View source for First-Person Views

[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Information Patterns]]
[[Category:Interface Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Needs examples]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
''Games where players are shown game worlds as entities within these game worlds would perceived them.''

Games that present game worlds to players can do this in various ways. When the presentation is done by tying it to what a diegetic character would perceive, this is called [[First-Person Views]]. Even if the name suggests vision-based information, other senses such as hearing and touch are also implied to be presented as if a diegetic character experienced them if they are available at all.

=== Examples ===
As the name of the genre indicates, [[:Category:FPS Games|First-Person Shooters]] such as [[Counter-Strike]] and the [[Crysis series|Crysis]], [[Doom series|Doom]], [[Half-Life series|Half-Life]], [[Left 4 Dead series]], [[Portal series]], [[Quake series|Quake]], and [[Unreal Tournament series|Unreal Tournament]] all make use of [[First-Person Views]]. Later installments of the [[Elder Scrolls series]] and the [[Fallout series]] have adopted the point of view as well, as have the sandbox game [[Minecraft]].

Racing games such as the [[Need for Speed series]] and [[Gran Turismo series]] often allow players to switch between first- and third-person views.

[[:Category:Live Action Roleplaying Games|Live Action Roleplaying Games]] such as [[Assassin]], [[Conspiracy for Good]], [[Dragonbane]], and [[Trenne Byar]] have [[First-Person Views]] since players literally represent characters in them.

== Using the pattern ==
[[First-Person Views]] give players a view of [[Game Worlds]] from within them, so this requires the presence of [[Game Worlds]] and ways of creating presentations of them. For most games this means the use of [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] but for [[Live Action Roleplaying]] games this is for free as the [[Game Worlds]] are staged as sub parts of the real world. The pattern also requires [[Avatars]] since having perceptive powers without an entity with senses is a [[God View]] even if it is spatially located. 

Not too surprising, [[First-Person Views]] are not directly compatible with [[God Views]] and [[Third-Person Views]], with an exception for [[Third-Person Views]] when mirrors, cameras, or other devices (e.g. the portals in the [[Portal series]]) allow [[Avatars]] to see themselves. Given that players may have personal preferences on what kind of view they may want to have or that some views are advantageous in some gameplay situations, it is quite common to provide players with a [[Freedom of Choice]] between [[First-Person Views]] and [[Third-Person Views]] (reasons why one may not want to let players have this freedom can be that it may ruin [[Surprises]].

Two basic options exist for modifying [[First-Person Views]]. The first option is to use [[Point of Interest Indications]] to highlight things the diegetic characters may notice; the second is to consider if [[Vision Modes]] should be available to support that the [[Avatars]] have augmented or additional sensory capabilities (e.g. seeing infrared light or having night vision or radar equipment). Both these options create [[Player/Character Skill Composites]] and implied [[Characters]] (since perceptive abilities are abstract qualities of [[Characters]]).

The basic use of [[First-Person Views]] is to provide players with presentations of [[Game Worlds]]. They can however also be used to provide [[Public Information]] focused upon specific parts of [[Game Worlds]] to [[Spectators]] and thereby make [[Spatial Engrossment]] possible for them as well.

=== Interface Aspects ===
[[First-Person Views]] is an [[:Category:Information Patterns|Information Pattern]]. However, since [[First-Person Views]] do not provide [[Game State Overviews]] in the way [[Third-Person Views]] or [[God Views]] do, players are sometimes augmented with additional information through [[HUD Interfaces]]. This is typically [[Game State Indicators]] related to the [[Avatars]] themselves or the [[Characters]] linked to them, e.g. showing [[Health]], selected [[Weapons]], and so on, but can also be [[Mini-maps]] to provide spatial awareness.

The choice of [[Focus Loci]] can affect with types of views of [[Game Worlds]] are possible, so the design of [[First-Person Views]] should be done in relation to the design of a game's [[Focus Loci]]. For example, [[First-Person Views]] are not readily compatible with [[God Fingers]]. 

=== Narrative Aspects ===
Games that wish to have [[Detective Structures]] can be aided by the use of [[First-Person Views]] since this makes the issue of what information players have access to the same as the issue of what the players' [[Avatars]] can perceive.

== Consequences ==
[[First-Person Views]] provide players with presentations of [[Game Worlds]] from the view point of their [[Avatars]], meaning that they can only perceive that which they have [[Line of Sight]] to. The lack of being able to detect things behind [[Obstacles]], etc., make [[First-Person Shooters]] be able to spring [[Surprises]] on players as well as maintain [[Detective Structures]].

Since [[First-Person Views]] provide players with feedback similar to that received when performing [[Movement]] in the real world, these views can support [[Spatial Engrossment]] in games, especially those that require [[Aim & Shoot]] or [[Maneuvering]]. When the option of switching between [[First-Person Views]] and [[Third-Person Views]] are given to players, this provides them with the [[Freedom of Choice]] of use the viewpoint they prefer or is most effective at any given point in the gameplay. 

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Detective Structures]], 
[[Line of Sight]], 
[[Spatial Engrossment]], 
[[Surprises]]

==== with [[Point of Interest Indications]] or [[Vision Modes]] ====
[[Characters]], 
[[Player/Character Skill Composites]]

==== with [[Third-Person Views]] ====
[[Freedom of Choice]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Aim & Shoot]], 
[[Avatars]], 
[[Game Worlds]], 
[[Maneuvering]], 
[[Spectators]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]], 
[[Live Action Roleplaying]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[HUD Interfaces]], 
[[Point of Interest Indications]], 
[[Vision Modes]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[God Fingers]]

== History ==
An updated version of the pattern ''First-Person Views'' that was part of the original collection in the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
</references>