Camera - Fixed Perspective

Mark Lipina

As part of our camera experiments, I created a demo with a fixed camera perspective, akin to the original Resident Evil. In my implementation, the player can translate their avatar with the left stick and turn left + right with the right stick. The player’s view camera is always locked to a fixed position. It allows the player to look around, but each camera position has with it its own "base orientation", allowing dutch angles and other interesting camera orientations that the designer has control over.

Viewing your avatar in third person is a very strange experience in VR. I was able to stomach it, but depending on what constraints you put on the player’s viewing camera, it may be prone to motion sickness since the camera may not move with your head. Being able to position a character in third person, or at least their hands and head, allows the player to “act out” motions and see their motions from a distance. Playing this demo I found myself much more aware of my stance and how I was “acting”. First person VR experiences, even those which feature a full body rig, don’t allow much visual focus on how the player acts and positions their body. Third person experiences might allow a greater emphasis on that.

This idea could be explored further by incorporating meaningful actions the player can take, like aiming a flashlight with their hand, operating equipment, or using a weapon such as a gun with a laser attached. Changing whether the player can rotate or translate the “view camera” by moving their head is also an area to explore, as well as alternate types of cameras or camera positions. Examples might include cameras which can be controlled by devices found in the game world, cameras which move along a path, or cameras which can be “picked up” and held in the player’s hands, even.