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[Reverend Speed]

Hey folks. Does anybody know if there's a Discord or a website or a forum where folks discuss Fixed Cam 3D games in detail? I'm really not into Facebook, so ideally I'm not looking for a FB page, etc.

Resident Evil's obviously a key reference, but I'm also looking to talk about stuff like Alone in the Dark, Obscure, Life is Strange, Telltale's Walking Dead, White Night, Tormented Souls, Heavy Rain, Fear the Dark Unknown, City of Lost Children, Summerford, Simulacrum, some of the Puppetcombo games etc...?

I'm just really curious to know if there's somewhere people discuss or debate those games - they're not exactly common and they're often made in the survival horror genre, but I think they offer some interesting challenges in both cinematography and interaction design, while also offering a particular visual language for creators.

Ehh - just think they're cool. =) Any thoughts?

[Lance of Longinus]

Why not here?

Also games like Resident Evil are a different thing than games like Life is Strange or the Walking Dead.
In Resident Evil or Alone in the Dark the point of the fixed perspectives is more of a technical thing (to save polygons). Both were initially intended to be fully 3d. When it comes to games like the Walking Dead, it's about the presentation, as they try to be interactive stories with 3d graphics. Fixed cam 3d games is not really a category of games, or at least not one that I ever heard of before.

[Reverend Speed]

Hi Lance, just seen you responded a couple of months later! On the off-hand chance you're still around, I figured I should invite you to the Fixed Camera Appreciation Society, a Steam Group I set up some time after trying to find places to talk about fixed multicam games. =)

On your points, I dunno if we can only differentiate games based on gameplay. I think camera choice and implementation is as key as whether you're using a mouse or gamepad or who your character is. Camera choice defines what primary information most players are given about their environment - and being able to restrict that information can be an interesting tool for a developer.

Lots of Fixed Multicam games coming out this year! Come along, join us and explore the history and future of this awesome approach! =D

(And, yeah, it turns out Life is Strange isn't fixed multicam. Great games, though...!)

[PixelRunner]

At one point I was thinking of making a found footage horror sort of game where the camera's pov is security cameras. That way it could have a vhs and crt filter that actually makes sense in the context of the game apart from its setting, and it is a great way of making things you can see right in front of you a mystery without making the entire room pitch black and forcing the player to use a flashlight.

[Rin]

 I really love that particular camera system and have been working on two different prototypes using those cameras.

One is a survival panic game inspired by classic PS2 titles like Fatal Frame, and the other is a spiritual successor to EA Redwood Shores Lord of the Rings: Return of the King hack and slash game.