Video Game Perspective

Introduction

The term perspective means is how a video game is viewed and how one can interact with the game. Visual perspective is extremely important when considering to design/create a video game. It is vital when deciding how the world of your game will be viewed and how your characters will look. This must be decided before any of the design work is applied as it has a major roll on effect to the design of the main character(s) and the non-playing characters. It will also affect the terrain, architecture and other objects that will be included into the game world. 


There are four main types of perspectives used within video game designs, these are:

• First person (e.g. Battlefield, Destiny, Call of Duty)
• Third person (Uncharted, Last of Us, Assassin’s Creed)
• Aerial (Micro Machines, Clash of Clans, Sims)
• 2D & scrolling view (Super Mario, Crash Bandicoot, Street Fighter)

First Person Perspective

First person perspective allow you to view the game world through the main characters field of vision. This can vary from a viewpoint inside a cockpit of a plane, inside a vehicle of a racing game or the main type which is looking through a player’s viewpoint in a first person shooter. Call of Duty for example, allows you to view through the main character’s field of vision and allows you to see and experience what your character is going through, meaning that you are fully immersed into the game. furthermore, there are extremely old first person games, such as Doom, in this the graphics is not as detailed, much more simple and doesn't require as much data as Call of Duty for example. these are shown in the videos below:




Advantages

One of the biggest advantages of experiencing a first-person shooter game, is the realistic feel of the game. The realism of the game allows players to become immersed into the game, as every action that is taken place, making the player feel like they have performed these actions. First person games have a more narrow view of the game world, but a more detailed sight, therefore when doing stealth missions, such as assassinating an enemy or creeping along a dark alleyway becomes more nerve wrecking.

The fact that first person games present such a narrow viewpoint, this is felt to help players shoot with better accuracy as you are more aware of where you are aiming with your character; with or without the presence of a cross hair. Aside from the mechanisms of the game, first-person shooters help the players' mental agility. Through looking at studies, it has been found out to help improve players' reaction time when switching between everyday tasks; improving basic skills such as multitasking, driving, and navigation skills.

Disadvantages

Although first person shooters allows players to immerse into the game, there are cons to this type of perspective. First-person shooters have a number of drawbacks. One of the main disadvantages of playing first person games is that there is a significant lack of field of vision. Although this perspective makes game play look more realistic, the field of vision is very limited, thus creating a tunnel vision effect; making your character to become more vulnerable to attacks from the back. Also, field of vision become even more limited when when hiding behind objects.

Another setback from playing first-person shooters is that sometimes players may find it difficult to control their character(s). The importance of the sensitivity of the movement of your character and and control layout is significant, as it determines how you control your character. Moreover, if the sensitivity of the movement of the character is too high, this may result in people becoming prone to motion sickness. This will in result cause them to experience nausea when playing a first person shooter, especially if playing online, as you will have to react move quick to avoid enemy fire.


Third Person Perspective

Third-person is a perspective in which the player can visibly see the body of the controlled gamer. The camera angle for third person games are mainly placed from an aerial view behind the character. Furthermore, third person perspective allows you to view more of the terrain and allows you to see enemies at all times, even when under cover. Third person games either place the player on the left hand side of the screen and may be fixed behind the character; as a result, not being able to see the characters face. Whereas most third person games place the character in the centre of the screen where you are able to pan the camera around them, e.g. Uncharted, Assassin's Creed or GTA.

Advantages

There are many perks to playing third person games. One of which is that characters are easier to control. This is because you are able to see more of the terrain and have a better ideology of where the player is moving and placing movements in context. This also allows you to spot enemies better,even when under cover. Third person games have better cover mechanics as the character can hide behind objects without losing their field of vision of the area. 

Third person games also allow you to have better awareness of everything that is around you, specifically what's behind the character. Moreover, first person shooters have a more narrow view, thus making them more vulnerable from attacks coming from the sides and from the behind. In addition, running and jumping is easier as you can accurately judge the distance in the third person. The fact that you can see the character, this means that graphics will ultimate be more detailed as you see him/her constantly; enabling players to see close combat and watch their character apply their best fighting moves in order to defeat the enemy. This adds an extra element of entertainment.

Disadvantages

To all the benefits that third person gaming has, there are also negatives. One of which is that the player is not fully immersed into a game compared to first person shooters. The player may not feel fully involved as the action is somewhat happening at a distance. Likewise, third person shooters are less realistic than first person shooters as the person's point of view is not centred on the character's point of view. Another major nuisance is the awkward camera angles that are in the game; whilst it may be easy to take cover, the camera angles may make it difficult to see enemies or could block your view entirely in certain spaces.

Aerial

Aerial is a bird's eye viewpoint which is an elevated view of the character from above. This camera angle is used in video games that shows the characters and the area around them from above. it is most often used in 2D role playing video games and simulation games. An example of a game which consists of an aerial viewpoint is pokemon.

Advantages

Aerial viewpoints enable the whole of an area to be observed, rather than just a part of the scenery. Aerial viewpoints also provide a current pictorial view of the ground that no map can equal. Furthermore, this bird's eye vision will allow the gamer to see a significant amount of the terrain compared to a first or third person point of view. It allows you to see enemies from areas that are not visible on other perspectives, such as an enemy hiding behind a wall or and enemy coming from attacking from behind. 

Disadvantages

One significant disadvantage of playing a game with an aerial viewpoint is the fact that it is difficult to interpret items without symbols distinguishing the differences, e.g. buildings in a wooded area. In addition, the positions and locations between characters or obstacles are only approximated. This is also because the fact that there is a huge terrain, details of the area could be quite poor. #

2D Scrolling

2D perspective view is a game which is built on a simple platform which uses a 2D view from the side which shows the character moving through the game world. an example of a game which uses a 2D viewpoint is 'Sonic the Hedgehog' or 'Mario'. Games like these mostly consists of a player moving from the left hand side of the screen and defeating obstacles on the right hand side of the screen whilst moving towards the right. 

Advantages

The advantages of this type of perspective are that the game world wouldn't take as much budget or time to create compared to creating an open world game. 

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of creating a 2D scrolling game is the fact that these games are too simple and repetitive. This will result in players becoming bored with game, and ultimately stop playing it. Moreover, these games disallows players to see much of the game world and thus most levels will look fairly similar. 

Video Game Genres

Introduction

In this blog I will be explaining different video game genres which is listed below:

• Sports
• Adventure
• Action
• Simulation
• Strategy
• Puzzle
• Role Play
• Management
• Educational
• Viral Marketing

Sports

A sports game such as Fifa 15 try to mimic a real live sports, in this case it is football. Fifa contains many features, the main feature is playing a football match either against a computer or an opponent. Fifa also allows you to create your own team by buying selling players with Fifa virtual coins, this is called “ultimate team”. Fifa has many more detailed features, as it allows you to experience the atmosphere that is presented in world renowned stadiums around the world such as the famous Camp Nou, Bernabeu and Emirates Stadium.

Adventure

An adventure games allow you to travel and explore different worlds/locations in which you attempt to conquer the game. One example of an adventure game is Uncharted. The aim of this game is to travel around the world in search of ancient artefacts which cost a fortune and are located in dangerous terrains. Furthermore, adventure games are usually played in a third person perspective in order for you to see more of the terrain around you whilst exploring. 

Action

Action game is a video game genre that highlights the physical challenges, including hand-eye coordination and reaction time in order to defeat an enemy. Action games can range from shooters to combat games, these include games such as Call of Duty, Destiny, Tekken etc. Many of these action games share a similar design mechanism, of which your character must progress from one mission to the other, whilst achieving better abilities to complete the levels that become more difficult to. For example, a game like call of duty will give the player an option to get better and upgradeable guns in order to take down harder enemies; a combat game like tekken may need you to learn better fighting moves.

Simulation

A simulation game attempts attempts to copy various activities from real life experiences in the form of a playable video game for a range of purposes such as training, analysis, prediction. In these type of games, there is no specific goal or task you have to achieve, whereas players can freely control their character around the virtual terrain. This type of genre is mostly used for war games, business games and role playing games. One example of a simulation game is ipilot, this simulation allows you to control a virtual plane in order to teach you how to fly an aeroplane. 

Strategy

Strategy games are games that tests your decision making skills and planning in order to win a game against an opponent. It emphasizes strategic and tactical challenges. The outcome of a strategic game is solely based on the decisions you make. For example, chess is a game in which you can achieve victory by outsmarting your opponent in order to take down their king without putting you king under threat. 

Puzzle

This genre is fairly similar to strategy. Puzzle games emphasize puzzle solving. Puzzle games test your problem solving skills including, logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving and word completion. One of the most famous and popular puzzle game that has been played is tetris. In this game you must use the different shapes to complete a line.

Role Play
The aim of a role playing game is that players take on the role of an imaginary character in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out the roles of a narrative, this is either through literal acting, decision making or character development. World of Warcraft is a prime example as you create a fictional character and travel around a virtual reality trying to conquer.

Educational
Educational games are games are specifically designed to assist people in learning about a range of different things such as subjects, expanding concepts, reinforce development, learning about historical events/cultures or help them learn a skill as they play the game. This genre includes game types such as board, card and video games. Educational games are games that are designed to teach s skill in a more fun and enjoyable way. These games help to improve ones decision making and thought processing. Word Hunt is a perfect example of of an educational game, as it allows the player to think of a lot of words quickly to try gain as many points as possible.

Viral Marketing
Viral marketing is a technique in which they tempt websites or users to spread the advertisement through a marketing message to other websites or users. An extremely successful example of a viral marketing is Hotmail; a company which is owned by Microsoft that is designed to promote and advertise its service through their advertisers' messages.