Game dev related

[Bonknuts]

I just saw this site: http://gamasutra.com/blogs/ItayKeren/20150511/243083/Scroll_Back_The_Theory_and_Practice_of_Cameras_in_SideScrollers.php
It's got a lot of animated gifs, so it takes a while to fully load up.
It basically discusses different types of "cameras" for 2D games. You wouldn't think there is a camera in a 2D game, like with 3D games, but indeed there are. They show some popular games, too.

[NightWolve]

Pretty cool.

Hey look, ole Fighting Street made it in there!



Something about this one, I think I read there was drama with the developer(s) and what not.

[esteban]

I just saw this site: http://gamasutra.com/blogs/ItayKeren/20150511/243083/Scroll_Back_The_Theory_and_Practice_of_Cameras_in_SideScrollers.php
It's got a lot of animated gifs, so it takes a while to fully load up.
It basically discusses different types of "cameras" for 2D games. You wouldn't think there is a camera in a 2D game, like with 3D games, but indeed there are. They show some popular games, too.

That's very interesting. I think we all have examined games and contemplated how different design choices might have affected the game.

We have even addressed the concept of "camera" without using that term, per se.

I'm not even taking about moments in games with blind jumps...I am thinking of moments when your avatar sprite must get dangerously close to the edge of the screen before triggering the next screen, etc.

[NightWolve]

We have even addressed the concept of "camera" without using that term, per se.

Yeah, terms like "scrolling."

[spenoza]

I think for lower budget indie games and homebrew console games, camera movement and momentum/movement physics are the two biggest challenges to overcome. Far too often games are characters who are either floaty or slippery with cameras that tend to zip around far too quickly.

[Black Tiger]

The scroll position in Exile II is one of the game's problems.

[SamIAm]

That was really interesting. It was the kind of thing I had thought about before, but never understood at much depth. Thanks for sharing!

As an aside, the scroll boundary being too close to the edge of the screen is maybe the only real criticism I have of Xanadu II, otherwise my favorite action RPG on the system.

[ccovell]

(double-post deleted)

[ccovell]

As an aside, the scroll boundary being too close to the edge of the screen is maybe the only real criticism I have of Xanadu II, otherwise my favorite action RPG on the system.

That's because Xanadu (I'm assuming), and a lot of other games on systems (mainly Japanese PCs / ZX Spectrum...) with no scrolling hardware used the "push scrolling" method.  It's probably not mentioned on that page, because push-scrolling largely sucks shit.

(Well, to visualize what push scrolling is, think of how Moto-Roader pushes the trailing car back into the centre of the screen, except that push scrolling does this with the leading character, with tile-based updates rather than smooth scrolling.)

[SamIAm]

Er, I meant Legend of Xanadu II on the PCE.

[ccovell]

Yes, I know you meant on the PCE, but its origins were on Japanese PCs that had such afflictions too...

[Bonknuts]

The have a push-screen example and also explain why it was popular (among systems that didn't have hardware scrolling).

 If you've looked at the site and have seen all the examples, can you spot the differences in PCE games? Just look at Bonk vs Bonk's Revenge. They changed the camera type (both horizontal and vertical positioning).