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What type of camera was used in SMS? (Perspective, orthographic, isometric, etc) Thanks

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  • Are you asking for the name, or a description? It's pretty much a standard 3D platformer camera. You can move it around, point it in different directions, etc., and it renders stuff in all the locations and proportions and angles you'd see if you were there.
    – user2357112
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 9:11
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    @user2357112: It's a technical question about projections (i.e. how to get from 3d space to the flat 2d representation on screen, e.g. to visualize depth). See my answer.
    – Mario
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 10:13

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Since this question is not really gameplay or game related in a direct way, it would be better suited on http://gamedev.stackexchange.com.

Anyway, if you'd like to know which camera has been used in some game, try finding a screenshot which showcases a plane with parallel lines pointing in the camera's direction.

I've picked this random screenshot off the web:

Random SMS screenshot

As you can clearly see, the lines between the stones on the ground are supposed to be parallel.

Next step would be drawing straight lines along those supposed-to-be parallel lines:

Random SMS screenshot with lines drawn

As you can clearly see, all those lines will converge in one point far away, the so-called focal point. This is a clear hint for this being a perspective projection.

In an orthogonal projection, they'd never meet each other and keep their distance (think of classic top-down games like Tetris) or most 2D sidescrollers. Let's have a quick look at the title screen of Super Mario Bros 3, which features orthographic projection:

SMB3 title screen with lines drawn

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