First person view like ultima underworld

I think if it was something like Fallout 3 was going to be and fallout tactics was then that'd be great! but also wouldn't you like to feel you were there, like looking face to face so to speak with the world?

nah. iso all the way.

So in the end, I guess it depends on the game and what you are trying to emphasize. When the focus of the game is 'you', I think dropping the camera adds +1 to Immersion checks. I think you need the ability to 'free look' in 3rd person as well, especially if you have frequent height changes. When the focus is the 'party', iso allows you more management of your virtual minions.

Curious. The other day I was discussing the new newsbit released about Thief 3. Apparently it will include 1st and 3rd person perspectives simultaenously. I dislike the concept. Thief was always a game which operated well with 1st person. It had the benefit of a) allowing for a deeper immersion because of the PoV, and B) Thief is a stealth game, based on player's adaptation of shadowy environments around them, and used to explore, or escape. If you want to know if there is something ahead, you go trough an alternate route that enables you to see it, or deploy some form of spy drone, or use some bait tactics like sound to see if there are guards who will enter some search mode. But with 3rd person, it will quite likely remove the underlying gameplay concept, since it appears you can just toggle the camera from 1st to 3rd, rotate it, and see what's in the other side. Wheres the skill in that?

I was thinking of camera angles over the weekend as I was playing NWN. At least on HotU, you can now page up/down the camera to get a horizon view. This is MUCH more immersive for the style of game. Iso works well in party based games (Dungeon Siege, BG1 and 2), but 3rd person is just much more about making the character the focus. Even in KotOR i find this works out well (despite the party based mechanics). You also have the luxury of adding ceilings to your corridors.

 

So much of NWN is lost when you are stuck in iso view. The detail--especially on later tilesets--is completely wasted with the camera pulled out, yet it's the only way to see what's up ahead in the iso view. Now I realize you can switch to over the shoulder, and that's how I generally play NWN now. In DS, that really wasn't an option because of the frequent elevation changes, etc. The only problem with NWN and a close camera is that the older tilesets weren't designed necessarily with that in mind (compare the SoU and HotU tiles to the original game and note the detail differences).

 

So in the end, I guess it depends on the game and what you are trying to emphasize. When the focus of the game is 'you', I think dropping the camera adds +1 to Immersion checks. I think you need the ability to 'free look' in 3rd person as well, especially if you have frequent height changes. When the focus is the 'party', iso allows you more management of your virtual minions.

Yeah, that definitely was one of the key features that made HotU so much better than the original. And the best camera control has to be holding the mouse scrollwheel button, and scrolling to pan. (Also implemented in Soldiers of Anarchy which had the best camera control I've seen).

 

In Silent Storm, one of the things that really bugged me was that you couldnt drop the camera to ground level, probably having to do w/ not intersecting walls and interiors. Maybe a solution would be to toggle between having everything between the camera and the player "disappear", and be visible.