Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
A panoramic AR game is another popular type of game mechanics. Its major advant-
age is its lack of graphic fiducials. A player is in the center of a so-called sphere of
events, a space where all game elements are concentrated. AR in such games is
not as accurate as models with graphic markers; this disadvantage is usually com-
pensated with faster gameplay and simpler game rules. Usually, this is used in shoot
'em up arcade games or shooting-range games, in which enemies appear around
players and they have to move their mobile devices quickly, while aiming and shoot-
ing. The most reliable concept is that of fighting flying antagonists, such as alien
spaceships or hostile aircrafts, since flying elements look very natural in AR. An in-
teresting concept is to use some ideas from paratrooper-type arcade games, such
as tiny airplanes flying above a player's character that may drop some troops, so a
lot of angry parachutists are.
A screenshot from AR Earth Invasion shooter game
However, there are some issues with the panoramic games. First of all, the basic
concept requires players to spin around to find and fight protagonists; the gaming
process looks like simple physical physical jerks and that may sound pretty positive.
However, it may become tedious and cause a little dizziness if the gameplay is very
fast. Therefore, it is better to include an option that turns the sphere of events into a
semisphere, so instead of 360-degree range, a 180-degree range would be used by
agame.Anotherproblemdealswiththequestionofgamefragmentssituatedoutside
of the camera frame, for example there can be several enemies which are placed
behindthebackoftheplayer.Theycannotbeseenuntiltheydosomeactions.There
must be a signaling system to indicate that an enemy is hidden somewhere. This can
be a mini-map or radar on where characters are marked or special red arrows may
show the direction of enemy fire so a player can quickly re-orient his mobile device.
