Hi all,
I am designing a small RPG game where you have the possiblity of switching between characters as one of the core mechanics. The thing is, I would like to implement it so that there can be two characters on different rooms on different screens, and whenever you press the switch button, the other screen is displayed and you can manage the other character independently. So, you don't just change the shape of your character and acquire different abilities, you also are in a different area. Eventually, there would be the possiblity for the characters to encounter whenever they both reach the same room, so they should be independent objects.
I don't have much experience, as you can tell, so I had to ask. Is implementing this feature viable? Will there be huge performance issues? I am thinking that I could restrict the feature so that the player cannot use it at their will, but only at some specific moments --if there was no alternative.
I will be using the Unity engine, but I could try something else if I had to. The thing is, I want to make sure the concept is somehow valid before starting to work on it. Most of the games I have seen allow to switch characters in a 'change shape and abilities' style, so I don't have a good reference.
Thank you,
Switch-between-characters mechanic
It's not hard to do by any means. You would just swap the target mesh which responds to your controls, and swap cameras. Then load in the skill bar, inventory, ect... for the relevant character. The Neverwinter games do this, among others.
There shouldn't be any issue with performance from doing so.
1 hour ago, Rutin said:There shouldn't be any issue with performance from doing so.
Keep in mind that using multiple cameras can quickly hinder performance if care isn't taken to make sure only one is rendering at full speed/resolution at a time. 
This is mostly important if you want to maintain some kind of view of the other character. Of course this is somewhat dependent on hardware and etc,etc,etc.. 
Sounds like a fun project!
1 hour ago, Septopus said:Keep in mind that using multiple cameras can quickly hinder performance if care isn't taken to make sure only one is rendering at full speed/resolution at a time.
Sounds like a fun project!
I assumed the OP is just swapping from one character to the next, not rendering multiple camera views at once, maybe I misunderstood the post. If the OP is wanting more than one camera view to render out then some form of optimization might be required depending on the target specs, and what is being outputted.
There will be no performance issue if you're just changing cameras from one area to another but maintaining a single 'active' camera view.
Thanks for pointing that out! 
I got hung up by it for longer than I should have when I first started using multiple cameras, just didn't click right away that I was multiplying the rendering load...
Thank you both for your answers! Indeed, as Rutin understood it, there is no need to have both cameras active at once, only one of them. (Although that would be another cool option to consider...!)
The point is to have not only a main character but also a second one that plays a parallel role in the story --and some of their actions affect the story in different ways. This particular relationship is a mix of game mechanics and story, and it was difficult imagining one without the other, so I wanted to make sure I had some freedom.
Anyway, thank you again. That was my first post, hopefully I'll see you again around here. ?
