Smile Game Builder‘s built-in camera control is a very useful feature, especially when it comes to achieving certain map effects during the game.

Camera Settings Variables

In Advanced Variables, you can store the values of various camera settings into variables and reference them throughout.

In my tutorial on camera control, I comprehensively go through using the camera in Smile Game Builder, so I won’t dwell on that here.

I’d recommend watching the video first and returning to this article afterward.

As usual, an auto-run synchronize event containing the variables needs to be set up and placed on each of the maps you want to reference the camera settings.

All camera settings are set in one of three ways:

Choose whichever method suits your game’s needs, depending on the effect you want to achieve. The first two methods are "fixed", so the map settings are automatically implemented for the maps. The third method, however, re-orientates towards these settings unless Camera Movement Time is set to 0 (which is instant) in the Camera Control command.

XY Coordinates

As you’d expect, Camera Settings – X and Camera Settings – Y store the X and Y angles of the camera respectively.

Camera X is governed by the keys for up (R) and down (F) and Camera Y uses the keys for rotating the camera left (Q) or right (E).

As an example (shown in Fig. 15), in Normal view on Sheet 1, a Variable Box Check is added to check if the Camera X variable is set to -48. If it is (under Yes), use the Camera Control command to change X’s camera angle to -89 for this example.

Similarly, on Sheet 2, do the same to check if its value equals -89 and reset X’s camera angle back to -48.

Bear in mind, however, that the above example (as with all the examples in this article) only applies to Normal view. Camera angles and their corresponding variables work differently when in First Person view, but I’ll cover that in one of the next tutorials in this series.

Camera XY Minimum and Maximum Values

The value stored in the variable for Camera X won’t go below -35 (which is an isometric view) or above -90 (which is directly overhead).

And for the Camera Y variable value, the range is 0 to 360.

Field of View

The Field of View (or FOV) is the telescopic distance in and out from the character. In other words, when you zoom in (with the C key), objects become closer and zooming out (with the V key) results in objects becoming farther away.

With the example in Fig. 16, on Sheet 1 is a Variable Box Check where the Field of View variable is smaller than 4. And if Yes, change the FOV to 0.5 in Camera Control to zoom right in.

On Sheet 2, likewise, if it’s equal to 1, the FOV is reset to 3.5 from within the Camera Control event command.

Note that, as with all instances of decimal fractions in Smile Game Builder, they’re rounded down. And, since the default FOV is 3.5, if you were to use that as a variable value, it would be recalibrated as 3. Hence, in the above example, the variable’s value is set slightly higher. With the Variable Box Check, numbers are either above or below, or equal to, their fixed values; they’re not inclusive, so setting a higher value is good practice anyway.

FOV Minimum and Maximum Values

When zooming in and out with the C and V keys, the range is 0 (really close) and 4 (slightly above).

This only applies to the FOV on the map; it doesn’t apply to any other camera settings for FOV because that’s separate.

Distance

The camera’s Distance only applies to Normal view. It measures the distance of the camera in relation to the character or a position on the map.

In the example in Fig. 17, I set up a Variable Box Check for checking if the Distance variable is "the same as" 71 (1 above the default distance) and, because in this instance it’s not (under No), the camera moves all the way above the scene and rotates as well. If the operator is set to "smaller" instead, this would return true (under Yes) and it just zooms in with the FOV.

Don’t forget that the Variable Box Check operators don’t include the numbers you set in its Value, so they always have to be one above or below the actual value you want to use.

Camera Mode

The final part is the Camera Mode. This is to check whether you’re playing in Normal or First Person mode to create different effects for each.

A prime example of its use – in conjunction with Player Direction – is my tutorial on creating a Compass HUD that correctly moves with the player depending on whether Normal view or First Person mode is used.

As another example, with First Person mode, you can create an event sequence where the camera quickly rotates behind you (useful to add tension to horror games), which would be useless in Normal mode. For Normal mode, therefore, you’d simply create another appropriate camera effect.

To use it, the Variable Box Check would use the Camera Mode variable, set to the value corresponding to either Normal view (0) or First Person mode (1). Use one or the other, but remember the Yes/No order in the branch. If it’s set to either 0 or 1, that condition then becomes true or false when you switch between modes using the B key, so whatever is under Yes will activate, otherwise, whatever is under No will activate instead.

I generally tend to use 0 (Normal mode) to make it easier to reference. That means, I always know that 0 is Yes and 1 is No. But, of course, it’s a matter of preference as long as you know which is which.

If you use any other value, it won’t run properly because there are only two modes and Smile Game Builder will treat the variable’s value as though it’s a zero, i.e., Normal mode.

Next Tutorial

I haven’t decided on the topic of the next tutorial in this series yet, as there’s still plenty to cover in Advanced Variables.

That said, I may continue with Camera Settings, but using the variables in First Person mode since they work differently than with Normal view. Although I’d like to go through some of the others first before revisiting this subject, it’s going to be one of those "wait and see" things.

Camera Control is a new function available for Smile Game Builder. With it, you’re able to use cameras to create some stunning effects, such as for cut scenes and map panning.

Also in this tutorial is a quick event setup to allow you to view conversations from the first-person perspective, switching between characters as they talk. Continue reading “Smile Game Builder Tutorial #11:
Controlling the Camera” →