Camera
This is a first-person game, so the camera will be fixed into the character eyes most part of the time. The animations will show everything from the character’s “eyes” perspective. Jericho Daponte (the main character) is 1,90 meters tall, so it will be characters that the camera point will be into their eyes/nose/lips and others into their forehead, showing the different statures of the characters. It is important to show the movements always from the perspective of Jericho’s eyes. So, if the players look to the left, for example, the camera will stay fixed into his eyes, showing the head movement or the body movement, regarding how extreme is the turn that the players need. (Jericho is not an owl, is a human, so the head only moves a concrete degree. More degrees will make that the entire body move).
General Goals for the Camera
Allow the players to feel the experience.
This is a first-person game, this allows the players to “become” in the character (Jericho Daponte) and live his life. Traveling around the map, meeting NPCs and having different experiences. For this reason, the main camera is fixed to the character’s “eyes”. So the movement of the camera represents the movement of the character head and eyes.
Allow Morrigan to manipulate the players.
The special takes of the eyes and the mouth of Morrigan will allow her to convince the players of her intentions and manipulate them or even make them fall in love with her.
Symbolism.
Some special takes will show the symbolism of the death and the spirit’s world that is so important in Galician and Celtic folklore.
Allow the players explore the world with freedom.
Have a first person camera allow the players move with freedom and explore with naturally.
Specific Cameras
Death
The Death Cam is really important in this game, how you can read in the section Health, Drugs and Damage/Death.
Because I want to show the importance of the death in the folklore, it will be important scripted the different camera behavior for the different Death Cams (for example, if the player dies to get shot or if he dies for an explosion, the cam will have different behaviors). However, in general, the camera will be fixed in the eyes of the character (Jericho) allowing the players to see the action in the first-person.
Because it is animation the control of the camera will be blocked to avoid the player miss the animation.
The Death Cam has two parts:
- When the player dies (after getting shot, for example). In this one, the camera behavior is different depending on the type of death.
- The Mist. This is the symbolic one. It will be a short animation and is the reason why Jericho (the players) can still live (play) after dying. In this one, the camera behavior is always the same, fixed in the Jericho’s eyes.
Combat
The combat cameras need to be scripted for the different types of combat, damage and weapons. For example, if the players use a rocket launcher or if they receive a sniper bullet, the camera will show a strong recoil movement.
The camera will be always fixed into the character eyes and the player will be able to move the camera freely.
SPECIAL ABILITIES CAMERA: EXECUTIONS
During the execution, the camera will be blocked in the enemy.
SPECIAL ABILITIES CAMERA: DEAD SHOOT
During this ability the camera will be blocked in the enemy, following him after being throw and activating the slow camera when he hit the ground. The slow camera will be focused on the center of the enemy until the reticle turns red and the players can be able to do the shoot.
Dialog Scenes
There are two different dialog scenes:
- When the players interact with the NPCs (Important dialogs. Like the missions ones). The camera will be blocked into the NPCs, like in a normal conversation.
- When some random NPC talk with the player (Not so important dialogs. Random dialogs). In these cases the camera control will be free, so the players can choose if they want to look at the NPC or not.
Zone Inspection
The zone inspection is made with three different devices from the Diary:
THE DRONE (AIR DEVICE)
The camera will show the hand of the character releasing the drone and taking the Diary (like a smartphone) to see the drone camera on it. Then the players will see everything from the air. The camera will be fixed into the drone camera and it will move with the drone movements. (Like the drone in Ghost Recon Wildlands)
THE ANT (EARTH DEVICE)
The camera will show the character bending down, letting the device into the ground, and taking the Diary to see the Ant camera on it. The players will see everything from the ground, at ankle height, more or less. The camera will show the Ant movements, if it jumps or if the climbs a wall for example. (Like the ground drone in Ghost Recon Rainbow Six Siege)
THE BUBBLE (WATER DEVICE)
The players can throw the Bubble to the water like a ball, and the camera will show the animation of the character’s hand taking the device and throwing away, or release it into the water while they are diving, so the camera will show the device during a second floating in the water before jump to the device camera.
The device camera will be active once the Bubble is in the water. The camera will move in a mechanic way (like the needles of a clock) showing images in 360º. The Bubble can swim very fast and the camera will stay still showing the water speed, however, when the Bubble is floating in the water, the camera will show some up and down movements representing that.
«Point of Interest» Cameras
Enemy Attacks
The players can be attacked by animals and other enemies, like the snipers with their knives, that will generate an interactive scene. The animation will show the enemy attacking the player in different ways (it will depend on the enemy) and the character defending himself with his hands, with an indicator of a button or a sequence of buttons that the players need to press regarding complete the scene successfully.
The camera in these scenes will focus on the enemy’s eyes, hands (weapons) or movements, to be able to emphasize the aggressiveness of the enemy and produced into the player the sensation of danger and urgency. The camera will be shaken with violence with the enemy’s attacks, but without losing the enemy of sight.
Non-Interactive Cinematics
During the cinematics, the camera will stay fixed in Jericho’s eyes but will focus on some specific details that will reinforce the other characters. For example, Angela Vila is a sexual woman, she loves using her beauty and the sex to get everything that she wants. For this reason, when Jericho is talking with her in a cinematic, the camera will focus on her lips or in her neckline, making the scene sensual. In Morrigan’s case, the camera will focus more on her eyes and on her lips, giving to the player the sensation that she is talking directly to them. This, of course, will be accompanied by light (more white for Angela and more red for Morrigan), shadows, music, the colors (for example, red lips or smoky eyes) and the background (for example, blurred or with some extras in the back that will give weight to the scene).
