Photo mode is becoming a ubiquitous feature in modern video games, often tacked on post-release in response to player demand. This trend may be driven by the fidelity and style of the photogenic game worlds developers create, stunning visuals fueling players’ desire to capture and share their experiences. While the technical implementation of in-game cameras has been managed, poor usability and low user adoption squander the potential to immerse. Integrating a way for players to capture virtual snapshots alone does not transform the player experience, in the same way that putting a camera in someone’s hand doesn’t make them a photographer.
Photography Games vs Photomode
There is a distinction to be made between games that employ photography as part of the gameplay loop and those with the addition of a photo capture feature. There are entire games centered around photo taking as a game mechanic, where the act of taking pictures is incorporated within the game’s world and is rewarded by the game system. Players are evaluated on the quality of their shots, the subject matter, and their ability to compile a comprehensive collection of subjects.
Photogameplay can act as a supplementary mechanic to other genres as well, something to add variety in objectives. Optional quests that encourage players to make use of the camera, familiarizing them to the controls and rewarding their efforts without making it essential to the main gameplay. This approach does not force engagement and is more lax with evaluation criteria. The incentive to participate is sometimes loosely tied to progression but can also exist for the sake of completionism.
Photomode, on the other hand, tends to refer to a standalone feature within a game that lets you control an abstract camera freely within the game space. Functionally it allows players to pause the action and capture moments from a different perspective than the fixed view of the game. There are rarely rewards or justifications for its use from a gameplay standpoint. No quests, rewards, or achievements– the satisfaction is derived solely from the intrinsic enjoyment of the activity.
Why Bother Taking Fake Pictures in a Virtual Place?
Normally the elements of a game world are observed and understood by how they serve a player’s greater goals and needs. Their eyes scan the environment for resources while watchful for dangers, mentally primed for recognition of utility and assessing value. The faster and more punishing the pace of a game the less time and attention someone has to appreciate the near photorealistic simulations a game might be capable of rendering.
A player may passively appreciate the aesthetic qualities while playing, but photo mode affords them a chance to engage more intimately with the surroundings. Eminent game capture artist Duncan Harris encapsulates this shift in perspective in an interview with SideQuesting.
It’s about rewriting the rules of play a bit and approaching the game world literally as a tourist.
Photomode Philosophy
Photomode gives players the opportunity to observe, capture, and appreciate the painstaking detail put into the virtual world that might otherwise go unnoticed. Setting aside game objectives, it reframes the context in which these things exist and shifts the purpose of interacting with them. This tool has the advantage of being extra-diagetic, meaning it exists outside the story’s universe and does not need to follow its logic or conventions. Design decisions should be made in service of taking interesting and satisfying pictures.
Photomode should allow the player:
- Reprieve: Act as a relaxing break from gameplay, free from danger or distraction. This timeout offers a moment to reflect on the circumstance of the character and appreciate the intricacies of their surroundings. Gives a chance to line up the perfect shot without any of the usual game-related tension.
- Freedom of Perspective: Removal of physical constraints, allowing for camera placement independent of player character unlocks viewing angles and scenes otherwise concealed by the game camera.
- Total Control: Every possible option should be made available to the player. Control over the variables affecting the virtual camera settings, time of day, weather, character placement and posing should be available to capture a desired narrative.
Improving Photomode Engagement
A powerful tool that adds an additional layer of interaction to the entirety of a world, photomode has the capacity to deepen and personalize the experience players have with a game. Every scene becomes a backdrop for a different type of action, one where the player becomes the designer.
Despite its capabilities, the lack of extrinsic reward leads some players to ignore it. Looking for ways to better integrate the feature and improve user adoption requires the experience to have some sort of payoff. Simply onboarding them to the existence of a screen capture button does little to demonstrate the benefits. The elements of the experience, from composing and capturing a shot, reflecting that moment back, and how the image can proliferate outside the confines of the game, all contribute to the user experience.
Snapshot
The options available shape the types of images that are possible and the ease of which they are accessed determines the likelihood a player revisits them. A dedicated input to activate(instead of buried in a menu) and tools that transform a simple screenshot into an interactive creative process make the hunt for picturesque locales a satisfying loop on its own.
Albuming
What becomes of the screenshot after it’s taken? Letting these images collect virtual dust in a folder is a missed opportunity to reward the player’s engagement and create positive feedback to the activity. Finding a way to incorporate player images within the game world lends a sense of authenticity and acknowledges the player’s effort. Reliving memories deemed important by the player or a photo collage of their time spent becomes a record of their journey.
Sharing
Player communities generate troves of organic shareable content on their own. The design should embrace these derivative creations and give them an avenue or incentive to spread their images both in and out of the game. Having a platform to share to and providing interactions that garner recognition add a dynamic social motivation to express a player’s personal experience.
Tell Stories
I believe good games should tell more stories than what has actually been made or told. When you see a picture, automatically people create their own stories.
A robust photomode gives each interactor a lens to tell their own story through, showcasing the elements of the experience that stood out to them. Supplementing the hard coded plotlines with individual moments of their own creation pushes the world past its finite limitations. The experience is defined by one’s own artistic expression and creativity. Interactive media hinges on the participation of its audience in order to tell it’s story and inviting the player to document their perspective frames the narrative around them.