Difference between revisions of "Picture-in-Picture Views"

Revision as of 10:44, 15 October 2012

Games which make use of presentations inside other presentations.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

The view of wingmen are shown as Picture-in-Picture Views in the Star Fox series. Players of the Transport Tycoon series of business management games (including openTTD) can open and customizes Picture-in-Picture Views to be informed about specific parts of the game while moving the main view to where they wish to interact with the system.

The FPS game XIII makes use of Picture-in-Picture Views to highlight certain events, such as specific kills or the initial moves in ambushes. Several other games in the genre, e.g. the Deus Ex series, let players place cameras in the game environment that can then be viewed. Although they sometimes take up all of the screen space instead of just limited parts, sticky cameras in the Splinter Cell series are examples of Picture-in-Picture Views. System Shock uses Picture-in-Picture Views to provide the input from hardware implants that record what is behind the player character or those that provide 360 views.

Using the pattern

The main design choices regarding Picture-in-Picture Views is what information they should provide, where the views should be within the larger view, what sizes they should be, and if players should be able to modify their sizes and positions. Mini-maps are typical examples of Picture-in-Picture Views.

An option for Picture-in-Picture Views is to make it possible for players to change the views. This can either be by toggling through different views, which may be from changing Vision Modes or from changing locations viewed, or be by making the views controllable by Cameras.

One reason for using Picture-in-Picture Views is to create Point of Interest Indications on the fly during gameplay. An example of this is when Killcams do not take over the entire game presentation but just a small portion of it.

Diegetic Aspects

While it may seem that Picture-in-Picture Views might challenge the Diegetic Consistency of a game, this can easily be avoided by introducing diegetic elements that can provide images from afar.

Interface Aspects

Picture-in-Picture Views is an Interface Pattern. Alternatives to it include Auxiliary Game Screens and Split-Screen Views.

Consequences

Picture-in-Picture Views are a form of Split-Screen Views. They typically create Third-Person Views (conceivably it would instead be First-Person Views if they are used to form Split-Screen Views of diegetic entities that can look at several independent things at once).

Game State Overviews can be supported by Picture-in-Picture Views by either local or global view, where Mini-maps is a typical example. When the information presented is abstract, the pattern can be seen as providing Game State Indicators although it may also be interpreted as abstract diegetic information.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Game State Indicators, Game State Overviews, Point of Interest Indications, Split-Screen Views, Third-Person Views

Can Modulate

Killcams

Can Be Instantiated By

Mini-maps

Can Be Modulated By

Cameras

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

New pattern created in this wiki.

References

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Acknowledgements

Kelvin Autenrieth, Jason Begy, Daniel Bernhoff, Janne Paavilainen, Orvar Säfström, Jose Zagal