the downfall is also a feature, it creates tunnel vision so you cant see as many enemies to your left and right, which is why walking sometimes is more advantageous.

i think for a superb horror shooter.. the ego view is better. less visible area. More "self-" Feeling

But for a Shooter like any other ( see postal 3 ), the 3rd Person view is good ( always make an option for changing to Ego-mode )..

But there are also Games like "Dead Space"... After a while, i never thought that it´s 3rd person.. but the feeling was the same as Ego.. horror pure..

I thinks it´s related to the game.. and your personal feeling about that.

You could implement an intiutive cover system. Check whether a wall is in front of the player. If there is a wall and he's moving towards it, switch to cover mode. Pressing the backwards key will let him move out of cover. It is the same like with other cover systems, just changes the triggering event from key-press to just moving against a wall.

EDIT: just checked the net for intense third person shooters...
Look at this, Crysis in third person view, doesn't look
less intense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSu7GqL5ovo

that's not the point here, as stated in the first post, this isn't about what looks great, or looks intense, we all know third person shooters look more action packed than fps's(feel free to question that) HOWEVER, i'm talking about the feel that's lost when pulling the cam back, the player is less a part of the game and its now more like he's on the outside looking in, also the cam in a third person shooter alone helps the player because he can see more objects around in unlike in an fps where the player spins the cam 180 degrees searching for a bad guy that's just to his left, we're talking about getting the immersion back and am sure that immersion is lost even from the video seen, it looks fun and intense but the "immersion" isn't the same... once again, anyone should feel free to question this ...

the cover system seems interesting and I'll be testing to see how it works and what are the other downfalls other than the ones that i know directly, including the fact that the gameplay would have to be slowed down but its something i'm willing to do, feel free to make more points on this...

@esper: exactly, dead space kept the immersion high because they lowered the pace of the game, that in itself changes the game from run and gun to where the player has to play more careful then they mix it up with quality sound effects and eerie music and they have their immersion back...

once again, feel free to question any of these points as this is the point of the thread also, other ideas for intuitive cover systems that dont break the flow of the game could be helpful...

I know, and I didn't mean "intense" like "oh, it LOOKS intense". I meant it also FEELS intense.

i tend to always switch my fps games to third person if i can because it has has more action, so i agree.. what i meant though, think of it from a horror point of view... would the player feel as much fear in third person as if they were in first... if not, what are the changes that could be made to not lose that immersion

In a horror game, you should EVER keep the distance between camera and player as short as possible. I can't really imagine how to keep the maximum that the first person view has, but keeping the distance very short is surely the first step.

FPS games require more detail and more gfx quality.
3RD person makes sense if its vital for you to see what arround you...fighting games, melee fight in general or any swordfight. also group interaction is easier like in WOW.

3rd person can blend in the environment a lot better to the player character then first person. you interact with models and have a bigger impact on them (climbing, pushing,...)

i am not a big fan of switching views. keep one view works better for the atmosphere i think.


cheers

i'm not planning on switching views, in my opinion it breaks the game somewhat and i agree with what you said, am just looking at ways to complete the transit from first to third without losing too much

Right, switching views does only rip the player out of the game.