The discourse machine that is modern gaming social media can’t stay away from Baldur’s Gate 3; this time, the topic of debate is camera positioning and Relysia’s True Third-Person Camera mod. The mod bolts a more natural over-the-shoulder, third-person view onto Larian’s masterpiece, and as if on cue, a slice of the internet has since reacted as though someone had defaced a museum piece. The thing is, most of this ridiculous outrage keeps skating past the fact that Baldur’s Gate 3 has let you play in an awfully similar way since launch, no download required.
The True Third-Person Camera mod arrived on the Nexus July 20, and went viral almost immediately after some showcases of it online. And to Relysia’s credit, it does what it says on the box very well, trading Baldur’s Gate 3‘s classic isometric perspective for a close, character-hugging shot, with dynamic FOV while running and smooth crouch transitions. No good deed goes unpunished, though, as within days, the timeline had sorted itself into trenches, and the fighting was on.
Backlash, and What a Mod Actually Changes
To add a bit of context to this very silly story, Relysia’s work builds on Ershin’s long-running Native Camera Tweaks mod, adding a dedicated toggle that keeps the camera locked snugly behind whichever character you’re steering. The view preserves an over-the-shoulder feel you’d know from any of the other several hundred third-person games that exist, while preserving actions like spell targeting or jumping that still snap the camera back to its normal position. That being said, functionally, the mod is a way to jog through Faerun rather than survey it from the rafters; it’s more like a fresh coat of paint than an overhaul, which is a big part of why the meltdown feels so disproportionate.
Put the consoles in the correct order.
Yet the mod had the misfortune of going viral, so objections and advocations came through as per usual: dressed in principle, wit, consternation, and so on. Sane critics pointed out that they didn’t care for the mod because the original camera was foundational to the game’s design. Curiously eager fans called for Larian to adapt this mod into the next Divnity project expeditiously, so that it’d draw an even bigger crowd.
The True Third-Person Camera mod arrived on the Nexus July 20, and went viral almost immediately after some showcases of it online.
The latter take is what caused most of the trouble, because all of a sudden, the debate went from “who would use this optional mod” to the defense of artistic intent and genre puritanism. And boy, did it spiral fast: one reply to the call for official inclusion demanded that someone “nuke modders off the face of the earth.” Others waved the “anti-art” banner, insisting modders develop an ego about how a game is meant to be played while trampling dev intent.
The Obvious Missing Factor
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via Larian Studios -
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Baldur’s Gate 3
Larian Studios
Naturally, most of this shrieking about artistic intent is very strange behavior, not only because it’s not that serious and an optional mod in practice, but because this feature is essentially already in the game. It’s a fact someone who has been playing this way for ages without incident, Twitter user @kalaelizabeth has already expressed in a widely shared post that—as I see it—cut straight to the point:
BG3 has always let the player choose to scroll the camera in tight and trail your character at near-eye level; several people in that thread admitted they couldn’t reliably tell the stock zoomed-in view apart from the mod. It isn’t a flawless match, since the default angle tilts downward instead of sitting fully behind you. Nonetheless, the feature being treated as an existential threat to artistry has essentially been sitting in the options, more or less, the whole time.
The purist stance so many have taken in the face of this mod is frustrating in many ways, but my issue here is that, in practice, it amounts to aiming the heavy artillery, that is “the discourse,” at the smallest possible target. Creative erosion in this industry is very real, with fewer CRPGs getting greenlit as publishers chase safer, flashier bets. But a modder building an alternate way to enjoy an existing game is nowhere near the source of that pressure.
BG3 has always let the player choose to scroll the camera in tight and trail your character at near-eye level…
In a case like this, the bottom line is that if you love this genre and Baldur’s Gate 3, the aim should be getting more people through the door. Someone who finds Faerun more inviting from over the shoulder is still experiencing the same art you did, just arriving by a different path. That is a win for the consumer regardless, despite what these creativity warriors seem to be guarding.
Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing
Ultimately, much has been said, nothing has changed, and as funny as that is, the reality here is that there’s a neat, totally optional mod that some people might enjoy. The purists aren’t defending Baldur’s Gate 3 from some incoming threat to artistry, because most of what this mod covers is extremely close to the original product. If there’s a lesson in all of that, let it be this: if the worst thing happening to your favorite genre is that more people want to play it, the genre is doing just fine.
That said, anyone demanding the next Larian game make third-person an official feature needs to relax, too, because BG3 effectively already is one. The studio has already built a game you can zoom into and follow at ground level, then let its modding scene extend that game however players like. Nobody at Larian needs to be lobbied into making Divinity anything other than what it is; use the handy mod, thank the creator for their time, or use your scroll wheel, folks.
- Released
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
