3rd person cameras part 2

After playtesting the 3^rd person level with a controllable camera, the overall by-the-numbers outcome was similar, with about half and half going towards light and dark. There were a few key differences in how players acted.

Half of the 6 players missed this cake, running straight past it at the beginning. This could be for 2 reasons, either they didn’t think that they could pick up the cakes (something that they do realise when looking at the second) or they didn’t notice it due to the brightness of the light and the white texture on the cake, making it blend in.

Players were also more likely to go down this dark alleyway. 5 of the 6 players went down here, as opposed to just 1 player when the camera was fixed.

When placing the cameras I made a conscience decision to compose the shot so that the most emphasis was placed on the lit corner to see if it made any difference when the player could control the camera, and it has. The fixed camera position looks to have made the dark path less noticeable and thus a lot less likely for the player to go down. From this it would seem that visual composition, and how the information is presented to the player has an extra layer of influence on the players actions then if they were allowed to control how it was presented.

Something I think I could look into whether or not the presentation of information has a greater influence then the information itself.

Also, if a designer controlled camera was used to guide the player, say in a fixed third person view, what would happen if the player was suddenly given control, maybe from a first person perspective. Would they feel uncomfortable with this control? Would it be like having the training wheels on a bike suddenly disappear? Would there be a greater feeling of freedom and choice?