Let us fix that (camera) for you.

Check our Curator and the most extensive list of Fixed Multicam games on every platform!

Join our Discord[discord.gg] and Stoat[stt.gg] communities!

We appreciate games with direct character control and multiple predefined third person views per room! (Eg. Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil 0, Dino Crisis...)

Fixed multicam is a niche, but a healthy one - the Resident Evil Remake sold 1m copies in three months, which made it Capcom's "fastest selling digital title in history"[www.pcgamesn.com]. Detroit sold 8m copies[www.psu.com] and Telltale's multicam 'Walking Dead' was met with critical and commercial success.

With a wave of new fixed multicam titles like Tormented Souls, The Medium, and Alisa, it's never been more exciting for this cinematic form of gaming!

When fixed multicam pays off, the visuals speak for themselves - while handing the designer a unique level of authorial control over player pacing and situational awareness. It's nothing less than the ability to directly frame the player's visual understanding of the game world, forging and relying upon a bond of trust between player and developer.

There's an untapped vein of criticism on this approach and the analysis of games that employ it. In a medium that values smooth controls and user comfort, fixed multicams can disorient the player... But is that a fatal flaw, or an unsolved and an interesting design problem? One that could be solved with cinematographic consideration or a pure input approach, or...!

Games covered by this Steam Group should feature multiple third-person 'fixed' cameras per-room that frame a character controlled directly by the player (usually no point-and-click).

Positioning and orientation of cameras cannot be directly controlled by the player (eg. as with 'chase' or 'orbit' cams). As players move in and out of 'shot', the game will 'cut' between cameras (ala filmic editing). Tracking and pivot movements of the camera are rare in comparison to 'cuts'.

The Associated Games section on the right of this page only covers titles on Steam, but I'll try to add some relevant links for notable games or moments... Please check our Fixed Multicam Resources for lists of related PC & console games!

Let us know your thoughts & comments in the discussions! Here's to an intentional view!

--Rev

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RECENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

FRESH ANGLES #16: Low angles and lower prices!

June 26 - Reverend Speed | 2 Comments

An occasional newsletter highlighting fixed camera games!

IIIIT’S THE STEAM SUMMER SALE! HIDE YOUR WALLETS!

And there’s plenty of great fixed multicam on sale - check out our curator and click on the DISCOUNTS tab[imgur.com] to find a wealth of awesome cinematic goodness going for very affordable prices!

The Fixed Camera Appreciation Society now has its own official DISCORD AND STOAT SERVERS

...with loads of resources and the friendly community you’ve grown to know and love (or at least tolerate).[discord.gg] Our backup Stoat server can be joined here![stt.gg] Drop by and chat with us about upcoming game, classic titles and wibble on about cinematic approaches and the future of fixed camera! See you there!

A quick reminder to tag games as Fixed Camera on Steam[imgur.com] - atm it’s way too hard to find fixed camera games on Steam! Let’s hit that critical mass of games tagged ‘Fixed Camera’ so we can find more of them by searching with that tag! Only YOU can change Valve’s view!

(Disclaimer: Unless stated otherwise, the following are not reviews or recommendations!)

UPCOMING

Imagine… a world… beyond your imagination. And it’s a JRPG with prerendered backgrounds!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4446690/Harbingers_of_Destiny/
A low-fi psychological horror with a queer point of view, this looks very interesting!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4296480/They_Cry/
An immersive sim - but with a fixed camera approach?! Now there’s an unusual pitch…! (Demo available!)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2722660/Fraudulent_Idols/
Retro gaming goes wrong, as reality warps and twists into a strange, hostile world…!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3869290/Evil_Cartridge/

AVAILABLE NOW

A short but beautifully executed innocent walk through a forest (Free!)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2438960/Silent_Rooms__Chapter_1/
An interactive mood piece, with some very appealing visuals…!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3922050/Chilling_Silence/
A dystopian cyberpunk adventure - you are the author of our memories! (Demo available!)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4071280/Nocturne_for_CylHestia/
Light puzzle adventuring with a sense of humour in a sinister (?) underground lab. (Demo available!)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1936530/Subsequence/
(EDIT: OOPS! Credit to The Teratoma for pointing out that Fragile Reflection isn’t Fixed Multicam!)
Take another look at Sanguine - the dev has been providing a lot of updates! (Demo available!)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2825080/Sanguine/
The first act of this strange survival-come-Saw thriller! (Demo available!)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4152560/Perished_Truth

CLASSICS

So, Alone in the Dark came out in 1992, followed by sequels and promotional games in 1993. But these games all had (gorgeous) hand-painted backgrounds. The first fixed multicam game to feature pre-rendered backgrounds came out in 1994, developed by Andrew Spencer Studios, published by Psygnosis and… it’s an odd duck!

Ecstatica[ecstatica.fandom.com] mostly eschewed polygons in favour of gouraud-shaded elipsoids for the characters - and for much of the background environments! In theory, this produced a much more ‘rounded’ visual style than polygons of the time could achieve.

In reality, the game looks distinctly… ‘bobbily’, kinda kid-friendly, with characters looking a lot like rounded wooden dolls. The friendly effect is enhanced by the bright primary colours used for characters and many on-screen elements.

That impression is undercut by the subject matter - this is much closer to a Berserk or Dark Souls than the graphics would lead you to believe, with a medieval village overrun by bloodthirsty monsters who’ve tortured and killed most of the inhabitants.

Of special note is the inclusion of what appears to be the first ‘stalker’ or ‘shiki’ enemy in a fixed multicam game - the Werewolf! This creature will take damage, but heals it’s own wounds and appears to be immortal… and will track and ambush you at several points during the game, growling out, “STARRRRRRRRS!”

…Alright, maybe not that last one.

I think Ecstatica is also the first fixed multicam game to feature low-health walkcycles, where you're required to determine the health of your character by how they're behaving on screen.

Unfortunately, Ecstatica doesn’t appear to be on sale today, playable only through DOSBOX and online emulators[ecstatica.fandom.com]. There’s a great wiki devoted to the game and its sequel (and the unreleased, but fascinating ‘Urban Decay’!). A shame it’s not easily available - Ecstatica remains an important milestone in the development of fixed multicam.

NON-STEAM

In honour of the weather: Buying an AC because it's boku no natsuyasumi these days by Kuuki Yomi[kuuki-yomi.itch.io] I like the contrast of the sprites against the backgrounds…!
A fun but basic stealth game[sneakydaggergames.itch.io]
A straightforward escape-the-asylum game[noveriansoft.itch.io]
A ‘Clocktower’ where you race around an office floor, fixing servers…![howdystranger.itch.io]

_________________

I think that's it! Do jump into the Discord[discord.gg] or Stoat[stt.gg] - we’d love to talk to you. See you next week! --Rev

Cast your mind back to a time of dreams: the White Creek Kickstarter nears launch!

June 20 - Reverend Speed | 2 Comments

Here's an interesting one - White Creek, a mystery and investigation survival horror is about to launch their Kickstarter campaign. One of the interesting things about White Creek is that it's being developed... as a Dreamcast game!

I like the texture and modelling work that I've seen of this game so far - though the monster death yelp will take... some getting used to!

Check it out!

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STEAM CURATOR

Fixed Camera Appreciation Society reviews

"3d games with direct character play from dev-authored fixed third person views! (Eg. Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil 0, Dino Crisis...)"

Here are a few recent reviews by Fixed Camera Appreciation Society