Feature Request: Camera options
Wouldn't it be really great if you could check a box in the settings menu which would drastically cut down on the camera angle-switch between characters during a conversation?
Just for those of us who grew up on classic adventure games that were made in that format.
It seems like it'd only be a few lines of code to write.
Just for those of us who grew up on classic adventure games that were made in that format.
It seems like it'd only be a few lines of code to write.
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Comments
That's probably true - telling the engine to not cut to different camera angles during dialog would probably be not too hard. The problem, though, is the aesthetics involved in making that change. Much like any movie or TV series, when we make a camera cut, we try to take advantage of the new camera angle and make it look it's best. That means that sometimes, when the camera cuts, a character may be re-positioned to look better in that shot, or may be asked to look off-camera way more to the right or left of where the person they're talking to is actually standing, just because in practice the shot reads better than if they were actually looking in the right place. That's just sort of the reality of how you shoot things with multiple cameras... it sounds weird, but that's how it works. Also, when we have a character hand an item to someone else, sometimes that happens on screen, but sometimes it happens with a cut, because the item is unrealistically large or awkward to actually hand to someone, or because we just don't have the time/budget to animate a full item hand-off (they're always harder than you think). If we suddenly just took camera cuts out, the games wound look *extremely* sloppy, as characters would be jumping all over the place during dialogs, inventory items would be popping in andout of existence, etc, etc. We could build the games to work both ways, but that would, in many instances, probably be 1.5x the work, and we haven't got the time for something like that.
Most importantly, though, we like the look of the game with camera cuts in. It's a look we're always working to be better at, and we think it sets our games apart (in a good way) from most other adventure games, aesthetically.
When people film a movie, they don't tell the actors "hold exactly still! we're changing the camera angle!" They actually do the opposite, and re-block everyone in the scene every time the camera cuts, frequently down to the lighting positions. If it's done right, it generally looks more seamless and visually pleasing than if it was shot like a documentary or something. A lot of stuff in our games is of course shot more like a 3-camera sitcom where there are just cameras cutting between the action, but whenever we can (and whenever the scene calls for it) we try to shoot things more like a one-camera TV series or film.
Bah. I'm trying to find a page somewhere that quickly explains the classic 3-camera sitcom setup vs 1-camera setup, but there really isn't anything jumping out at me. How lame.
I've no doubt that there is vast amount of work put into composition within camera angles, afterall, that is what multiple cameras are for, to create a particular aesthetic.
No need to flame me.
Sarcastic much?
No, wait! How about having a playable version of the current episode you're playing on Buster Blaster!
No need to thank me
INFINITY. =O
Maybe you could make single-camera mode an "easter egg" option of sorts. It'd be an interesting combination of nostalgia and a "behind the scenes look."