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Eight years. 3D gaming is eight years old and yet most developers still have trouble implementing a camera system. You'd think that in an industry worth billions of pounds, with games costing up to millions of pounds each, the tool with which the player explores the painstakingly rendered landscape would be usable.
But no! Instead there is a huge spectrum of camera implementation qualities ranging from the Z lock-on system in Zelda to the unintelligible backwards method used in Spiderman. There are games where you have to spend the first few hours of play learning how to use the camera to actually see what you’re doing (something that should be done automatically) and even after that you’re still spending time getting the angle you want.
It’s a dire situation. A developer spends years making what could be a magnificent game, yet all its splendour is missed as the player tries to adjust the camera. The whole point of making a great game is to engage the player, to create a world that completely immerses the player by removing him from his living room and placing him in a fantasy world. You shouldn’t be aware that you’re pressing big plastic coloured buttons- the controls should be so intuitive that, after just a short amount of play, the controller, and hence your character, becomes an extension of yourself.
If, however, the controls are useless it completely destroys the immersive quality of the game. Every few minutes you have to come out of the gaming world to work out how to do this or that.
What makes a great camera system is one that not only follows your character and shows you what you want to see, but one that, when the camera is not where you want, can be easily used to move the camera to the perfect position. A perfect example of this is Zelda. Not only does the camera have a supernatural ability to lover and raise to give increased and decreased fields of view, but it never gets stuck behind walls- they become transparent to it. In a combat scene you can lock-on to your enemy ensuring that you will never lose track of it, and this even allows you to move relative to the enemy too. Not only does the camera function as an object, but also it can be used as a tool to help you.
Meanwhile we still have games where the camera repeatedly gets stuck behind walls, or even in them. Still we have almost impossible scenarios where, as well as battling a beast, we have to adjust the camera at the same time so as not to lose site of it. Although some games try to lessen the blow of such errors by allowing the player to move the camera, these controls are often unusable- either snapping back to default as soon as you move, or lacking the ability to zoom into or out of action.
So, if there are any future developers out there, please don’t underestimate the camera. It really can change a player’s perception of the game.
Sonic
But no! Instead there is a huge spectrum of camera implementation qualities ranging from the Z lock-on system in Zelda to the unintelligible backwards method used in Spiderman. There are games where you have to spend the first few hours of play learning how to use the camera to actually see what you’re doing (something that should be done automatically) and even after that you’re still spending time getting the angle you want.
It’s a dire situation. A developer spends years making what could be a magnificent game, yet all its splendour is missed as the player tries to adjust the camera. The whole point of making a great game is to engage the player, to create a world that completely immerses the player by removing him from his living room and placing him in a fantasy world. You shouldn’t be aware that you’re pressing big plastic coloured buttons- the controls should be so intuitive that, after just a short amount of play, the controller, and hence your character, becomes an extension of yourself.
If, however, the controls are useless it completely destroys the immersive quality of the game. Every few minutes you have to come out of the gaming world to work out how to do this or that.
What makes a great camera system is one that not only follows your character and shows you what you want to see, but one that, when the camera is not where you want, can be easily used to move the camera to the perfect position. A perfect example of this is Zelda. Not only does the camera have a supernatural ability to lover and raise to give increased and decreased fields of view, but it never gets stuck behind walls- they become transparent to it. In a combat scene you can lock-on to your enemy ensuring that you will never lose track of it, and this even allows you to move relative to the enemy too. Not only does the camera function as an object, but also it can be used as a tool to help you.
Meanwhile we still have games where the camera repeatedly gets stuck behind walls, or even in them. Still we have almost impossible scenarios where, as well as battling a beast, we have to adjust the camera at the same time so as not to lose site of it. Although some games try to lessen the blow of such errors by allowing the player to move the camera, these controls are often unusable- either snapping back to default as soon as you move, or lacking the ability to zoom into or out of action.
So, if there are any future developers out there, please don’t underestimate the camera. It really can change a player’s perception of the game.
Sonic
I guess we need VR goggles or multiple screens.
Curse our damn human brains!!
Curse our damn human brains!!
I tend to find with games that mix th two, I always play in FP. Its so much easier, and tendos to look nicer.
However, games like JFG (anybody remember that corking game?!) and Zelda implement it to perfection
However, games like JFG (anybody remember that corking game?!) and Zelda implement it to perfection
Luigi's Mansion has a decent camera system for a third person game. Sure, it doesn't allow you to see absolutely everything at every angle, but atleast all the controls are for the character and not the camera.
In my opinion, this is a problem that will forever plague the third person gaming world. Simply because we, as human beings, lack the capacity to control what we expect to want to be looking at.
With a first person game, 3d or otherwise, this is never a problem. You point at what you want to look at. But with 3rd person 3d games, it's just not possible. In my opinion anyway...
With a first person game, 3d or otherwise, this is never a problem. You point at what you want to look at. But with 3rd person 3d games, it's just not possible. In my opinion anyway...
Eight years. 3D gaming is eight years old and yet most developers still have trouble implementing a camera system. You'd think that in an industry worth billions of pounds, with games costing up to millions of pounds each, the tool with which the player explores the painstakingly rendered landscape would be usable.
But no! Instead there is a huge spectrum of camera implementation qualities ranging from the Z lock-on system in Zelda to the unintelligible backwards method used in Spiderman. There are games where you have to spend the first few hours of play learning how to use the camera to actually see what you’re doing (something that should be done automatically) and even after that you’re still spending time getting the angle you want.
It’s a dire situation. A developer spends years making what could be a magnificent game, yet all its splendour is missed as the player tries to adjust the camera. The whole point of making a great game is to engage the player, to create a world that completely immerses the player by removing him from his living room and placing him in a fantasy world. You shouldn’t be aware that you’re pressing big plastic coloured buttons- the controls should be so intuitive that, after just a short amount of play, the controller, and hence your character, becomes an extension of yourself.
If, however, the controls are useless it completely destroys the immersive quality of the game. Every few minutes you have to come out of the gaming world to work out how to do this or that.
What makes a great camera system is one that not only follows your character and shows you what you want to see, but one that, when the camera is not where you want, can be easily used to move the camera to the perfect position. A perfect example of this is Zelda. Not only does the camera have a supernatural ability to lover and raise to give increased and decreased fields of view, but it never gets stuck behind walls- they become transparent to it. In a combat scene you can lock-on to your enemy ensuring that you will never lose track of it, and this even allows you to move relative to the enemy too. Not only does the camera function as an object, but also it can be used as a tool to help you.
Meanwhile we still have games where the camera repeatedly gets stuck behind walls, or even in them. Still we have almost impossible scenarios where, as well as battling a beast, we have to adjust the camera at the same time so as not to lose site of it. Although some games try to lessen the blow of such errors by allowing the player to move the camera, these controls are often unusable- either snapping back to default as soon as you move, or lacking the ability to zoom into or out of action.
So, if there are any future developers out there, please don’t underestimate the camera. It really can change a player’s perception of the game.
Sonic
But no! Instead there is a huge spectrum of camera implementation qualities ranging from the Z lock-on system in Zelda to the unintelligible backwards method used in Spiderman. There are games where you have to spend the first few hours of play learning how to use the camera to actually see what you’re doing (something that should be done automatically) and even after that you’re still spending time getting the angle you want.
It’s a dire situation. A developer spends years making what could be a magnificent game, yet all its splendour is missed as the player tries to adjust the camera. The whole point of making a great game is to engage the player, to create a world that completely immerses the player by removing him from his living room and placing him in a fantasy world. You shouldn’t be aware that you’re pressing big plastic coloured buttons- the controls should be so intuitive that, after just a short amount of play, the controller, and hence your character, becomes an extension of yourself.
If, however, the controls are useless it completely destroys the immersive quality of the game. Every few minutes you have to come out of the gaming world to work out how to do this or that.
What makes a great camera system is one that not only follows your character and shows you what you want to see, but one that, when the camera is not where you want, can be easily used to move the camera to the perfect position. A perfect example of this is Zelda. Not only does the camera have a supernatural ability to lover and raise to give increased and decreased fields of view, but it never gets stuck behind walls- they become transparent to it. In a combat scene you can lock-on to your enemy ensuring that you will never lose track of it, and this even allows you to move relative to the enemy too. Not only does the camera function as an object, but also it can be used as a tool to help you.
Meanwhile we still have games where the camera repeatedly gets stuck behind walls, or even in them. Still we have almost impossible scenarios where, as well as battling a beast, we have to adjust the camera at the same time so as not to lose site of it. Although some games try to lessen the blow of such errors by allowing the player to move the camera, these controls are often unusable- either snapping back to default as soon as you move, or lacking the ability to zoom into or out of action.
So, if there are any future developers out there, please don’t underestimate the camera. It really can change a player’s perception of the game.
Sonic