BA4: Game Design Document #25

Discussing Lianna’s Camera

I realised today that we haven’t focused on or designed a camera for Lianna to use in the game. As this is a first person game, the player will only ever see the camera…

• When they look down towards their feet, in game, and see the top of the camera.
  
  
• When they look into a mirror to check for psyche levels and see the reflection of the camera around Lianna’s neck.
  
  
• When the player selects the camera to view the LCD screen at the back to view any photo’s they have taken (rear view only, Lianna would pull the camera up from around her neck so the front of the camera would never be in shot)
  
  
• When the player wants to take a photo, Lianna will pull the camera up in front of her. The player would see this in their first person perspective and as the camera is pulled towards them (Lianna’s face) it would switch to the camera view port where an aiming reticule would be displayed. 
  
  Unlike Fatal Frame, Distorted Delirium will use a modernised camera to reflect the current day setting. Where fatal frame uses the “Camera Obscura”, an old fashioned camera roughly translated from Japanese as a “shadow-shooting mechanism”, Distorted Delirium will incorporate a modern DLSR camera with built in flash. 

 Image referrences:

http://images.wikia.com/fatalframe/images/d/d1/FFII_camera_obscura.png  http://c227329.r29.cf1.rackcdn.com/000/002/278/original_free%20DSLR%20deals.jpg?1316025233

 

How & Why is the Camera Used in Distorted Delirium?

The camera will be used for 2 primary things, solving puzzles and in game documentation. This is so that the player can progress through the game as well as having unlimited access to a camera to feed their  curiosity of the game.  For example, the player might feel intrigued about a monster and want to photograph it to get a better look at it. Although extremely dangerous, the player has free will to do so at their own risk. If there isn’t enough light in the area of the monster (which there most likely wont ever be) then a flash will pop up and fire off alerting the monster to the players position. Not cool. 

Camera Puzzle Example

Imagine a door with 5 padlocks on, you can’t go through. Sad times. Scattered around the museum are paintings which the player can view. In the room with the door is an optional (but obviously placed) note, If the player finds it, it hints/suggests that these paintings have cleverly hidden numbers on them which are not visible to human eye. It goes on to suggest/hint that perhaps a photographed image will display the numbers needed. 

The player must then go and find these paintings, take photographs of them and view the images to find the codes for each lock. Once the player has photographed all 5 paintings and discovered the hidden numbers, they can begin to unlock the door to the next area. 

Designing Lianna’s Camera

For obvious reasons, we can’t give our camera a model, name and brand which is already out there such as Cannon or Nikon. We need the camera to retain an obvious shape so that the player can understand what it is but at the same time we need it to be its own design. I am going to draw up a concept piece of the camera today and I am going to start by researching some different models already out there so I have strong visual references. 

We also need to ensure that the camera is not too complicated in appearance as this might discourage the player if they aren’t knowledgeable of DSLR cameras. DLSR cameras have a variety of shooting modes, buttons and dials which give the photographer as much control over their image as they need. Of course Lianna would understand all of these functions, she’s a photographer! However our player might not and being faced with camera options would possibly ruin the experience for them. 

 

This is why we haven’t included manually changing the camera settings as part of the game. The camera design needs to resemble the simplicity of a compact camera but still physically look like a professional camera so that it stays true to the story. 

So, this is where my group and I decided it would be best to give Lianna a compact DSLR camera. These are cameras which have the more simple user interfaces of a compact camera regarding buttons and layout but keep the freedom and lens alterations of a professional DLSR camera.  This way they player wont feel overwhelmed by an array of buttons whenever they look at the camera. The game isn’t supposed to be a photography lesson but at the same time it needs to remain believable! 

I used Jessops' website as they have a huge selection of cameras with images and specs. I went through the compact DSLR cameras to find ones with interesting shapes. I want one that looks as close to a proper fully sized DSLR but with a simple user interface. Here are my visual references and research images.

 My next plan of action is to use these images as reference as I design a camera for Lianna to use, or at least design something that gives the reader of the design document a better understanding of a camera she could. I want to make sure the design is a simple cross over between professional and compact DSLRS's so that camera/interface isn't over complicated (as this might put players off). I have included this so that you can see we havn't just added in the camera with no thought. I am trying to show how we have thought about the camera both visually AND practically for the player :D