Difference between revisions of "Third-Person Views"

Revision as of 16:38, 5 August 2011

The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.

Games which want to visually present game worlds to their players can do this in several ways. Third-Person Views are visual presentations of game worlds which are locked to a specific game entity and in some way or another follows this entity as it moves.

Examples

Scrolling games such as 1942, Commando, Paper boy, and Zaxxon all have Third-Person Views in that the background move as players move through the games. They are however weak examples since the game entities under the players' control can move around within the screen space available.

Computer-based Racing Games such as F-Zero GX and the Need for Speed and Wipeout series are often played in either first-person or Third-Person Views. The Grand Theft Auto, Lara Croft, Super Mario, and Legends of Zelda series are primarily played in Third-Person Views but sometimes introduce first-person views for specific actions.

Games that general allow players to pan over the entire game worlds, like Command and Conquer series, Sims, and Warcraft series typically also allow players' views to follow selected avatars or units. This means that players do not have to consciously move their viewpoints simply to continue to have these in focus as they are moving about in the game environments performing various actions.

Games that usually provide first-person views sometimes change to third-person views to provide killcams. In single-player games like the Fallout series this is to highlight noteworthy shots while in multiplayer games such as the later installments of the Battlefield series they are a way of pointing out the positions of the killers.

Using the pattern

Third-Person Views consist of views created by a Camera that is locked onto a specific game entity in a Game World. Designing Third-Person Views consist primarily of selecting what game entities should be followed and what type of relation between these entities and their Cameras should be maintained (see the Cameras pattern for different types of relations or "shots").

Killcams

First-Person Views for certain Aim & Shoot actions. Examples of games that do this include The Legend of Zelda series and the Grand Theft Auto series.

Third-Person Views offer the design option of letting players have control over the Camera which creates the view. Although this may affect the Right Level of Difficulty and require more Dexterity-Based Actions, it can allow players to have a complete view of the Game World.

Games with Third-Person Views that require Imperfect Information about the terrain of the Game World at a different level than the view must either use Fog of War or divide the game area into sections.

Third-Person Views are are not directly compatible with God Views and First-Person Views, although Third-Person Views may occur occasionally through reflections and recordings in games with First-Person Views (e.g. through mirror or surveillance devices). However, as long as gameplay balance or Surprises are not disrupted it is quite common for games to allow players to switch between First-Person Views and Third-Person Views; examples of games that allow this include the Need for Speed series and the Elder Scroll series. Third-Person Views can also be used to help position players by locking onto selected Focus Loci in games with God Views and where choices exist on which Focus Loci to use.

Can Be Modulated By

God Fingers, Point of Interest Indications, Vision Modes

Diegetic Aspects

Interface Aspects

Designing Third-Person Views should be done in relation to the intended Focus Loci of a game since these can dependencies between each other.

Narrative Aspects

Third-Person Views can have a small effect on Character Defining Actions in that seeing one's own Avatars can remind players that they may have Characters with their own personalities and goals.

Consequences

Third-Person Views focus the view of Game Worlds around specific Avatars or Units (or possibly small group of Units). Since the entire surrounding around that game element is visible to players - specifically the areas behind the game elements - this view provides a form of Game State Overviews. Even if this may lead players to have somewhat more information that the Avatars can have, Third-Person Views can support Detective Structures in Game Worlds either by careful positioning of objects or by only showing one limited space at a time (as for example the adventure games in the Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and King's Quest series do).

The visual feedback from performed Movement in Third-Person Views may not be as natural as those of First-Person Views, since turning and rotation is centered on players' Focus Loci. Third-Person Views can however still support Spatial Engrossment, especially in chase-cam modes, and the better Game State Overviews the provided by Third-Person Views (including seeing the relation between Focus Loci and other entities)can make Maneuvering easier than in First-Person Views. This is probably one of the reasons why Racing Games such as the Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, and Sega Rally series allow player to switch between different view modes. However, Aim & Shoot actions become more difficult since players have to take both the target and shooter positions and movement into account when performing the actions (Auto-Aim can be used to mitigate this effect).

Games that allow players to change from First-Person Views to Third-Person Views and back give players a form of Freedom of Choice.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Character Defining Actions, Game State Overviews

with First-Person Views

Freedom of Choice

with Game Worlds

Detective Structures

Can Modulate

Aim & Shoot, Avatars, Focus Loci, Game Worlds, God Views, Maneuvering, Units

Can Be Instantiated By

Cameras, Killcams

Can Be Modulated By

God Fingers, Point of Interest Indications, Vision Modes

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

An updated version of the pattern Third-Person Views that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design^[1].

References

1. ↑ Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.

Acknowledgements

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