camera.c

This script contains often used functions for a controlling a camera in relation to a target entity (usually the player). The functions are also used by the car templates. The script contains a startup function (camera_startup) that toggles between the 6 available camera modes with the [C] key, activates the individual modes with the [F1] .. [F6] keys, and allows to zoom with the mouse wheel.

Global parameters

Var	Default	Remarks
tcamera_mode	1	Initial and current camera mode (1..6), used by camera_startup; 0 for disabling camera_startup.
tcamera_dist	250	Distance between camera and player in all modes except the first person camera.
tcamera_height	50	Vertical distance between camera and player for the chase, orbit, and fixed camera.
tcamera_minDist	100	Minimum distance between camera and player.
tcamera_maxDist	2000	Maximum distance between camera and player.
tcamera_zoomDist	2	Sensitivity of the mouse wheel for adjusting the camera distance between the minimum and maximum.
tcamera_pos_x	0	X position for the fixed camera mode.
tcamera_pos_y	0	Y position for the fixed camera mode.
tcamera_offset_x	0	X offset for the first person camera.
tcamera_offset_y	10	Y offset for the first and 3rd person camera.
tcamera_offset_z	20	Z offset for the first person camera.

key_togglecamera	"c"	Key to toggle the camera mode.
joy_togglecamera	4	Joystick button to toggle the camera mode.
key_camera1	"f1"	Key to activate chase camera mode.
key_camera2	"f2"	Key to activate orbit camera mode.
key_camera3	"f3"	Key to activate fixed camera mode.
key_camera4	"f4"	Key to activate offset camera mode.
key_camera5	"f5"	Key to activate first person camera mode.
key_camera6	"f6"	Key to activate third person camera mode.

camera_chase(ENTITY*, var distance, var height)

Follow the entity with the camera, while keeping distance and height. Activated with the [F1] key in the camera_startup function.

camera_orbit(ENTITY*, var angle, var distance, var height)

Looks at the entity from a given pan angle (0 == behind), distance, and height. Activated with the [F2] key in the camera_startup function.

camera_face(ENTITY*, var height)

Looks at the entity from a fixed xy position (the current camera position) and a given height. Activated with the [F3] key in the camera_startup function.

camera_offset(ENTITY, VECTOR offset)

Looks at the entity from an offset position that moves with it. Activated with the [F4] key in the camera_startup function.

camera_person(ENTITY, VECTOR offset, var factor)

First or third person camera, looks in the same direction as the entity and moves with it with an offset. The factor (0..1) affects the influence of the entity's tilt and roll angle. First person mode is activated with the [F5] key, third person mode with the [F6] key in the camera_startup function.

Parameters

ent	Target entity, usually the player.
height	Vertical offset of the camera to the target entity.
angle	Difference of camera angle and target entity angle.
dist	Distance of the camera and the target entity.
offset	Offset vector, relative position of the camera to the target entity.
factor	Influence of the entity's tilt and roll angle, 0 = no influence, 1 = full influence.

Remarks

All camera functions can be called in a while() .. wait() loop for updating the camera position and angles at runtime. This is automatically handled by the camera_startup function. Set tcamera_mode to 0 when you want to disable camera_startup and replace it with your own camera handler.
Look-at cameras require a stable distance to the targeted object. When the distance jitters due to a wrong order of functions, a vibrating effect will be visible. Make sure (f.i. by using PROC_LATE or PROC_EARLY) that the object movement function runs before the camera function.
A free moving camera can be found in the default.c script. It is activated by pressing the [0] key or calling def_move(). The camera can then be moved with the cursor keys; no other camera function must be active.
The different camera modes can be tested in the knights_on_wheels.c sample (A8).