- Name three other gameisms
I think most gamers become accustomed to the way developers think without even noticing it. Players have to learn and adapt to a game world’s laws and dynamics. This leads to players being able to predict game elements and become attuned to the game developer’s design logic.
The first gameism that comes to mind is the use of invisible colliders that stop the player from leaving a designated play space even when a clear path or area is visible. It tells the player that the playable area ends there and they should look elsewhere. This often happens in 3D games due to the addition of the Z-axis and the movement that it affords.
Another gameism is unlimited inventory space. This is addressed in plenty of RPG games which put a cap on a player’s inventory size or weight capacity. These can often be upgraded as the player progresses through the game, for example Harvest Moon lets you buy a bigger backpack later in the story which is arguably the most valuable upgrade. However, in plenty of games it is considered normal for a player to tuck away a giant sledgehammer into their pocket. The player happily disregards feasibility in return for more fluid gameplay and item use.
Finally, the fact that Link doesn’t sleep, eat or use the toilet for the entirety of most of the Legend of Zelda series goes unquestioned in the video game world. It wouldn’t be much fun if all game characters had realistic needs and bodily functions to attend to unless it was relevant to the narrative or mechanics.
- Name 3 games in which the environment is central to the game mechanics
As mentioned in the reading, I thought Resident Evil Biohazard’s use of environment and atmosphere to not only inspire fear but also tell a multi-faceted narrative was fabulous. It is similar to Gone Home in the way game objects and documents are used to enrich the story beyond a classic scare-fest. Searching for these objects also encourages exploration rather than rushing through an area. Obviously the environment’s aesthetic is hugely important to set the dreaded scene in the horror genre and I thought Resident Evil did a great job at recreating a creepy rundown southern mansion… infested with mutants. The layout of an area can also massively help or hinder the player when being chased by a member of the murderous Baker family.
The Beholder is purely set in an apartment building which the player is the landlord of. The mechanics of the game boil down to talking to residents, breaking into and searching apartments and installing security cameras to increase visibility. The Beholder is 2D and displays the building like a dolls house with no front situated on a dreary street. One would think that only playing a single game scene would be boring but the designers have made the layout of the house vital to the game mechanics. Everything the player needs for hours of engrossing gameplay and story-telling is packed into the apartment building. The Beholder is set in a fictional country which is in the grip of a cruel police state. The building and street reflect this due to their rundown nature and muted colour palette.
Assassin’s Creed has always required the player to utilize the environment to navigate the world and carry out creative assassinations. It has to be said that one of the best parts of playing Assassins Creed is protagonist’s ability to free run. The entire world is built to allow the player to climb and jump around as fluidly as possible. The designers have further added ropes to swing around corners, zip lines and pulley systems to help the player get around creatively. The stealth aspect of the gameplay also takes advantage of the environmental design. The game character intuitively hides behind cover when approaching walls or box type objects and tall grass and shrubbery conceals the player from enemies.
- What other ways do game designers require a player to read the environment?
To use Resident Evil Biohazard as an example again, according to the amount of dark, ominous sludge lying around the more likely you are to come across sludge-comprised monsters. In horror games the environment can often inform you of the threat level of the situation. Generally, the logic goes that darker and bloodier the scene gets the more danger the player is in.
- In what other ways do game designers apply pattern recognition?
In games where the player cannot save whenever they like, a system of save markers is implemented. This means that a player must reach a certain section of a game to be able to save their progress since the last save marker. After this has happened once the player will generally assume that they will come across save stations intermittently throughout the game.
Occasionally a game will display objects differently if the player can pick them up. Sometimes they will float in the air until the player runs into them like Rupees in the Legend of Zelda. Maybe the objects are drawn slightly differently or are glowing, something that differentiates them from the scenery. The same goes for intractable game objects such as buttons.
Often there will be a distinct tell that signifies something is breakable, either because it contains something or it is blocking your path. For instance, a crack in a wall can often mean a bomb or hammer may be used to break it open.
The player learns how to interact with these game elements and remembers it for later on.
My team and I decided that our two contrasting themes will be nostalgia and ‘futuristic’ (for want of a better word).
I think the story line has developed to more accurately represent nostalgia and loss. This is because the story centres around a protagonist who is fondly remembering happier times in their childhood to escape a much darker, lonelier present life. Later on the player finds out that their melancholy stems from the loss of the protagonist’s mother in recent months.
For the nostalgic level we plan to use a particle system or post processing to create a hazy glow over the camera. I think people often romanticise memories later in life and see the past through rose tinted spectacles. We want to convey the warm, safety of childhood the character feels and the longing to return to simpler days. The environment will be welcoming and dream-like to represent these themes.
In the futuristic scene the environment will be much more unfriendly and cold. The player finds themselves in a sleek yet hollow apartment. We want the contrast between happy memories and present day to be very sobering for the player. The apartment will be void of character and warmth, maybe more like a uniform ‘living unit’ to reflect the futuristic element.
Reference Art:
Art From (in order):
-Josh O’Caoimh at http://www.joshocaoimh.com
-Among the Sleep
-Life is Strange
-Minecraft
-Rituals
-User ‘discopears’ on Deviant Art
-Gone Home
-Tacoma
-Octodad
-The Stanley Parable
I think Rituals best represents the futuristic scene due to the sleek, yet cold and impersonal, decor of the office.
Although Among The Sleep is essentially a horror game, in the beginning it is just set in the bright and friendly home of a toddler. The warmth and colour in the scene is what I want to replicate in the nostalgic level.
I chose these ten reference photos as they all depict furnished interiors. They also feature everyday miscellaneous objects that litter the environment to add character and detail to the world, which our game also intends to do.