Here's a thread for commemorating Fixed Cam games that didn't quite make it... =(

Alone In The Dark 5[www.unseen64.net]
Alone In The Dark Remake, 2010
Urban Decay[ecstatica.fandom.com]

Words, DeRaNgEr, you have them! =D

I appreciate your pragmatic approach to resource scarcity, working with pre-built assets is a smart choice (though you can always target something more stylised/lower-poly as another option!). You mention previous projects - would love to check them out!

It's worth taking a look at Quantic Dreams and Supermassive Games projects. Conditions in QD may seem dodgy, and David Cage has a tendancy to take his stories in absolutely gibberish directions, but I'd argue that Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain have perfect thriller beginnings that really make the most out of fixed cams. Fahrenheit's often on sale for a pittance, and I believe the demo's free - well worth a go.

Supermassive's Dark Pictures Anthology series are probably the currently highest-budget fixed cam games out there, though the latest release (House of Ashes) skips fixed cams, sadly. It's interesting to see how they felt the need to drive the player's input through animations and then onto the avatar - it looks filmic without the character turning on a dime, but it's much less responsive.

(Slight nit-pick - Resi 1 Remake has camera trucking[blog.storyblocks.com], which is much less common than panning/pivoting in fixed cam games! =P)

Tank controls have their uses. =D But, yeah, trying to onboard folks to fixed cams is still tricky, never mind that even people familiar with the paradigm still find the odd camera cut awkward! White Night and Heavy Rain attempt to lessen the control confusion, but honestly - the enormous success of Telltales Walking Dead shows that people can get over that hump if the content is good enough...!

Resi fixed cams come from Shinji Mikami trying to convert the design of the 2D game Sweet Home to a PS1 first person perspective, before finding the game Alone in the Dark and adopting (and some would say 'perfecting') the approach for his game. Tank controls, however, were intentionally adopted over cam-relative controls in order to heighten difficulty and panic (misatribution of arousal, etc, stuff Thomas Grip used to write about).

Camera composition in fixed cam games is interesting compared to what you normally get in linear media - usually you want to obey the key cinematographic rule of 'not crossing the line'... but Reynal, Mikami and Kamiya do it all over the place in their games. Maybe that's a reason we get confused navigating in those games, but it seems almost impossible to follow it everywhere if you're building something like Alone in the Dark. On the other hand, it seems advisable to follow the 30 degree rule where you can...!

As a favour to me - if you've decided to do a pivot camera somewhere, consider off-setting the tracking target for the camera a little, just so you get a more interesting composition than having the main character stuck in the middle of the frame. The rule of thirds is popular for a reason - we can't all be Stanley Kubrick! =P

Ah, realism. It's really only useful when it demonstrably adds to the fun of the design. Slavishly implementing it can be deathly dull... though, honestly, sometimes the constraints of realism can inspire some serious creativity. =D

I really love the 'internal delivery system' as a replacement for Resi chests. Makes a ton of sense...! Maybe even have stuff printed out and disassembled into component elements for reuse...!

I'm excited to see where your games goes! Do consider hanging out here and giving us some updates. I'd like to make this a point of contact for folks who dig these games - maybe we'll expand beyond a Steam group at some point!

And let us know when you have a demo, I'd love to try it! Best of luck!

Hey DeRaNgEr, welcome!

Thanks so much for the video - that looks fantastic! Gorgeous modelling and solid animation on the character and the environments immediately make me think of Solaris and 2001. Nice post processing with the depth of field, etc, and I dig the slight camera movement to keep everything 'alive'. I tend to feel that panning/pivoting the camera is a bit overused in fixed cam games (easy to setup, bit of a crutch), but I like how you've combined zooming with some of the pans!

Honestly, I'm in favour of cam-relative movement - tank controls have their place (and should be optional), but... really, a modern fixed-cam game should be as accessible as possible (even consider using some screen-based raycasts to make your game playable with a mouse...!). Consider taking a look at Heavy Rain, that had some interesting control ideas...!

Insisting on the traditional elements of ANYTHING is a good way to get left behind!

I appreciate the setting - it's great to see some innovations in environment, story etc for Fixed Cam games. I'm a little curious about how 'realistic' you're making the game, as the pressure suit says 'realistic', but the gravity and, uh, firing what looks like a ballistic weapon in a pressurised environment usually leads to this...! But if you're fighting robots, I guess you'd have other options you could employ!

If I may ask, what engine are you using? All are excellent for modern fixed cam, of course, just curious. =D

Best of luck with the project! Please keep us updated!

--Rev

PS: Let me know if there's any way we can support you here!

PPS: 5's good fun, especially with a friend. I know Resi fans had issues with it taking the franchise further from Survival Horror (and there were some justifiable complaints about the imagery), but... honestly, I'd appreciate a few more games that could be played with a friend like that (Revelations 2 was also good, until the end!).

Reverend Speed, GMT +1. Can do evenings after 6pm for a couple hours.

The New Nightmare or perhaps even the original Resi?

The New Nightmare has been sitting unused in my Steam Library forever - and as we're closing in on 50 members of the group, I thought it might be a fun thing for a few of us to take a crack at (especially as it's on sale right now!).

Fair warning, I'm not a brilliant gamer, and this'll be my first crack at Outbreak (of any sort!). But if you're interested in a fairly mature, relaxed, goofy experiment in multiplayer Fixed Cam, I'm as ready as you are...! =)

Drop your name and timezone below and we'll see if we can't get something started...!

Some games that might be Fixed Multicam, but which I haven't got around to confirming...
Dreamfall (Primarily chase cam)
Dreamfall Chapters (Primarily chase cam)
Lake Haven Chrysalis

Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern[www.mobygames.com] (2001) Win, Dreamcast. Has some fixed multicam in early base sections, may have more later. Not sure there's enough to warrant recognition here.

The Last Crown series - can't quite tell if there's multiple cameras per scene location with this...! TBD!

Aconcagua (Japan only)
Addie no Okurimono: To Moze from Addie (Japan only)
Athena: Awakening From The Ordinary Life (Japan only) 4 March 1999 - PSX[en.wikipedia.org]
Attack of the Friday Monsters: A Tokyo Tale[en.wikipedia.org] 2013 - 3DS
Blue Stinger
Body Hazard / Perfect Weapon
Boku no Natsuyasumi (Japan only) 2000 - PS1, 2006 - PSP
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2: Umi no Bouken-hen (Japan only) 2002 - PS2, 2010 - PSP
Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 (Japan only) 2007 - PS3
Boku no Natsuyasumi 4: Seitou Shounen Tanteidan "Boko to Himitsu no Chizu" (Japan only) 2009 - PSP
Carrier
Chaos Break
Chiisana Kyojin Microman (Japan only)
Chou Jiryoku Senshi Microman: Generation 2000 (Japan)
City of Lost Children[www.mobygames.com] 1997
Clock Tower 3
Countdown Vampires
Covert Ops Nuclear Dawn
Crisis City (Japan only) 1998 - PS1
Deep Fear
Deep Freeze
Devilman
Dino Crisis
Dino Crisis 2
Dino Crisis 3[en.wikipedia.org]June 26 2003, XBOX
Doctor Hauzer
Enigma[en.wikipedia.org](JP only) April 2 1998, PSX
Eternal Darkness
Evil Dead: Hail to the King
Extermination
Fatal Frame
Fatal Frame 2
Fatal Frame 3
Fear Effect 1
Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
Galerians
Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado.
Haunting Ground
Jade Cocoon
Koudelka
Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku - Shin Shō[www.mobygames.com] (JP only) 2010 - PSP & PS Vita
Kaena[en.wikipedia.org] 4 June 2003 - PS2
Kamen Rider: Genealogy of Justice[kamenrider.fandom.com] (JP Only) 27 Nov 2003, PS2
Kuon
Lifeline[www.mobygames.com] 2004 - PS2
Martian Gothic
Men In Black
Mystic Ark: Maboroshi Gekijou (JP only)
Mystic Nights
Nocturne
Not Treasure Hunter (JP Only) PS1
Onimusha 2
Onimusha 3
Onimusha Dawn of Dreams
Overblood
Overblood 2[en.wikipedia.org] July 23 1998 - PS1 (Has some fixed multicam, but appears to be mostly third person action adventure?)
Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve 2
Perfect Weapon[en.wikipedia.org] 21 Nov 1996
Phase Paradox[survivalhorror.fandom.com] (JP only) 2001, PS2
Planet Laika[www.mobygames.com] (JP only) 1999 - PS1
Rain
Resident Evil 1996
Resident Evil 2 1998
Resident Evil Code Veronica
Resident Evil Outbreak 1
Resident Evil Outbreak 2
The Ring: Terror's Realm
Rule of Rose
Silent Hill
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3 (Fixed cam?)
Silent Hill Origins (Fixed cam?)
Silent Hill Shattered Memories (Fixed cam?)
Soul of the Samurai
The Crow
The Legend of Dragoon
The Ring Terror's Realm
Tunguska: Legend of Faith[en.wikipedia.org] 27 October 2000
The Tairyou Jigoku[tcrf.net] (JP only) 22 Feb 2007, PS2
T.R.A.G.
Until Dawn (2015) PS4
Vampire Hunter D
Vampire Panic[wiki.pcsx2.net] (JP only) 24 June 2004, PS2
Welcome House[www.mobygames.com] (1996) Saturn (Preceded Resident Evil!)
Welcome House 2: Keaton & His Uncle[www.mobygames.com] (1996) PS1
X Files Resist or Serve
Yami Fuku Natsu: Teito Monogatari Futatabi

Initially derived from Avalanche Reviews, 'Nearly Every Resident Evil Clone Ever Made' video.

Many thanks to those who've contributed to the list in the comments below!

Note - games have to significantly feature fixed cameras rather than rely on chase cams to be included here. Ideally they won't lean too hard on pivot cams either, but... =/

RUSTIC GAMES
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwZVBiX5QJBEpJuqZP2xBtA/about
An indie developer creating de-makes of classic horror games - sending them back to the PS1 era!

LOST ECHO[www.mobygames.com]
(iPhone (2013), Android (2015) and iPad (2013))

Fantasian[apps.apple.com] (IOS (2021))

Zero Comico[www.mobygames.com] (2001) Win (It's... pretty weird)

PARACUSIA
https://darknetfoxes.itch.io/paracusia
Great setting, textures, modelling, spooky enemies and fantastic atmosphere compensate for somewhat awkward controls. Bonus points for not using the pivot camera too much! I'd love to see more than this demo...!

BANNED MEMORIES
https://gamejolt.com/games/Banned-Memories-Yamanashi/78205#close

SIMULACRUM
https://gamejolt.com/games/simulacrum_chapter_one/233384

BIOCRISIS:
https://krzysztoftracz.itch.io/biocrisis
A VERY faithful looking / sounding recreation of the Resident Evil 2 (PS1) experience - pre-rendered, somewhat-compressed backgrounds, lots of zombie texture variety, some VERY light puzzling and a boss! Takes about 10-15 minutes to complete, but delivers a strong hit of nostalgia!

VIGIL (Resonance of Evil):
m ediafire.com/file/6z5dwlbadk6qcf6/VIGIL_Public_Demo.zip/file
Gorgeous environments and authentic-feeling character designs get you excited, but some strange camera angles and navigation issues sour the experience a little. It's been a long time since I've heard / seen an update relating to this...

THE GLASS STAIRCASE:
https://puppetcombo.itch.io/glass-staircase
Good grief, I enjoyed this game - right up to the moment where I needed to engage in combat. The shooting controls are abysmal... but the atmosphere, the tone, the initial story and story delivery... Mmm-mmm, splendid. Fixed cams used to brilliant effect, evoking Italian horror films and slowly soaking the player in dread... Why is this not on Steam? (With changes to the shooting controls, natch)

SHADOW OVER NORMOTH
https://warrrkus.itch.io/shadow-over-normoth
If Silent Hill had been made at the very start of the PS1 generation and enjoyed a light Lovecraft theming, it would be Shadow Over Normoth. 3D models are rudimentary but effective, combat is a bit clunky but serviceable. Loads of enemies - including three bosses! Light puzzling with levers and gates - overall a promising demonstration of the developer's skills!

ENDLESS BLUE
https://mrdiv.itch.io/endless-blue
Has a Metal Gear Solid / The Thing / Resident Evil vibe, which I can dig. Looks very attractive, except there's no smoothing on the main character's face which in combination with the (seeming?) motion capture, make her look like she's wearing a papier mache helmet...! Lots of FMVs, great texturing and lighting work, a decent logic puzzle and, uh, a very brief dusting of combat.

U-1536
https://dl43.itch.io/u-1536
Tons of work and heart, and one of the most interesting settings for a fixed cam game that I've encountered! That said, the pre-rendered backgrounds are often cartoonishly out of scale with the characters... and the 'stylised' character modelling and proportions clash horribly with the semi-realistic backgrounds. Controls are servicible and there's a working key puzzle. There's obviously a ton of passion and thought gone into this, and I'd love to see later revisions...!

HEARTWORM
https://vradinolfi.itch.io/heartworm
Workable exploration-focused Silent-Hill-alike drowning in 'flavour text', without providing motivation for the player or, really, the character to continue. Nice shaders, slightly creepy staging, character is well-modeled and gets around sufficiently well. A couple of very slight 'puzzles'. This delivers the affect of something like Silent Hill but currently lacks a compelling incentive to continue.

FOG THE WOUNDED
https://solodevinteractive.itch.io/project-fog-the-wounded
Possibly the most Silent Hill-ist game I've played since the original Silent Hill. Leans overmuch on pivot cameras and lacks... any lighting, but the open environment, the pixelated textures, the gradient fog... absolutely hits the spot for SH1. The character models are interesting also - nicely modeled and moodily captured by the camera work (though it's no Takayoshi Sato!). Ambient soundtrack is spot-on, though it repeats too much. There's a light puzzle(?), but the emphasis is on exploration. Basically, if you like the thought of being attacked by ambulatory meat-platters, this game is for you.

GREEK TRAGEDY
https://arbor-interactive.itch.io/greek-tragedy
Hmm. The theme and setting are interesting and the common enemy is underused in survival horror - there's some great, creepy discoveries to be made! Puzzle UI is servicible and the puzzles themselves are mostly sensible (except for finding a battery in the washing machine)... but at one point it's possible to trigger a combat encounter which is insufficiently telegraphed, which is frustrating. The fixed camera angles are fine, but it often uses a swoopy lerp between them which is very distracting and fourth-wall-breaking (I've seen that used effectively to inform players about world state-changes in other games, but it's used too much here). I'd prefer a simple cut between angles. 2D art is FANTASTIC, but the 3D art is uneven - the title screen's great, but the environments and characters need a lot more work to hit the aesthetic they're trying for. That said, the enterprise as a whole is very exciting and intriguing - I'd love to see a further polished iteration!

MINECRAFT: Story Mode
Bit of a weird one - it's been removed from Steam. Mojang's owned by Microsoft so... hardly indie... but it was made by Telltale who were fairly small... I'll stick this here for the moment, but I'll move it later on.

Three from the Haunted PS1 Demo Disc[hauntedps1.itch.io]:
* APOLYSIS[valerie-dusk.itch.io] - Grungy, psychadelic, quite linear... but pretty intriguing! I'm curious to see what the full version would be like.
* WALK - Controls are ALL OVER THE PLACE, but it's a really interesting use of real photographs as backgrounds for Fixed Cam stealth gameplay. May... also be a stealth advertisement for a Finnish health spa game. S'weird. But interesting!
* PROTAGORAS BLEEDS - Good grief, this looks FANTASTIC. PS1-ish shaders/models/textures, but the developer has a VERY strong grasp of cinematic presentation. Worth a look! https://twitter.com/BryceBucher
(Special mention to That Which Gave Chase - if you liked Gravity Bone / Thirty Flights of Loving / Virginia, games that combine scripted cinematic editing with some NOVEL controls and an interesting setting... it's well worth checking out!)

PERISHED TRUTH[lixmxil.itch.io] - This is a short DEMO!
Interesting Saw/Zero Escapey-setting with visual novel storytelling (which seems efficient, though given they've already modelled the character, you'd think the devs could do that just with the model in static poses). A nice minigame innovation on enemy grapples, and some cool interaction efficiencies. It also looks quite pretty, making decent use of Unity URP (volumetric lights ahoy!).
On the downside I didn't like not being able to change my graphics settings and having menus that just didn't work. I didn't like the endless, poorly-designed pivot cams that left the camera swinging about like some hopelessly baffled intern cameraman (seriously, what is the point of using fixed multicam if you're building something that doesn't have an intentional view?). I didn't like how it didn't detect my pad, and I didn't like the tank-controls-with-mouse control layout. Ranged combat was... okay, but there isn't enough feedback when you're aiming at an enemy - putting a laser pointer on a gun in a fixed multicam game seems like an argument against using fixed multicam (ie. if I can't see my enemy, how can I see if my laser sight is on it?). As Strunk and White would say regards the dialogue, "Omit needless words."
Still - definitely worth a look, very promising if the dev can address these problems...!

Don't Drink the Water
Half-Life 1 mod! Relatively few cameras, so not sure it suits the 'multicam' criteria - nonetheless, looks kinda cool! I tried doing something like this in Half Life a LONNNNG time ago, and it's great to see someone achieving the multicam dream in HL!

Munitum[vidas-salavejus.itch.io]
A take on classic survival horror (specifically fixed multicam 'Clocktower'), made in Unity by two independent game developers - Vidas Games and Aaron Wise.
An interesting scenario (you're a kid whose arm has been cut off! Occasionally, you'll start bleeding and need to cauterise the wound - all the while you're escaping your stalker's bunker!), but with a few issues... Everywhere in the bunker looks alike, the bleeding mechanic can seem arbitrary and overly harsh and... maaaan, it crosses that enjoyable stress / annoyance barrier for me. Your mileage may vary.
However - it's an interesting start... what could it be like as a full game? You can find out - the developers are currently running an Indiegogo campaign in order to turn this proof of concept into a full campaign...! (Steam won't let me include a URL here, so google it!)

CODE DINO-H[jmgennisson.itch.io]
A short, fun little Dino-Horror!
Mist, lighting and particle effects are gorgeous, and there's some great low-poly modelling! I'm curious why they used such limited colours and dithering for the textures... it almost feels like an Amiga game at times...!
Excellent locked off fixed multicam angles! Really atmospheric - goes well with the sound effects and music, very well-judged!
Remember - the only advantages we have over giant lizards are our tight turning circles and superior pathfinding!

Old Times[gabrielnjlc.itch.io]
Lots of pan camera, but it looks like a fun little horror adventure...!