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.