Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

Building Game Worlds
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U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N
that fighter’s dominance. You can edit camera sweeps to set the camera’s start and
stop position and the speed or timing factor for the sweep (how fast or slow) to suit
the camera performance required. In this way, you can give the player a solid and engaging
view of a character or vehicle, which is far more dynamic than a flat image alone.
Character View Example
Another example of using camera work to detail an interface would be to use a camera
for an NPC character view (a close-up front shot of your commander, for instance).
With the advent of advanced lip-sync ability in 3-D facial animation, you can
set a close-up camera view for an NPC and use the in-game model (or a custom
model) to “talk” to the player. In many game settings, NPCs chime in to comment on
gameplay, to give clues, and occasionally to help prompt and guide the player. With a
camera set up to handle these NPC conversations, you can extend and enhance the
role of the NPC as desired. You might even create an NPC studio (for example, a set
to host NPCs in camera conversation with the player). Gone are the days of the
flat-pasted NPC image it seems. Going even further, with a simple camera script, you
could pan from one NPC to another (like two ship commanders on the bridge giving
direction) in your NPC window.
Floating Cameras
Many games are starting to offer players the opportunity to locate or position a dynamic
camera that can be moved from unit to unit or location to location at the
player’s preference. This allows for a quick jump into a melee scene at the unit level,
for example, and a quick jump out to see what is happening across the battlefield.
Sometimes these camera moves, which are intended to allow flexibility and immersion
for the player, are preconfigured and simply selectable by key or button input.
If you’re going to allow your player to customize a floating camera view (or
several), you should at least provide some default camera setups for play—camera
setups that have performed well for play in your own enjoyment of the game. Those
players who appreciate this amount of granular camera control and want to edit
camera position further will have a starting point. Those players who don’t care will
have selectable defaults.
Be considerate with camera moves. Too much camera jumping and camera distraction
can cause players to become easily disoriented and confused, and breaks the
game fun experience by making it a chore for players to return to the view that they
are comfortable with.