Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
as the
Quake
series because it enables the player to see clearly what she is shooting
at, without the avatar blocking part of the screen. Unfortunately, the first-person
perspective does not let the player see the area around the avatar very clearly; she
can only see ahead of the avatar, whatever faces the avatar, and so this point of
view is unsuitable for fighting games (such as
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
) in
which enemies attack the avatar from all sides.
Although the first-person perspective seems realistic in principle, in fact, on a con-
ventional monitor with a 4:3 aspect ratio, the first-person view constrains the
player's vision to about a 30-degree arc. The normal human enjoys an arc of vision
of about 120 degrees horizontally, so the player's field of view is really only about
one-fourth of normal size. Widescreen TVs have begun to help with this, and fortu-
nately the mouse-based user interface of most first-person games enables the player
to look left and right more quickly than she could in real life. In order to be fair to
the player of a first-person single-player game, however, you must still make sure
that most of her enemies approach her from the front.
The first-person perspective also allows nice touches such as zooming, giving the
impression that the avatar is using binoculars or a rifle with a telescopic sight.
TIP
Resident Evil 4
introduces an innova-
tion, a third-person
camera positioned im-
mediately behind the
avatar's right shoulder,
rather than farther
back as in
Tomb Raider
.
This approach makes
it impossible
to see the avatar's
entire body, but the
player can aim and
see dangers much
more easily than in
traditional third-
person games. The
technique achieves
some of the benefits
of the first-person
view in a third-person
perspective.
3D THIRD PERSON
Many 3D games, such as
Super Mario Sunshine
,
Gears of War
, and the
Tomb Raide r
series, offer a third-person view. The player can see his avatar on-screen, usually
from a viewpoint in which the camera is behind and somewhat above the avatar.
Players can see some distance ahead of the avatar, though not as far as in the first-
person view because the camera is tilted downward. In this case, you must not
present the player with dangers at a very long range (for example, an enemy with a
sniper rifle) because the player won't be able to see them until it's too late.
Players may also see a little of what is behind and to the side of the avatar. In these
types of games, the camera must move to follow the avatar both predictably and
unobtrusively. Many third-person shooters allow the player to switch to a first-
person perspective momentarily for more precise aiming. Some first-person
shooters switch to third-person in particular situations.
Halo
switches from first
to third whenever the avatar gets into a vehicle (at which time the vehicle itself
temporarily becomes the avatar).
GAMEPLAY IMPLICATIONS OF 2D AND 3D
In a 3D environment, the player cannot easily tell the speed or distance of objects
that come directly toward her point of view. (This is also true in the real world,
while driving, for example.) By operating in only two dimensions, 2D games
remove this problem and simplify the amount of visual processing that the player
must do. She can directly see the distance between her avatar and other objects,
she can clearly see the speed at which things are moving, and she doesn't have to
construct a mental 3D model of a space as she explores it. This means that 2D
