Third-Person

A out of body experience

Camera Control

Third-Person Fixed or Rail

This is a game where the view of the game is shown from static viewpoints in the game world. Like there are sequrity cameras everywhere watching the player character. As the avatar walks from one place to another the game switches camera as needed to keep the avatar in view. Variations of this is cameras that turned to look at the player or follow the player along a track.

Third-Person Fixed-angle

The camera view the character from a direction with limited ways of changing it. Obstacles that get in the way of the view are faded out or transparent. A bit like a theater where the forth wall turn invisible as needed.

Third-Person Tracking

Camera is behind character and and the player has no direct control over it. As the player character looks around the camera try to move along and provide the best view.

Third-Person Interactive

Camera is default behind the character but the player can modify it by for example changing the distance to the character or looking around.

Camera Properties

Many rules can affect the parameters and they can push in opposite directions. Organize by how many parameters a rule modify and prioritize forces on each parameters.

Offset

Yaw

Pitch

    • Pull in distance looking up and pull out distance looking down. Use curve.

    • Same can be done with FOV.

    • Decelerate pitch speed at min/max to get a smooth stop

Distance

    • Set a max distance that fit your levels so it does not have to break los or push in to often.

Field of view

Camera Features

Camera Volumes

Placed in the game world it modify parameters for the camera when player enters or leaves them. Use transition time to smootly change them.

Hints

Provides hints on what the camera should do. If the avatar walks into a room it might look to the right to show of an interesting view. The hints only happens if the player is not giving commands to the camera for a while.

Camera Shake

Camera Lag

Camera Focus

Focus to camera to look in the direction the avatar is moving or at a enemey that is the target of the avatar.

whisker raycasts

Camera Behaviors

Issues

Input Priority

Always let the player input override the dynamic camera.

Line of Sight blocked

Make sure the player avatar is never occluded by obstacles in level. Detect obstacles early using whisker raycast and then fade them out, pull in the camera or swing the camera around the obstacles. If it risk to go into the obstacle pull in the camera. For narrow columns and might be better to let the obstacle break line of sight. Tag obstacles that allow LOS to break.

    • Geometry Dithering

    • Silhouette

    • Cut-Out View

    • Pull In

    • Swing Around

Camera hit objects

Intersect avatar

Guidelines

    • Provide inverted controls

    • Option to turn of bouncy walk cycles off

    • Option to turn camera shake off.

    • Modify pitch, distance and fov at the same time to avoid it feeling bad.

    • Use a curve to modify the input sensitivity to provide the player with fast/slow camera movement.

    • Level design and the way camera work should fit

    • Show where the player is going

    • When player not moving the camera modify it automatically to show what the player need to look at.

    • When the player running look in the direction the avatar is running.

    • Tilt camera to look down when player approach a cliff

    • When running on a slope tilt the camera to look up

    • Small fov increase risk of motion sickness

    • Different camera modes often needed. For example exploring, combat, falling and so on.

Reference