» Tue Jun 19, 2012 11:18 pm When designing levels, you may want to make something like a seemingly bottomless pit, or a room that can only be seen through a grating that seems much larger than it actually is. The primary method used to do this is called Forced perspective.
You can trick the player's perceptions into telling him something is much larger than it is through creative use of scaling. Here is an example, using the Dwemer shaft kit pieces.
http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/RedwoodElf/ForcedPerspective1.jpg Do it at full size, and (in this case) make a very visible ledge at the top of the shaft, so he can see the thickness of it and how it connects to the shaft below it. Note how the shaft below the ledge is inset so the player can see that the ledge is a ring, and that the shaft wall is several feet larger than the ledge all the way around.
Next, http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/RedwoodElf/ForcedPerspective2.jpg the same size as the first ledge. Put it close enough that the player will be able to see it fairly well, but far enough down that it is unlikely the player will try to jump to it.
Add another section of shaft, but http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/RedwoodElf/ForcedPerspective3.jpgso it's edge is actually just barely behind the previous ledge. The player won't be able to tell that the shaft is smaller, because from the angle he will be viewing it, the scaling won't be visible, so to his perception, it will appear to be a continuation of the shaft above it.
As you get further down, you should http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/RedwoodElf/ForcedPerspective4.jpgHere I've gone from three shaft segments to two, and then to one.
Finally, http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/RedwoodElf/ForcedPerspective5.jpgwith a series of scaled down ledge tops. This will give the impression that the ledges (and, by perception, the shaft sides as well) continue on down. Block the end of this cap with a floor piece. It will be far enough away that it will visually blend with the ledges and the players' perceptions will fill the grey area with a continuation of the contracting ledge rings.
To reinforce the visual impression of depth, you can space items of a size the player is familiar with http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/RedwoodElf/ForcedPerspective6.jpg down the length of your shaft, scaling them down proportionally.
Since I used wall sconces to give the illusion of depth, I will also http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/RedwoodElf/ForcedPerspective7.jpg becoming proportially dimmer, to reinforce the illusion of distance.
Thehttp://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/RedwoodElf/ForcedPerspective8.jpg* is deep, but certainly not bottomless, but when http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/RedwoodElf/ForcedPerspective9.jpg by the player will seem as if it goes down for miles.
* (This screenshot was taken before I'd adjusted the lights)
This kit is harder to pull something like this off with, because the pieces are very regular and nonproportional scaling isn't possible (I.E. You can't turn a cylinder shape into a cone shape.) It is much easier to accomplish with Cave or other irregular kits, where you can tilt the walls inward in addition to scaling them down.
