How-To: Set Up a Top-Down Camera

Goal: frame the pawn from a fixed top-down / isometric angle (Diablo-style) that follows movement but ignores look input.

Prerequisites
You completed Quick Start - a UCrimsonCameraComponent on your pawn and ACrimsonPlayerCameraManager on your controller.

1. Create a top-down mode

Make a Blueprint subclass of UCrimsonCameraMode_TopDown. Unlike the third-person mode it holds a fixed offset from the pawn and ignores look input, so it never orbits with the mouse / right stick.

In the Content Browser, right-click empty space -> Crimson Plugins -> Camera -> Camera Modes -> Camera Mode - Top Down, then open it. In Details -> Top Down set PivotOffset (the fixed offset from the pawn - pull it back on X and up on Z for a Diablo-style angle), FollowSpeed (how quickly the camera catches up), and either TargetOffsetCurve or, with bUseRuntimeFloatCurves ticked, the three TargetOffsetX / TargetOffsetY / TargetOffsetZ curves.

Verify
The mode opens with a Top Down category exposing PivotOffset, FollowSpeed, and the offset curves.

2. Push it (or select it)

Activate it like any mode - push it on BeginPlay for a permanent top-down game, or return it from Determine Camera Mode / push it as an override to switch into top-down for a section.

Event BeginPlay -> Get Crimson Camera Component (drag the component in from My Blueprint -> Components) -> Push Camera Mode (Camera Mode Class = your top-down mode, Owner Tag = a tag such as Camera.Mode.TopDown). For a game that is top-down throughout, that single push is the whole setup. To drop into top-down only for a section, push on entry and Pop Camera Mode with the same tag on exit.

Verify
Press Play - the camera holds a fixed high angle and slides to follow the pawn (rate set by FollowSpeed); look input no longer orbits it.

See also

  • How-To: Switch Camera Modes - swap between third-person and top-down at runtime.
  • Concept: The Mode Stack - how the top-down mode blends in over its Blend Time.