ANDREA ORTINO
CAMERA DESIGN (3Cs)
Camera Transitions from Exploration to Combat Mode
PROJECT - TOWN OF ZOZ
ROLE - DESIGN LEAD
During the development of Town of Zoz, I led the refinement of the camera system to better serve both gameplay and cinematic presentation. Through team collaboration, research, prototyping, and feedback, I identified solutions to satisfy the creative and gameplay requirements.
The game needed a dynamic camera that smoothly transitioned from exploration to combat while dynamically shifting between dramatic composition and gameplay clarity. Through triggers that overrode the base settings and behaviour, the camera adjusted pitch and zoom during the fight, and was confined within boundaries to guide the players.
The result was a flexible system that enabled the team to craft cinematic moments without sacrificing gameplay clarity. I implemented and directed these changes to ensure that visual storytelling and gameplay function remained in balance.
IN A NUTSHELL
CHALLENGES
The Camera in Town of ZoZ presented a unique challenge: the game’s direction aimed to blend interconnected systems and action gameplay with story-driven presentation. This required a delicate balance between gameplay readability and cinematic intent. A standard top-down, e.g. a fixed isometric camera, could not meet all the requirements. The camera needed to move dynamically based on goals and weighted priorities. It required flexibility to adapt to exploration, combat, and scripted sequences without disorienting the player. Keeping the right information in frame while minimising motion.
APPROACH
To address these challenges, I conducted extensive research and collaborated closely with the Creative Director and Tech Lead to define both the creative intent and technical feasibility of the camera system. The process was highly iterative, involving multiple departments to fine-tune features through prototyping and feedback
RESEARCH & IDEATION
Before beginning documentation and prototyping, I analysed camera systems from comparable titles such as Death’s Door, Tunic, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. The goal was to study how these games balanced readability, composition, and movement.
PROTOTYPING & IMPLEMENTATION
The first prototype focused on creating a dynamic transition between exploration and combat.
The goal was to clearly signal combat initiation, since stamina consumption was tied to combat state.
Exploration Camera
Combat Camera
To achieve this, I increased the camera pitch and slightly zoomed in during combat, creating a more top-down perspective that improved awareness of attack ranges and enemy spacing. Animation readability also benefited from the closer framing. Smoothing and cooldown logic were added to minimise disorientation, and the HUD was adjusted to hide the stamina bar outside combat.
Camera transitions into combat mode after an enemy is encoutered
Additional tuning supported character locomotion, level layout, and encounter pacing. By adjusting look-ahead values and transition delays, we ensured players were not caught off-guard by off-screen attacks when moving quickly through space.
Each enemy was also assigned a camera trackable component, allowing dynamic zoom based on combat intensity and participant count. A weight-based system prioritised key targets.
Camera trackable components
FEEDBACK & ITERATION
To validate this initial set of features and tuning, I organised two playtest sessions. The first one with only other designers and the second one with the QA team. The goal was to play as many levels as possible to capture any edge cases and further requirements.
To validate these adjustments, I organised two playtest sessions: one internal with the Design team, and a second with QA. The goal was to identify edge cases and fine-tune transitions.
Early tests revealed additional narrative and art-direction requirements. Certain areas required more dramatic angles; however, our standard exploration view occasionally cut off important lore details or reduced boss scale. To address this, I coordinated with the Design and Art teams to place invisible triggers that activated constrained point cameras for specific encounters. A short cooldown prevented abrupt camera switches when crossing thresholds.
I coordinated with the design and art team to place invisible triggers that activated constrained point cameras. These were tailored based on art direction and narrative needs. A key consideration was taking care of the back-and-forth movements across thresholds. We added very short cool-downs to avoid constant changes.
Boss combat camera example
The playtesting with the QA team exposed different problems. Some players experienced motion sickness in one of our levels featuring both reduced visibility (fog by design) and the presence of physical spawners activating waves of enemies.
Subsequent QA playtests exposed an issue in fog-heavy levels with enemy spawners, where the camera frequently toggled between exploration and combat modes during enemy wave breaks. To resolve this, I removed the trackable component for those encounters and adjusted the aggro logic: combat camera mode activated based on player proximity rather than enemy state.
OUTCOMES
The refined camera system delivered smooth and readable transitions between exploration and combat modes. Through playtesting and feedback, we identified edge cases early and adjusted the setup to better support both encounters and narrative moments. The added flexibility of triggers and overrides allowed for dynamic, dramatic compositions while maintaining gameplay clarity. Achieving this required close collaboration and compromise between design and art, ensuring cinematic intent never conflicted with player control.
READ MORE
You can read more case studies at the links below. For any questions or further details, you can send me an email at asortino11@gmail.com or a connection request on LinkedIn