Hitman: Absolution actually has a very simple camera, that they maintain through cinematic gameplay sequences without many changes from when Agent 47 is running or sneaking normally. The main camera is not much more advanced than the default UE4 Third Person Project Camera. There are differences in height or boom from crouching to standing, aiming mode with toggle crossover, and a maximum upward pitch that is maintained when colliding with the wall or floor. These cameras work the same in or out of cover, unlike other games (GoW) that have cover specific cameras. There are other cameras for unique situations like shimmying across ledges and hiding in a closet, but those will be discussed in a later post.
Crouch to Crouched Aiming and Standing to Standing Aiming (no mouse movement)
These are what the player sees when transitioning between the various crouch and aiming modes. The camera height does not change between Standing and Standing Aiming, but it increases when transitioning from Crouched to Crouched Aiming. The lift is quite abrupt, made palatable only because it is triggered by direct player action.This feature allows the same camera to be used for cover shooting mechanics, where the player must slightly expose their avatar to takes shots (also revealing their location in the process).
Notice that the reticule never leaves the center of the screen, even when passing behind the avatar's head
This is an interesting implementation of a feature that is popular in cover shooters when the player is using a pillar, or long narrow object, as cover and has a choice of shooting to the left of it or shooting to the right. Hitman: Absolution allows the player to link-up with cover, and a rather sophisticated movement system when in cover. These systems handle the typical cases where players would need to toggle reticule crossover while aiming, and I played the entire game without realizing this game had the ability to manually toggle crossover. Furthermore, it seems to cause more problems than it solves because it shifts the reticule independent of player input, is hard to use in quick reflex situations, and temporarily places the reticule on the back of the avatar's head, breaking immersion.
My guess is that this feature is for stealth gameplay reasons, and is expected to be used to see around corners like lean in first person shooters. Removing the reticule while it passes through the blind spot of Agent 47's head would made it harder to know where one's reticule will be when it reappeared on screen. The low Field of View in the aim modes makes the reticule crossover difficult to achieve, and my complaints were likely viewed as acceptable compromises.
My guess is that this feature is for stealth gameplay reasons, and is expected to be used to see around corners like lean in first person shooters. Removing the reticule while it passes through the blind spot of Agent 47's head would made it harder to know where one's reticule will be when it reappeared on screen. The low Field of View in the aim modes makes the reticule crossover difficult to achieve, and my complaints were likely viewed as acceptable compromises.
The camera starts at max upward pitch with the avatar facing a wall directly in front of them and walks away
A lot of the camera collision issues in this game are solved in the least costly way. Sometimes the solution moves the avatar out of the game screen, but the developers did not seem to mind such sacrifices in the name of simplicity.
Here, we see that the camera's upward pitch is locked even when the avatar walks up close with the camera in between him and the wall. As the avatar walks away, the camera slides down the wall, moving forward first and then down and back with each few steps forward. The motion is not elegant, but the movement is smooth. The bottom and middle right stills show the camera sliding across the floor and maintaining its maximum distance from the player. These still show the shortest possible distance between the camera and the avatar's feet.
Unlike many third person games, especially platformers, the avatar's feet are rarely on screen - only when the player pitches the camera downwards by a significant degree.
This makes some of the thinner walkways challenging to traverse, and the content shows that the developers were aware of this limitation. The Library in the mission Run For Your Life does incorporate a short traversal challenge, but the path is wide and forgiving, with no threats from above so the player can focus downwards and look at their feet.
Now that we have taken a look at the main gameplay camera, I will catalogue and describe the other cameras in this game in my final article about Hitman: Absolution.
Here, we see that the camera's upward pitch is locked even when the avatar walks up close with the camera in between him and the wall. As the avatar walks away, the camera slides down the wall, moving forward first and then down and back with each few steps forward. The motion is not elegant, but the movement is smooth. The bottom and middle right stills show the camera sliding across the floor and maintaining its maximum distance from the player. These still show the shortest possible distance between the camera and the avatar's feet.
Unlike many third person games, especially platformers, the avatar's feet are rarely on screen - only when the player pitches the camera downwards by a significant degree.
This makes some of the thinner walkways challenging to traverse, and the content shows that the developers were aware of this limitation. The Library in the mission Run For Your Life does incorporate a short traversal challenge, but the path is wide and forgiving, with no threats from above so the player can focus downwards and look at their feet.
Now that we have taken a look at the main gameplay camera, I will catalogue and describe the other cameras in this game in my final article about Hitman: Absolution.
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