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Chapter 4 Perspective, Scene Design, and Basic Animation
All movements of the character
require the entire scene to move.
Instead of seeing your character take
a step forward from an overhead
view, in first-person perspective the
entire background scene moves one
step closer to the
camera.
Second-Person Perspective
Second-person perspective is extremely rare in video games. In
second-person perspective,
the player sees the game as if the player were the
opponent or an intermediary, as illustrated in Figure 4-2. Some sports games
use second-person perspective. Imagine a baseball game where your character
is at bat and the view, or perspective, is from the pitcher throwing the ball. See
Figure 4-3. The pitcher is the second person involved in the action, making
this a second-person perspective. This perspective does not work very well in
shooter and combat games. The player would be given a view of their character
from the point of view of the person the player is attacking.
Second-person perspective is the least-
used view in video game design. Other
than an example of baseball, when do
you think it is appropriate to use second-
person perspective?
UP!
4.1
CHEAT CODE: CAMERA
Camera refers to the viewpoint of
the game. The camera records the
action of the game and displays it
on your screen. The camera should
follow the player wherever the character goes.
Figure 4-2.
This is a unique
concept for a second-
person shooter game
from kongregate.
com. The person
in the chair tells
you where you are
and what you are
doing. You have to
shoot the monster
without seeing the
screen. Here is an
implementation of
second-person dialog
(speaks directly to
you) in gaming.
www.kongregate.com