In contemporary game design, to establish effective key performance indicators (KPIs), you need to focus on game design in your gameplay, including user experience.
In this research, we’re looking at how to improve user experience and KPIs in hyper-casual games by adjusting the camera perspective based on player locations and challenges, so I am going to talk about the variety of cameras that are used in gameplay.
The purpose of this study is to explore some points about cameras for hyper-casual games through four well-known video games. Considering these points about a good perspective and camera can make a big difference in how players see the game world.
The purpose of this research is to see if we can boost user experience and increase consequently KPI in hyper-casual games if we can find the best camera for each player based on their location and game challenges.
Table of Contents
The Role of Camera in Hyper-casual Games
The right camera for the right gameplay: the camera you choose can play a big role in the potential success of your game!
There is no good or bad camera in mobile games inherent. It Is important to pick the one that will be better because with camera choice you directly impact the understandability of your game which is a key in user experience (UX) in hyper-casual games.
Camera in hyper-casual games
Hyper-casual games should use a close-up camera angle to draw the player’s attention to one action. Don’t overcrowd the screen with too many things that can cause users to miss crucial game mechanics. You can make your game more fun and clearer by experimenting with different camera angles. However, changing the camera angle might not always be necessary.
To elucidate, to make a UX hyper-casual game successful, choose a camera perspective that highlights the gameplay; this approach generally works better with idle and runner games than with puzzle games.
To draw the user’s attention to one action, use a zoomed-in camera angle. When there are too many objects on the screen, the user may not know where to look and miss the main game mechanics. By zooming in, you’ll get the user’s attention on the action you want.
Comparison between video and mobile games
Camera model’s impact:
Camera models shape players’ perspectives in both video games and mobile games. The player or designer often chooses the camera in video games, while mobile games also use camera systems to highlight the core gameplay.
We can find the best camera for each player depending on their location and challenges in the game.
Significance of Camera:
The camera plays an important role in video and mobile games. It can change how players perceive the game world and interact with it. What makes the core of the experience of your game, and it has quite a dramatic impact on your game.
Freedom of Movement:
Mobile games, particularly hyper-casual ones, have constraints on camera movement compared to movies. This limitation emphasizes the importance of precise camera positioning and movement in mobile games, even small mistakes can cause problems.
A badly framed shot in a film is just distracting or boring, hence bad use of the camera in a game means you may not be able to progress at all.
Invisibility of the Camera:
In both PC and hyper-casual games most of us don’t notice the “camera” in a game until it does something badly. Once the action is obscured or we wrestle with an objective because we can barely see it, the camera’s movement takes center stage. It’s almost always a horrible thing. Ideally, the camera should be all but invisible, allowing the scene to be shown to its fullest while helping us feel whatever the heck the game would like us to feel at that moment.
By taking lessons from movies and video games, we can make hyper-casual games more effective.
Character position
In mobile games, your character should always be in the “playable zone” under the users’ fingers, not in the middle. It seems like a small thing, but it’s important to improve your creativity. These mechanics are the building blocks of game design.
In hyper-casual games, the right camera has an essential role in showcasing gameplay. It is important to consider the camera character’s position to make the interaction smooth.
PC games feature intricately designed characters and narratives that are often complex. Mobile games, on the other hand, typically feature simpler character designs.
Types of camera perspectives
A game’s perspective can affect the player’s immersion and interaction with it. This is to say that understanding the various camera perspectives is essential in the context of video games. In 3D video games, virtual camera systems control the view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; more generally, this technology comes into play when a third-person view is the other on a day.
In 3D games, first-person and third-person perspectives are often used. Meanwhile, 2D games typically use top-down, side view, and isometric camera perspectives.
Now, let’s shift our focus to mobile game camera perspectives.
2 D:
A 2D camera is like in old games like Mario & Luigi. It stays to the side and follows the character. It’s easy to set up. This helps players see everything and plan their moves. 2D games are good for skilled players. Indie game makers like them because they’re simple to use and make unique games.
2.5 D:
2.5D is a design technique that adds depth to a 2D world, making it appear somewhat in 3D. Our layers have real depth, as evident in the cool parallax effect.
In a 2.5D game, you can go up, down, left, and right like in 2D games, but it looks like you’re in a 3D place, achieved with camera tricks or moving between the front and back.
Top-Down:
These cameras give players a high-level view of the game world. They are placed above the game level, making them great for 2D role-playing and real-time strategy games.
Isometric:
To get an isometric view of an object, pick a direction where the angles between the x, y, and z axes look the same, like 120 degrees. For instance, looking at a cube, start by facing one side directly.
First-person perspective:
In the first-person perspective, the camera matches the player’s character’s view; so, the virtual camera is usually positioned around the player’s eyes, moving and rotating like the character and boosting UX.
This first-person approach brought some freshness to the market. The main advantage of a first-person camera is that it puts you as a player, so it helps highlight the power or the consequences of your actions. On the other hand, since the character is invisible it may reduce the skin and the monetization opportunities in your game and consequently, it leads to the video game being understandable.
Third-person perspective:
The 3rd person is the best camera to showcase your runners’ third-person action games for several reasons.
Firstly, it allows players to see what is coming ahead and allows them to anticipate better and react to the different enemies or obstacles.
Secondly, showing the character at the forefront of the action helps the precision of the controls and thus the monetization.
Finally, a wide variety of angles can be used with this view since you can zoom out very close and third-person cameras show more of the game, including the character’s body and movement.
As well as camera you must be careful about things like the color contrasts, especially when your characters are small. Sometimes not paying attention to the camera can cause a lack of visibility.
Camera systems in 3D:
In 3D video games, a virtual camera system displays a view of a virtual world by controlling a camera or set of cameras. The purpose of camera systems in video games is to show action from the best angle; more generally, they are used in 3D virtual worlds when a third-person view is required. We can primarily divide third-person camera systems into three types.
Fixed points
The first uses fixed points at the game level. In fixed camera systems, the camera does not move at all, and the system displays the player’s character in a succession of still shots. Thus, we can use this camera in light puzzles and simulation games.
With a fixed camera system, the developers set the properties of the camera, such as its position, orientation, or field of view, during the game creation. The camera views will not change dynamically, so the same place will always be shown under the same set of views.
Many games with fixed cameras use tank controls (in video games), whereby players control character movement relative to the position of the player character rather than the camera position.
Tracking cameras
The character follows his path. Tracking cameras, on the other hand, follow the character’s movements.
Interactive camera
Interactive camera systems are partially automated and allow the player to directly change their view and players can change their direction.
Moreover, according to these lessons, hyper-casual games are more enjoyable when they combine narrative, spatial, and aesthetic design.
Additionally, with different camera angles in your creative video game, you can engage the user more effectively and it is more likely to reduce CPI.
This strategy is not only useful in gameplay, but also it is also practical in creating video games. Placing the camera behind the character in the game makes it look like users are playing like this character. This camera angle makes the game more realistic without changing the mechanics. The success of this creativity in lowering the CPI has led us to change the gameplay and add a few levels that allow us to play like this character.
Analyzing cameras in 4 videos and PC games
Learning from Video & PC Games: enhancing hyper-casual game experiences through camera insights. To enhance user experiences in hyper-casual games, I researched video game techniques and their potential applications.
1- In the Legend of Zelda, an action-adventure video game series, known for its diverse gameplay. It excels in camera control, allowing players to customize the camera based on their objects, including wind sail setup also it works with the aesthetics. It is recommended that other games consider adopting such a flexible camera option.
2. In a game called The Last Guardian, The camera is very well. When danger occurs or your character enters the area of that danger, the camera smartly zooms in on the threat, but it only shows what type of danger not all of the danger. Moreover, when you reach a new area, the camera provides a clear view of your surroundings. This outstanding camera work enhances the gaming experience.
To elucidate if two characters reach the new area, the camera shows the area and players can sometimes see the world from the boy’s perspective (the character in this gameplay), allowing them to empathize with his experiences. This is why this camera usage is done well.
You are supposed to make sure that the camera is spaced properly on the screen to give you an idea of the vastness of the land. It is important to make sure that this is included.
This camera movement is good because it portrays the speed of the horse. This camera angle could also be bad because it shows most of the floor and less of the landscape than it should.
3. In Metal Gear Solid, the camera angle stands out for positioning the character from an overhead perspective and is known for its stealth-based gameplay.
This camera angle works well, as it allows the character to check corners and areas where they can’t see so it helps them remember where to go more easily. Moreover, it offers players the opportunity to look at and identify enemies, a crucial aspect of this stealth game.
4- Shadow of the Colossus creative positions and framed the player to the side of the screen to let you see the environment more. The camera is set at a low angle, to show vastness of the world.
This clever camera work keeps the player engaged by offering a combination of perspectives beyond the main character. It also zooms the camera out when you are going fast to show a sense of speed.
In addition, camera movement is eye-catching in this game (The camera movement in the game was a 1/3). It shows more scenery, making it visually pleasing. It also gives the character more speed because the camera is lagging behind the character. So, this game uses good camera movement in the game and increases user experience.
On the other hand, watching top hyper-casual game videos provides valuable lessons for designing gameplay and creating engaging videos.
Conclusion
Consequently, choosing the right camera for your game is crucial for its potential success and it totally depends on the scene! There are so many camera angles and there are so many possible solutions for these problems.
Although there is no best word, no best camera angle, and no best anything, that is why the choice and these camera considerations can enhance your KPIs, especially the user experience.
It’s important to regularly review the metrics you measure to ensure they are genuinely valuable, rather than spending excessive time collecting data just for the sake of it.
By taking lessons from movies and video games, we can make the hyper-casual game more effective.