As a fan of fixed camera survival horror games, I think the camera style in this game need big improvement

[Fe]

I love old school fixed camera survival horror games like Resident Evil 1-3, outbreak and Code: Veronica, Dino Crisis, Fatal Frame, Parasite Eve 2 and Haunting Ground.

That's why this game got my attention, but when I see some gameplay videos it cause me nausea and want to vomit. Because although the cameras are fixed in a place, they always rotate too much like I'm watching camera behavior in 3rd person perspective games.

So what I want to say is that if you can improve the camera behavior, please do because now people who prone to motion sickness will likely to overlook this game.

[Dead Drop Studios]

Thanks for your feedback. I'd be interested to hear some detailed ways to improve the camera after you've had a chance to play first hand. Watching videos sometimes isn't the same as feeling the game play, so it'd be great to hear specific ways after you've played how the camera can be improved. Areas I'm already looking into is keeping the camera focused on a specific rotation angle, reducing/increasing character follow speed, etc...

Thanks again for your interest in the title. If you pick it up, definitely circle back around with some additional feedback. :)

[Stoibs]

I tend to agree.
Love and prefer those aforementioned fixed cam games from the 90's; the cam locations in this one definitely need improvement by comparison.

Only played a bit of the first outbreak scenario so far, and already it doesn't do a great job of giving you enough spatial awareness or vision to see what's ahead.
So many low angle shots spanning 180degrees trying to be 'stylish' or something when a viewpoint up near the roof simply shooting down the current hallway is all that is actually needed.

[Dead Drop Studios]

Thanks for the feedback here, Stoibs.

I was trying to find the middle ground of having the camera be usable, but sometimes not always giving you a perfect lay of the land. I'll continue to work to improve the camera positioning in future patches. :)

Thanks again for playing. If you haven't already, please consider filing a positive Steam review if you feel the game deserves it. Thanks again for playing and your feedback! :)

[Cecire]

As someone who burned hundreds of hours on the Outbreak series I can't even begin to describe my excitement for this game. And admittedly, the camera is being a bit of a downer but Early Access.

I suppose my problem with it is fixed cameras are great, but maybe in the Outbreak scenario in particular you have hallways set up that, for example, have the depth of an entire store like say Walmart end of the back all the way to looking out to the front. It kind of forces you to need to pull and shove the camera multiple times. An example of an incredibly large building with big scale would be Act IV in Outbreak-- the police station. It has incredible scale for the main lobby but at the same time pulls the camera significantly back to represent said scale.

But if you look at Resident Evil most of the camera transitions are obvious and natural. While you'll get weird shots like looking towards a door and having a zombie your character should 'see' smack you, its something you'll get used to knowing to fish for a door. You also get the natural sight lines that upon going into it, it'll be a different angle. Or if you go underneath a rafter, or reach a staircase, etc. Its organic and while confusing at first, you recognize patterns pretty quickly and can adapt.

Here its visually difficult to tell when a camera angle is going to occur. And a lot of the reason it feels that way is the distance the camera will follow or trail after you. Its something RE did once in a blue moon but it was incredibly infrequent-- only used for tension for perspective on 'windows' to try to scare you into thinking something would smash into it.

More camera perspectives that feel like Ls or U's or angles going into other angles would feel a lot better than the ambiguous camera trails. I'm not sure how well or useful this feedback would be this far into development, but I hope it kind of clarifies some of the misgivings of this sort of camera. Because fixed can definitely work.

[Dead Drop Studios]

Originally posted by Reivur:

As someone who burned hundreds of hours on the Outbreak series I can't even begin to describe my excitement for this game. And admittedly, the camera is being a bit of a downer but Early Access.

I suppose my problem with it is fixed cameras are great, but maybe in the Outbreak scenario in particular you have hallways set up that, for example, have the depth of an entire store like say Walmart end of the back all the way to looking out to the front. It kind of forces you to need to pull and shove the camera multiple times. An example of an incredibly large building with big scale would be Act IV in Outbreak-- the police station. It has incredible scale for the main lobby but at the same time pulls the camera significantly back to represent said scale.

But if you look at Resident Evil most of the camera transitions are obvious and natural. While you'll get weird shots like looking towards a door and having a zombie your character should 'see' smack you, its something you'll get used to knowing to fish for a door. You also get the natural sight lines that upon going into it, it'll be a different angle. Or if you go underneath a rafter, or reach a staircase, etc. Its organic and while confusing at first, you recognize patterns pretty quickly and can adapt.

Here its visually difficult to tell when a camera angle is going to occur. And a lot of the reason it feels that way is the distance the camera will follow or trail after you. Its something RE did once in a blue moon but it was incredibly infrequent-- only used for tension for perspective on 'windows' to try to scare you into thinking something would smash into it.

More camera perspectives that feel like Ls or U's or angles going into other angles would feel a lot better than the ambiguous camera trails. I'm not sure how well or useful this feedback would be this far into development, but I hope it kind of clarifies some of the misgivings of this sort of camera. Because fixed can definitely work.

Hi Reivur,

Thank you for this detailed feedback, it is genuinely useful.

I'm working on a new indoor environment for the next campaign scenario and I'm trying to make the camera transitions more intuitive (with still a few thrown in for challenge that aren't). It'll be interesting to get your feedback when this scenario eventually launches (No ETA, it'll be a while).

Thanks again for playing the game and your feedback! I will certainly be using this!

[Cecire]

Cool, no problem. That said rooms where you have the camera angles perfect are the offices and the data centers for sure. Its mostly the hallways that are the big offenders, and one of the uh, sorta semi-looping hallways that's shaped like an 8 where you can split up but end up at the same place?

The only other absurdly strange camera angle I encountered was the cafeteria entrance. It seems strangely eager to snap back to the previous room when you approach the door as opposed to going through the door. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing except its the only door I've seen exhibit that behavior so its not really something you initially expect. It might be because that camera is almost directly over you instead of slanted.

[Dead Drop Studios]

Originally posted by Reivur:

Cool, no problem. That said rooms where you have the camera angles perfect are the offices and the data centers for sure. Its mostly the hallways that are the big offenders, and one of the uh, sorta semi-looping hallways that's shaped like an 8 where you can split up but end up at the same place?

The only other absurdly strange camera angle I encountered was the cafeteria entrance. It seems strangely eager to snap back to the previous room when you approach the door as opposed to going through the door. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing except its the only door I've seen exhibit that behavior so its not really something you initially expect. It might be because that camera is almost directly over you instead of slanted.

Good to know. The thing I'll say with this new environment I'm working on now is that the hallways are one of the places I changed most how I position cameras. You'll see camera angles more facing directly "down" the hallway (with transitions before branches in the hallway). From my personal playtesting, the movement flows much better like this. If people like these camera angles, I can look into returning to the office location and adjusting cameras there a bit as well.

Also just a request. If you enjoy the game and feel it deserves it (and haven't already), would you consider filing a Steam review? Every little bit helps with getting the word out about the game.

Thanks again for your comments! I'll keep working hard on the game and don't be a stranger if you have more feedback. :)

[Rowe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjNqIvvR0Tk&d workin on it!

[Junoh]

I just played through the tutorial mission and couldn't see a thing for most of the map. It needs a persistent flashlight that actually works. Even when aiming it was hard to see the enemies.

[Dead Drop Studios]

Originally posted by Junoh:

I just played through the tutorial mission and couldn't see a thing for most of the map. It needs a persistent flashlight that actually works. Even when aiming it was hard to see the enemies.

Hi,

Two things you can try to help improve visibility:

1) In the Options Menu (F1 to access ingame or via the main menu), there is a brightness slider. Max that out and hit the apply button beneath it.

2) You can turn on a persistent flashlight anytime when not aiming with F (by default) or clicking in the right thumbstick on your gamepad. This persistent flashlight is available at all times and only disables when aiming to use the weapon's flashlight (if it has one).

Let me know if this helps or not. I can look into improving the brightness max value in a future update as well! :)