I’m currently designing a sort of RPG adventure game as a Christmas present for my wife. The games stars her as the main character and takes place in Virginia Beach where we had our last vacation. Anyways, I wanted to open the game with a sort of separate “minigame” involving driving in which the player has to find their way to the hotel. This would have an “overhead” view, like the old Grand Theft Auto games, with scrolling terrain and the vehicle staying put in the middle of the frame. Now, my first thought was to create the driving level as one giant movie clip (probably 10x the size of the game screen) and move the clip underneath the vehicle accordingly as the game is played. But I figured this would lag like crazy, and then I stumbled upon the vcam system. Should I use a vcam and just have it pan around the large level clip, rather than try to move the clip around as you play? Also, if I did this, would I then have the vehicle be INSIDE of the vcam clip so that it will remain centered on the screen and the same size throughout? Your thoughts are appreciated.
