Posts Tagged view
A Layman’s Guide to Projection in Videogames
Posted by The Management in art on April 11, 2009
Oftentimes when a videogame has a skewed, overhead point of view, we call it isometric. That’s rarely the accurate term, though, and it’s not just pointless semantics.
Although Echochrome uses a single projection type, its gameplay is based on constantly rotating and morphing its 3D structures. With each new view, the physical architecture of the level changes to reflect what the player sees on the screen.
Projection basically means taking a three dimensional object and displaying it on a 2D plane (i.e., a screen). There are various ways of accomplishing this, and each technique has a deep impact on a game’s look and mechanics. The advent of 3D games and free-floating cameras somewhat lessened this role, but being aware of the pros and cons of each projection type is still applicable to both 2D and 3D titles.
So what exactly are these projection types? Well, let’s take a look:
The FOV in Mirror’s Edge
Posted by The Management in design on February 2, 2009
The pros and cons of Mirror’s Edge have been debated time and time again, but there hasn’t been much talk about its FOV.
Fisheye field of view in Mirror's Edge.
In order to simulate a sans peripheral, stereoscopic view, FPS games tend to use a 90 degree window. The FOV in Mirror’s Edge, however, seems to be smaller. This might’ve been a result of wanting to achieve a more personal, zoomed-in feeling and a cleaner, flatter look (a smaller FOV tends to flatten the perspective of the projected image), but was it really necessary?
Now don’t get me wrong, DICE has created some really impressive visual effects in Mirror’s Edge. The motion blur, camera movement, body positioning and reactions, etc. were all a large jump ahead of the usual FPS fare where disembodied, chest-level cameras are a standard. Still, why shorten the FOV? After all, it tends to exaggerate camera movement which can lead to motion sickness, something that DICE had battled throughout the game’s development.
I myself never got motion sickness playing Mirror’s Edge, but the FOV still bugged me. Why? Well, at times it made everything seem too cramped up. Now this isn’t really noticable when overlooking a large vista, but it becomes quite apparent in tight hallways or in areas without an expansive view of the horizon. In a game that’s supposed to embody the spirit of parkour, it often caused me to feel boxed in and not adequately aware of my surroundings — probably not the sensation DICE intended.
Also — and this is completely unrelated — more of the music in Mirror’s Edge should’ve been as good as the title theme.
About
Hi, my name’s Radek Koncewicz, and I'm the Creative Lead of Incubator Games, a small development studio I started with a few former coworkers.
I think a lot about videogames, and when I find the time, I post those thoughts here on this blog.
