Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
moves to a new location that is significantly different from the previous one, the
camera behavior takes this into account. For example, going from indoors to out-
doors, the camera might move farther away from the avatar to show more of the
environment.
In the early days of graphic adventure games, the camera angles tended to be quite
dull, as in
Figure 19.1
, from
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
.
FIGURE 19.1
A scene in the first
Leisure Suit Larry
game
As display hardware improved, game development required more artists and the
quality of the artwork improved considerably. Today the game's art director
chooses a camera position designed to show off each location and activity to best
effect. Compare Figure 19.1 with
Figure 19.2
from
A Vampyre Story.
FIGURE 19.2
A scene in
A Vampyre
Story
. The lowered
camera position
accentuates the main
character's height.
