Chapter #4

*Perspective, Scene Design, andBasic Animation

*Perspective Views

First-Person Perspective

Second-Person Perspective

Third-Person Perspective

Changeable-Person Perspective

*First-Person Perspective

*Being the character

*Player see through the eyes of the character

*Used when the player would not be able to see the character being controlled but can see everything the character sees

*Entire background scene moves

*Driving or shooting games

First person is seeing from your character's eyes

First Person Perspective Video Game

*Second Person Perspective

*Least used in video game design

*Opponent’s view (sports games)

Second person would be seeing from the eyes of your target

http://play.bbc.co.uk/play/pen/g38lb8zppy

Platform View…Shows character in profile and a side view of all obstacles

Overhead View…Shows character and surroundings from a perspective high overhead.

* Third Person Perspective -2D games

*Third-Person Perspective

• Also called a spectators view• Most versatile view on a video game• View of a neutral third person• View shows both the player and the

opponent• Allows multiple viewing anglesList angles????

overhead behind any angle left - right forward of the player

third person is seeing from some unrelated parties' eyes

*Third Person…

Platform View• Shows the character profile and a side view of all the

obstacles

Overhead View• Shows the character and surroundings from a

perspective high overhead.

*2D third person

*Platform View

*Overhead view

*Changeable PerspectiveAllows player to set the camera perspectives

*ScenesThe placement of objects on a game frame to create an attractive layout, obstacles, and objectives that convey

the story and mood.

Background…Enhance the gameplay experience – feel and mood of a scene

Color Palette…Set of colors used consistently throughout the scene to maintain mood

Active Object…An object that the player can interact with

Background Object…An object that the player can not interact with

Backdrop…Trees, buildings etc.. Elements of the scenery that the player can touch or walk behind.

*Feel & mood

*Active scenery

*StoryboardsSketches that help organize & plan what will happen in a video game

*Image Properties

Scene dimensions are measured in PIXELS (picture elements)

Pixels…• Smallest points or dote of color a computer

screen can generate• Can only be one color at given time• All objects displayed onscreen are created with

pixels

The higher the dpi the higher the resolution50 dots to make a one inch line = 50 dots per inch (dpi)

*Clarity• Related to the DPI…more DPI increased clarity• Low resolution = pixelated image (blurry)

Interpolation: refining spaces between the pixels• Inter…space between / polation…polishing –finishing

Dithering..• Filling in the spaces between the pixels

Native Poles..Color fill space between two native poles

Interpolated pixel

Adjacent pixels …Native Poles

Screen Dimensions

• More pixels …need more memory to generate items

• Designers need to know what type of computer system the game will be played on.

• 1280 x 780 resolution…create frame to fill 1280 wide x 780 high to fill screen

• Screen dimensions determines the gameplay dimensions…2D…2.5D or….D

ImagesRaster Images• 2D games• Made of dots or pixels• Each pixel has a specific color & location to construct the final

image• Raster image is called a BITMAP…each location is mapped on

a grid• Originally… bitmaps were only made at a bit depth of 1

Bit Depth..• binary measure of color 1=white (black & white only)• Bit depth of 4 = 16 colors / 8 = 256 colors

The smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Zooming in further, they can be analyzed, with their colors constructed by adding the values for red, green and blue

True Color..

RPG colorBit depth of 24 = 16,777,216 colorsHuman eye can only see 10 million colors

Deep Color..Windows 7 up 48 bit depth

Gamut..Deep color produces a gamut of over 1 billion

*Alpha File• Different parts of the object would have different levels of

transparency depending on how much you wanted the background to show through.

• This is especially important for animation, where the background changes from one frame to the next.

Vector Images• not made up of a grid of

pixels

• comprised of paths, which are defined by a start and end point, along with other points, curves, and angles along the way

Compression

Loosy compression-If, after compression, the original file cannot be brought back again (like humpty dumpty), then the compression is said to be Lossy.

Loosless compression -When a file that has been compressed can be decoded back into its original form with zero loss of information, the compression is said to be a Lossless Compression.

Reducing CPU Usages

BlittingThe term blit is shorthand for bit block transfer, which is the process of transferring blocks of data from one place in memory to another. Graphics programmers use blitting to transfer graphics from one place in memory to another. Blits are often used to perform sprite animation, which is discussed later.

Double BufferingTwo buffers are commonly used to speed up program execution. Data are processed in one buffer while data are written into or read out of the other.

Tile-Based Games

Linked

Two Dimensional Games• Can only move up, down, left,

right• Flat characters and background

Linked

Game FrameEntire game world – on & off screen

Visible play area, stage or scopeWhat is displayed on screen

ScrollingWhen the game frame is moved

Sprite character setCollection of 2D assets- poses

* Coordinate systemX = left & right horizontal directionsY= up & down vertical directions

ParallaxCreate depth in 2DMultiple background maps

Linked

*Two & Half Dimensional Games 2.5D

2D backgrounds graphics3D characters & obstaclesHybrid game

Linked

*3D Games

• 3D characters and backgrounds• Sprite are 2D – Models are 3D = X, Y, Z• Computer generated in real time to show correct angle

& pose

Visual PerspectiveCreates the sense of depth using shading and narrowing to represent the third dimension of depth on a 2D screen

Vanishing PointThe point in the background where the edges of all assets meet at a single point.

*Pixel ShadingMove further from light source, things get darkerMove closer to light source, things get brighter

*VerticesPoint on a 3D model where the corners of adjacent faces meet

ScalingDepth

Round objectGeodesic Sphere

LinkedLinked

LINKED

*MeshGluing pieces together

* Active Animation

*Test Review

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