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Real-Time Cameras in Unreal Editor 4 - Part 9

25/2/2015

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Picture
FollowCamera and DebugSphere for MyCharacter
Reference: Mark Haigh-Hutchinson. 2009. "Real-Time Cameras: A Guide for Game Designers and Developers." Elsevier.

While this is not a continuation of the project I stopped thinking and blogging about in September of last year, it is the result of me continuing to build skills in implementing real-time cameras. The new project involves prototyping a camera for a third person shooter for PC where clicking the right mouse button goes into an over the shoulder view while aiming. A rapid method of implementation for over the shoulder aiming views is described in detail, along with some relevant details on firing projectiles from the camera instead of the player.
  • "Retain the camera position with respect to the player when instantly moving the camera to a new position (third person cameras). In other words, try to retain the same control (and visual reference frame when repositioning the camera. Many games fail to take this into account, which usually results in player frustration as the character moves in unintended directions when the camera is repositioned. This can often result in the demise of the player character, or possibly cause the player character to cross an area boundary forcing data loading or other delays. Retention of player intent is of paramount importance. As with rapid orientation changes, repositioning of the camera in this way should occur infrequently and in reaction to established game play or player motion requirements."
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When the player is not pressing the right mouse button, camera and player movement are similar to the default third person camera

I am not following the textbook advice to its fullest extent in this project.

In this case I wanted to replicate the third person aiming camera in games, including Tomb Raider, where the camera assists by zooming in when aiming to avoid the accuracy problems inherent to third person shooters. I have chosen initially to snap immediately to the new perspective, which is based on the character controller's facing direction, and not the camera's current perspective. This rapid repositioning of the camera could be jarring or disorienting if the player clicks the right mouse button while facing the camera. I find this intuitive as it follows the convention of fighting games where the player's character can melee attack towards the camera and want to provide this flexibility. I will, however, be watching for signs while others playtest the game to ensure that player intention is maintained.
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When the player presses the right mouse button, the camera moves upwards and FOV decreases to create an over the shoulder view

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What I Learned in AAA: Non-Linear Mission Design

31/12/2014

 
PictureEarly Draft Mission Flow Chart
As I am still far from being a master of non-linear design, this post has a bit more discussion on presentation than design. Hopefully, it will provide useful tips for designers to communicate high level non-linear designs effectively  with a few design takeaways.
My first recommendation is keeping two copies of any wiki pages you are using to present your non-linear design work. One is for you, and whatever creative madness you need for your design process. This one is hidden from the world, like a corrupt accountant's second set of books. The other is the one you present for feedback and follows many rules and conventions, some of which are project specific and some of which are mentioned here. Keeping two copies of your pages will allow you to edit and update your presentable version of the information you want to share without losing easy access to the personal reminders, references, and inspirations that helped shape your design process.
Here is a logical proof for the statements in the preceding paragraph:
A: A good designer puts more thought into their work than is immediately obvious.
B: Anyone who puts more thought into their work than is immediately obvious is a corrupt accountant.
C: A corrupt accountant keeps two sets of books (i.e. two copies of every page).
A+B+C: A good designer keeps two sets of books.


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Real-Time Cameras in Unreal Editor 4 - Part 8

6/9/2014

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Reference: Mark Haigh-Hutchinson. 2009. "Real-Time Cameras: A Guide for Game Designers and Developers." Elsevier.

There comes a time in each project when the team must re-evaluate their goals to make sure they make sense.
Neglecting to do this at an appropriate time can lead to what is colloquially called "tunnel vision." Thankfully, I reassessed before going too far in the wrong direction by following a tunnel that was leading me away from my ultimate goal. Some of you may have noticed that my previous descriptions of Journey's camera behaviours were slightly off target. After playing Journey again and watching a tutorial on UE4 programming, I realized that I am better off starting over again using code instead of blueprints because there is more room for customization. The first step in terms of customization is the same one I outlined in my next post: "to offset the camera's focus from the character to a position directly in front of him." My plan is to start by implementing offset, then move forward towards the vision outlined previously with the additions described below.

  • "Do not focus directly on the player character when it is moving. This pertains to third person cameras that are often made to look directly at the player character, i.e., the position of the player character does not vary in screen space. While this might seem initially to be correct, and it does present the player character well, it is actually undesirable in many cases. Typically, we need to be looking ahead of the character within the environment and to anticipate future actions. However, the rules governing the amount of look ahead are complex..."

Side note: Everyone - even less technical UE4 developers - should watch or follow along with this tutorial series because it describes powerful techniques for blueprints and code, as well as the relationship between a coder and a technical artist as they work together on the same project.

Introduction to UE4 Programming (19 videos)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlv_N0_O1gb5xvsc7VM7pfoRAKLuIcFi

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Real-Time Cameras in Unreal Editor 4 - Part 7

6/8/2014

4 Comments

 
Reference: Mark Haigh-Hutchinson. 2009. "Real-Time Cameras: A Guide for Game Designers and Developers." Elsevier.

I have made a small step forward by implementing a world-relative control reference frame in Unreal Editor 4. The player can rotate the camera around the character without changing the forward direction on the control pad. Unfortunately, I have had to disconnect the automatic turning of the character mesh with the controller, and then hook it up again sloppily for now. I won't be sharing the Blueprint section that controls the current facing direction of the character mesh, and will also hold back from releasing any tutorials until I have got this section at a more polished stage. Until then, I will push on with the goals I described in Part 4 and share my progress with you - but first a camera design guideline from the resource above:
  • "Attempt to keep the player character in view (third person cameras). Total occlusion by geometry or other game objects (or alternatively, view frustum culling) of the main player character will disorient and confuse the player, yet surprisingly few games pay attention to this essential point. Note that this does not necessarily mean focus on the player character directly, nor does it mean that partial or temporary occlusion is not permissible."

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Allows the right control stick on the gamepad to swing the camera around the character

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