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This essay seeks to validate the fact that we humans yearns to be in control
format visuals. This mode of rendering places the viewer at the top corner, looking
downwards diagonally – as though seeing through the eyes of a god. While this angle
of view is unnatural, it gives the viewer a sense of control, being at the top of
Farish in 1822 but is believed to have originated from Chinese art. In 1689, The
Tour (fig. 1) that depicted his boat journey through southeast China. The top-down
view in the painting gave the intended viewer, the Emperor, a perspective that allows
him to have an overall view of his kingdom. The impression of being omnipresent
immediately appends the notion of being above all. This is befitting for the Chinese
The co-relation between isometric perspective and control are brought forward
today and implemented in many aspects of our lives. It is heavily used in real-time
strategy games such as Command & Conquer Generals (CCG) (Fig. 2) where the
player is given an empowered position to lead his troops and tanks in the game.
Referring back to the Chinese scroll painting, it is important to note that the mobile
point of view in such games could have also been imported from these paintings. The
motion of unrolling the scroll (which is usually based on a scene) reveals to the
viewer part by part, different scenes of the painting. It is similar to how the player can
move around the game scene merely by the touch of his mouse cursor – and the
control that he has over his point of view. Playing the role of a General in CCG, it is
therefore important that the player has a sense of feeling that he is in control of
everything, probably the reason why isometric perspective is here chosen over other
In similar strategy games, the player is placed up high and almighty, instilling
a strong sense of control. The player would have gained a perspective similar to
Emperor Kang Xi when he saw the scroll painting of The Southern Inspection Tour. It
is no coincidence that in such games, the player often has to make decisions that will
affect the entire game-play. While one may argue that in Command & Conquer
Generals, the point of view may be the aerial view out of a helicopter, there’s no
disputing that in The Sims, the player is positioned to be god-like – he is able to look
into the houses, looking through the roofs as though they were invisible, controlling
Moving away from games, isometric perspective can also be found in other
application that elevates the user to a god-like status. Autocad - a program used by
similarities as a 3D game. It offers the user a mobile point of view that he can
navigate around his own drawings and make changes. The program may not be a form
of entertainment like the games we mentioned, it’s functional purpose is also probably
not to give the user the “control” that we human yearn to have artificially, but
subconsciously, the user of the program might feel god-like, a creator, in part due to
sense of control, the fact that the same technique is applied today in the different
Fig.
1
Wang
Hui
(1632-‐1717)
and
assistants,
The
Kangxi
Emperor's
Southern
Inspection
Tour,
Scroll
Eleven:
Nanjing
to
Jinshan
handscroll,
colour
on
paper,
Palace
Museum,
67.8
x
2612
cm
Fig.
2
Screen
capture
of
Command
&
Conquer
Generals
Fig.
3
Screen
capture
of
The
Sims
Fig.
4
Screen
capture
of
AutoCad
Program
Reference
http://changingminds.org/explanations/needs/control.htm
http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/iiasn9/eastasia/krikke.html