Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 23
. Perspective in a 3D platformer.
There are also other problems, such as camera angles, with 3D plat-
formers.
Figure 23
shows the viewpoint once the player has corrected
the camera angle (which again, the player should never have to do if the
game designer has done his or her job). But the player has several differ-
ent angles to consider even after the camera angle has been corrected.
The angle between the direction your
platform
is facing and that
of the next platform (this matters if you need to run forward be-
fore you jump).
The angle between the direction your
avatar
is facing and that
of the next platform (this can matter with some special types of
jumps that launch you forward without running).
The angle between the direction your
camera
is facing and the
next platform (this is often useful so that players can hold a car-
dinal direction, such as up, on the joystick to have
some
reliable
leverage point).
I think that this is just way too much for the player to have to calcu-
late. More importantly, none of it has anything to
do
with platforming.
This may change once we have 3D screens that can give us a really good
sense of depth perception. But for now, if you're developing a game for a
2D output device, keep the gameplay 2D if you can.
Other Genres
In this section, I'll quickly go over a few other genres, using our lens to
make a few important points about them.
Point-and-Click Adventures
Examples:
Myst
,
Leisure Suit Larry
,
Maniac Mansion
