fight.

I know a way to get helmet view and it is completely optional. Just go online to one of those armour stores, find a helm you like and order it, then just wear it while you play! There that problem is solved!

I voted yes to all of these (within reason).

If the helmet you wear only showed the 'eye slit' and blocked off the rest of the screen? Yeah, that's way too much. Just an outline? I could live with that.

Actually being able to see my damn lower body? It should be about time! I was wondering how the hell I would get to that itch on my left foot for ages.

The visible breath? Yeah, but only when temperature says it'd be there (aka up in the mountains, during winter, ect). Heavy breathing would be nice, along with seeing your character, after, say, a long run, bend over a bit, rest his/her elbows on their knees, and try to catch their breath (and to see that in both third and first person views). It's the little details that count.

But yeah, overall, I personally say as much first-person immersion they can put in that is done well, I'll take.

i used to think that way as well until i played some mods for STALKER that incorporated helmet views including gasmask that let you see your breath. it takes a bit getting used to but after you do get used to it there is no going back. the only game that i can think of that had this in default gameplay was metro 2033 which also did a very nice job. its not a huge deal since modders can add this stuff in later on. i also might be mistaken but i think that you can see your breath in the trailer.

I'm in favor of full-body awareness and, depending on how it's handled, the breath. When it comes to breath, it should be very transparent and only appear at the bottom of the screen.

I am against the helmet shadows because monitors just aren't comparable to eyes. When you wear a helmet, nothing is really obstructed save your peripherals, and you don't have those with standard monitors unless it actually wraps around your head to the point where you can't see the edges anymore. To a less-important degree as well, everyone has two eyes (normally) but there is only one camera.

for the helmet...yeah maybe on the PC version were you can change the FOV or have a tri-monitor setup, but leave that to modders.

The first two things I would like to see, there will probably be a mod for the helmet thing

I think the first two are really great to do in games, but the helmet thing just limits the player's view more. I mean first of all in real life you have a much wider peripheral view than in most games, so limiting it even more is counter-intuitive from a realistic POV. And secondly why would you hide your beautiful looking game with a black or dark obstruction or outline, unless of course your game is very dark and foreboding taking place mostly in caves. Seeing as Skyrim has a lot of outdoor type areas I don't see any excuse for using helmets to obstruct the view of the player.

I was thinking about adding, what you said about the breath in the trailer, in my original post. But I always thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. It does look like you can see the characters breath at the beginning of the video. When he is sprinting through the woods.

the first is an absolute, the second is a yes please, the third would be ok, but i could imagine it being done badly

I think most people are forgetting that any civilized hero would not walk around all the time with his helmet on... he would be a goof

No to all. They add nothing I care to see.