Influence Field Configurations

Influence Fields modify the effective priority of Phantom Cameras without changing their base priority values. The spatial form fires when an entity enters a PhysX trigger volume; the global form applies for the component’s entire active lifetime.

For the concept, the channel-aware bus signature, and the priority-stacking model, see The Basics: Influence Fields. For component properties and the bus surface, see Camera Influence Fields (Framework API).

Contents

• Recipe: Boost a Cam Inside a Room
• Recipe: Always-On Cinematic Boost
• See Also

Recipe: Boost a Cam Inside a Room

The player should see a different camera when they walk into a vista room — same player priority, but a “VistaCam” that frames the view jumps to dominance inside the room.

Steps

1. Place the VistaCam as a normal Phantom Camera entity in the room (or in your rig prefab). Give it a low base priority, e.g. 10. Author its Body and Aim stages to frame the vista.
2. Author the trigger volume:
   • Create a new entity at the room’s entrance.
   • Add a PhysX Collider (set to trigger mode), shaped to cover the room.
   • Configure the collider’s Collides With to match the player’s collision layer.
   • Add CameraInfluenceFieldComponent to the same entity.
3. Configure the influence:
   • Camera Name → VistaCam (the target Phantom Camera’s entity name).
   • Influence → 100 (enough to overcome the player’s normal cam priority).
4. Place the entity in the level.

When the player walks in, the trigger fires AddCameraInfluence(volumeEntity, playerEntity, "VistaCam", 100). The Cam Manager routes the influence to the player’s channel; VistaCam’s effective priority jumps to 110 and wins arbitration. On exit, the influence is removed and the player’s normal cam wins again.

Recipe: Always-On Cinematic Boost

A specific stage should always favor a cinematic cam — say, the title screen’s slow-orbit cam should always be dominant when the title-screen stage is loaded.

Steps

1. Author the cinematic cam with a moderate base priority (e.g. 20).
2. On the StageData entity for the title-screen stage:
   • Add GlobalCameraInfluenceComponent.
   • Set Camera Name to the cinematic cam’s entity name.
   • Set the influence value (e.g. 200) high enough to dominate any other cams in the stage.
3. Save the stage.

When the stage activates, the global influence registers; the cinematic cam wins. When the stage unloads, the influence is removed.

This is cleaner than authoring the cinematic cam at priority 220 directly because the priority boost is scoped to the stage — the same cinematic cam at base 20 won’t accidentally win arbitration if it’s referenced elsewhere.

See Also

Related recipe collections:

• PhantomCam Configurations — the cam being boosted is composed via these stage recipes.
• Camera Tug Configurations — alternative spatial mechanism (pose pull rather than priority shift).
• Group Target Configurations — Collapse to Single View — combines an influence field with a shared cinematic cam to trigger collapse.

Basics this builds on:

• The Basics: Influence Fields — channel routing semantics, priority stacking, pitfalls.

Framework API:

• Camera Influence Fields — bus signature, channel routing, component reference.

Related utilities:

• Framework API: Stage Data
• Utility: Physics Trigger Volume