Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Virtually all large standalone games running on powerful game hardware such as
a personal computer or home game console employ 3D. (Small games and those
played within a web browser often still use 2D graphics.) With modern hardware
now standard, you should use 3D graphics
provided
that you have the tools, the
skills, and the time to do it well. If you do
not
have the more complex tools and the
specialized skills to get good results, you should not try it. Good-looking 2D graph-
ics are always preferable to bad-looking 3D graphics. While it may take the player a
while to detect weak AI or bad writing in a game, bad graphics show up from the
first moment.
This question becomes critical for games on low-end mobile phones and personal
digital assistants. With no 3D graphics acceleration hardware, if these devices dis-
play 3D graphics, they must do it with software rendering—a complex task that
burdens the slow processors that run these gadgets. Think twice before committing
yourself (and your programming team) to providing 3D graphics on such platforms.
Here, above all, heed the warning that if you cannot do it well, don't do it at all.
First-Person Perspective
In the
first-person perspective
, used only in avatar-based gameplay modes, the camera
takes the position of the avatar's own eyes, and is fixed with respect to the avatar.
Therefore, the player doesn't usually see the avatar's body, though the game may
display handheld weapons, if any, and occasionally the avatar's hands. The first-
person perspective also works well to display the point of view of the driver of a
vehicle; it shows the terrain ahead as well as the vehicle's instrument panel but not
the driver herself. It conveys an impression of speed and helps immerse the player
in the game world. First-person perspective also removes any need for the player to
adjust the camera and, therefore, any need for you to design UI for camera adjust-
ment. To look around, the player simply moves the avatar.
ADVANTAGES OF THE FIRST-PERSON PERSPECTIVE
Note the following benefits of the first-person perspective compared with the third-
person perspective:
■
Your game doesn't display the avatar routinely, so the artists don't have to
develop a large number of animations, or possibly any image at all, of the avatar.
This can cut development costs significantly because you need animations only for
those rare situations in which the player can see the avatar: cut-scenes, or if the
avatar steps in front of a mirror.
■
You won't need to design AI to control the camera. The camera looks exactly
where the player tells it to look.
■
The players find it easier to aim ranged weapons at approaching enemies in the
first-person perspective for two reasons. First, the avatar's body does not block the
player's view; second, the player's viewpoint corresponds exactly with the avatar's,
