Environment in Games – Week 10

Gone Home, Thief and the mansion genre

• Name three other gameisms

1. A shaking platform signifies the platform is going to fall in a game.
2. An arrow on the ground means go towards the direction of the arrow.
3. A wall with no way to climb up means you have to go find another way to explore/exit the game.

• Name 3 games in which the environment is central to the game mechanics

1. Call of Duty
2. Dig Dug
3. SEGA Bass Fishing

• What other ways do game designers require a player to read the environment?

Game designers have the ability to give players clues and hints on gameplay through the environment. For example, if there is a vine in the foreground of game set in the jungle, that is a clue that the player can somehow use that vine (wither swing or climb up it, etc…). In this way the player reads what environment they are in a jungle, so in the jungle there are ways you can navigate that go further than just run/walk/jump.

• In what other ways do game designers apply pattern recognition?

Pattern recognition is a way game designers let the player know how to interact with the game. If inside some boxes there are coins, then the player will always look in the boxes to find coins. Game designers can also apply pattern recognition to warn when something not so cool is going to happen to the player in game. For example, the music or ambience could change whenever a boss is coming up, so the player can recognize the change and be ready.