Camera SystemSo the camera is going to be pointing perpendicular to the 2D playing plane. However, I am going to allow zooming in and out along that perpendicular axis. This allows the player to see the entire playing area at once, while still allowing him/her to zoom back in for fine control of the onscreen player.
Here is an image of an entire level zoomed out to see the whole thing. Notice the size difference of the rings in this screenshot and the prior post's screen shot.
The camera is also set up to change its x and y coordinates to follow the onscreen cursor in world position. With this scheme the player can also navigate the entire playing area without his onscreen player having to move all over the place. Of course this can't be seen in a screen shot, but the overall effect is a nice smooth motion with the screen following the cursor.
This also has the nice effect that the cursor will never be at the edge of the screen and basically non-visible. I have a few plans for the cursor to be more integrated into the game than most others, so this is an important design aspect!
