Interactive design principles within videogames (camerawork)
- Alice
- Aug 31, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 2, 2020
In the fifth week of the course, the lecturer Dr Allan Fowler taught us the principles within videogame design, focused on camerawork in gameplay.
When designing a game, there are three things to consider:
Attention in providing sufficient game info and feedback to the player. Camerawork-wise the game would show the player what they need to see.
Interaction in providing player clear controls on what is being displayed on-screen so the player sees what they want to see. This is linked to the attention.
Comfort in providing ease in control and reconcile the above two needs smoothly and comfortably. This is an important concept to include.
Examples of games that dealt with the three concepts:
Super Mario World, 1990 Nintendo
Platform-snapping was first introduced. The camera snaps to the character as it lands on the platform. It stays stationary until the player hits the edge of the screen.
In this case, it gives manual camera control to the player. By pressing the shoulder button of the controller, the camera is pushed to the respective direction giving more freedom of play to the player.
Limbo, 2010 Playdead
Explores a variety of camerawork from manipulating exposure to changing positions and zooming to different locations. Every region of this game has different characteristics and the camera anchos to specific points of the screen allowing the player to see different angles.
Conclusion:
From this session, I learnt the importance of camerawork within videogames and how they can be used for players to interact and well-experience the game. By adjusting the focal point and providing camera controls to the player can change the user's experience in gaming.
Reference:
Keren, I. (2015). Scroll Back: The Theory and Practice of Cameras in Side-Scrollers. Gamasutra. https://gamasutra.com/blogs/ItayKeren/20150511/243083/Scroll_Back_The_Theory_and_Practice_of_Cameras_in_SideScrollers.php
Comments