Lights, camera, fail?

ugh, horrible memories

Yooka-Laylee has brought out an interesting level of criticism now that reviews are flowing around. The camera is especially notable, popping up across many reviews. Now I know it's possible to have a bad camera, even in today's time. Still, I get a little skeptical when people claim the camera is just that bad, especially enough to give it a freakin' 2 out of 10 like some critics have. It's a more isolated one to, not like everybody around the board is smashing the game open like a pinata. Some, including 3D platformer fans of course, are having a great time. Now I'd love to just dismiss the camera complaints as a bunch of uncoordinated guys who aren't suited for these kind of games, much like how some people just don't have the reflexes for a sidescroller, or the accuracy for unassisted shooters. However, I decided to look into things a little deeper, and... well now I'm left wanting to discuss proper 3D cameras, especially after actually experiencing the toybox demo after a late pre-order.

First off, let's get this right, there is a way to do proper 3D 3rd person cameras, and there is a wrong way to do it. Examples exist in the past, and somehow, the present. Getting it just right entails giving players good control of it (360 degrees around the character is nice), making it work well in tight spaces, and having the proper controls to adjust it when such a thing is needed. I'd even go as far as to say that means it needs a first person look mode in most platforming games. It'd also be fantastic to follow in Spyro's steps of having an active and passive choice for cameras. Ideally the end result should be so good, you forget you're even using a camera most of the time, much like how a good shooter doesn't have you think about aiming so much as just doing it. So to recap:

• As much control as possible. Mario 64 is the biggest culprit of bullshit disregard for this I can name, with games as recent as Snake Pass following close behind when I can't even look up half the time to see if there's any collectibles, or better path.
• Prepare for objects and tight spaces! I don't exactly know of the best examples, but that's because they do them so well you don't think about it. Perhaps the best option is to hug closer to the character, which is what Yooka-Laylee's toybox demo does NOT do, and it's really irritating when it can actually get stuck on objects.
• Have camera adjustments ready. You cannot have this break the first rule, about camera control, but it's a balancing act to make sure the camera still does it's job. If you charge forward too hard, there should be a toggle-able way to fix it so the camera follows. However if you jump, it should not be auto-correcting in mid-air.

Correcting recent mistakes:

Watch where you're going!

I lashed on both Snake Pass, and Yooka-laylee (at least it's toybox demo) in that list, and for good reason. They don't have problems that break the game in some significant way I know of, but they have issues that had me thinking "this sucks" in moments where I needed more control.  Snake Pass had this issue where the camera control was never full present. You could turn it and use it as if it were there, but there was no first person button, the zoom felt inconsistent, and on top of that you couldn't always keep it at a leveled view. You had these moments where it wanted to force you to be at an angle, as if you were watching the snake crawl instead of moving it. It was as if the safety bounds for the camera-to-ground level (so you're not looking through the floor) were too broad, so you could never scope out certain areas. On top of that, there was no first-person control to help sort out directions and secrets. As for Yooka-laylee, well... it's a little more worrying since I've only goofed with the toybox.

In the toybox, the camera has fairly bold issues you happen to notice, and I'm not sure how it wasn't caught. One is that physical objects are solid even to the camera, meaning if you walk through an archway or frame and try to look around, you'll get stuck on the wall and unable to look around until you move away from it. As far as I can remember, all good cameras typically zoom rather than lock into a wall. Meanwhile the other problem comes in with a very specific type of platforming, and was nearly on highlight for one of the obstacles there: the camera fights to reset itself behind the characters. It essentially breaks the rules of control for the rule of adjustment, but there's nothing that needs to be adjusted. When a player is making a jump, the camera needs to do what they ask, not what the devs think they would usually ask. You currently cannot make certain longer jumps that watch your shadows, because the camera will take away the perfect angle to watch those shadows, and on top of that just the fact it corrects anything mid-jump can be a distraction. Platformers are for platforming, and if you distract players from platforming, you've failed on polishing your basic mechanic. Not on some 2/10, "game sux and all 3D platformers are terrible", sort of nonsense, but never-the-less it's a flaw and I hope some people find ways to put this into better details than just "the camera sucks, sometimes". I actually might discuss the hate certain corners give to 3D platformers in general some other time on that issue, but for now, I hope I did some good in discussing the cameras.

Keep those cameras going strong, in times of need