92 Video Game Design Foundations
of you, maybe even some in the rear view mirror. You can also see the dash
displays and even “your” hands on the steering wheel. It looks just like you
are sitting in the driver’s seat. This view is from the fi rst-person perspective of
the driver. It is as if your character has a head-mounted camera and you only
see exactly what your character sees.
A substantial amount of programming
is required to create fi rst-person games. The
reason for this is that the player view remains
nearly centered in the screen. 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 fi rst-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
Target
Lives Weapon
Remaining
ammunition
Figure 4-1. This game, called Cowboy Billy Boom, shows action in fi rst-person perspective. Notice how the view is seen
as if the camera were on the head of the player. (www.freeonlinegames.com)
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.
THINK ABOUT IT
ACTIVITY 4.1
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?