Introduction to E-Learning and the Three Cs of 3D Games - Creating E-Learning Games with Unity - page 5

Comprehending the three Cs
To design the software for the user experience in a 3D game, we can break the prob-
lem down into three systems: the camera, the character, and the controls. In this
chapter, we will build the foundation of our e-learning game by developing the frame-
work for these components:
• Camera : This system is responsible for the virtual cinematography in the
game. It ensures that the avatar is always on screen, that the relevant aspects
of the 3D world are shown, and that this experience is achieved in a dynamic,
interesting, and responsive way.
• Character . This is the avatar itself. It is a 3D model of the personification of
the player that is under direct user control. The character must represent the
hero as well as possess the functional attributes necessary for the learning
objectives.
• Controls . This system refers to the control layer that the user interacts within
the game. The genre and context of the game can and should affect how this
system behaves. This system is impacted by the hardware that is available to
the user to interact with. There are potentially many different input hardware
devices we could choose to program for; while we may encounter gamepads,
touch pads and touchscreens, and motion tracking cameras on potential tar-
get PCs, we will focus our attention on the traditional keyboard and mouse for
input in our example.
These three systems are tightly coupled and are the trinity of the core 3D gameplay
experience. Throughout a normal video game development cycle, we as game pro-
grammers may find ourselves making multiple iterations on these three systems until
they "feel right". This is normal and is to be expected; however, the impact of changes
in one system on the other two cannot be underestimated.