LogInJellyCar creator Walaber explained why Nintendo aligned the camera with the direction the arrow would fly.
In case you missed it, several days ago, Solo Game Developer and the creator of JellyCar and JellyCar Worlds Tim FitzRandolph, a.k.a. Walaber, shared an insightful Twitter thread offering a closer look at in-game cameras.
As part of the thread, the developer offered an interesting and surprisingly easy technique that can help one understand camera behavior in any game by simply overlaying two lines on the screen and observing the results. Noting that he has "never done this and *not* noticed something interesting", Walaber went on to discuss the camera setups in JellyCar Worlds, sharing more interesting techniques along the way.
Experimenting with his "two lines" technique, the developer also decided to analyze Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, paying particularly close attention to its bow-aiming zoom camera. Walaber was quick to notice that, unlike many other third-person games, the camera zooms in directly behind Link and not behind his shoulder.
Using Unity, Walaber has set up a neat visualization that clearly shows how such cameras work in other games and explains why Nintendo could have decided to align the camera with the direction the arrow would fly.
According to the developer, it is highly likely that Nintendo "chose clarity over cinematic impact" in order to avoid the discrepancy between where the player character is looking and the aiming line that is going through the point on the screen into the scene in 3D space, represented by the reticle. You can check out the full breakdown attached above or by visiting Walaber's Twitter page.
Inspired by Tim's third-person aiming breakdown, Senior Game Designer at Naughty Dog Derek Mattson also shared a comprehensive thread explaining how the studio approached the issue in The Last of Us: Part II. You can access the full thread by clicking this link.
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