FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION
THIRD-PERSON PERSPECTIVE
The third-person perspective keeps the player's avatar constantly in view, as in Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, an action-adventure hybrid. This perspective is common for action-adventures in which the player might need to react quickly (see Figure 19.3).
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FIGURE 19.3 Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb. This is the typical action - adventure perspective. |
If the camera in the third-person perspective always remains behind the avatar's back, however, the view can become rather dull and doesn't let the player appreciate the environment. And unlike pure action games in which the avatar's actions
and motivations are simple, adventure games sometimes need camera perspectives that allow for more subtle situations. In Figure 19.4, from Gabriel Knight 3, Gabriel hides to see when the maid leaves the room.
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The later Gabriel Knight games also allowed the player to move the camera around somewhat (see Figure 19.5)—as do most of the better action games. This mimics how a real person can turn his head to look in a given direction without moving his whole body.
