How video game level architecture fundamentally differs from reality

Dr. Penguin · 2014-08-04T11:58:26

There are a lot of stories I can tell you to motivate, why I'm interested into a discussion of this topic. Maybe the most accessible is the one from Arthur C. Clarke's novelization of "2001 - A Space Odyssey". Unlike Kubrick's masterpiece of a scifi mystery movie, Clarke's novelization puts a lot of effort into almost over-explaining various aspects of the movie. As interpreted by Clarke, the story ends with the surviving astronaut Dr. Bowman flying into an alien portal and landing in a hotel room. The astronaut realizes upon further inspection immediately, that the hotel room is something created by aliens and in no way of earthly origin. The books in the room have only unrecognizable gibberish being written in them, the phone receiver doesn't give a signal when picked up and drawers in the furniture are immovable. Bowman later finds out that the aliens actually created the room, based upon a set from a transmission of a TV show they intercepted. There is something very similar to that in video games. Analogously, many games try to recreate aspects of reality, but due to constraints in development, these recreations have their own weird architectural rules, which unveil themselves upon further inspection. In most cases there aren't any better alternatives given anyways), I want instead to take the chance and discuss these design decisions in the context of immersion. Eventually this might help us creating more immersive themes and levels for video games. Be aware: The design tropes I will mention are in no way supposed to be bad design decisions. In a lot of cases they are even necessary and can't be easily circumvented. At the moment the following design stereotypes come to mind: Level boundaries: The common agreement is, that invisible walls should be avoided at all costs. Instead it is better to tell the player that he can't go outside of the level because of an obstacle. The most common obstacle in video games are rocky walls. Even going so far that most levels I remember are actually situated in canyons. Obstacles posed by human infrastructure and architecture are also possible, such as a building or a fence, however they should always give the impression that even translated into a real-life situation they would still be a serious obstacles. Sealing a narrow street with just a car wreck would be for instance a bad design decision, because you'd be asking yourself why you just can't jump over it?. Although I must admit, any professional free climbers might think about rock walls the same. ^^ Non-homotopic level of detail: Ever noticed in games with open levels, that important areas, where the player is supposed to reside for a longer time, are more detailed than the rest? "Gee, that area I'm driving to looks so lovely. Surely I'm not supposed to fight any enemies there". Level linearity: The most basic design decision encountered in most video games. You can't take a path you're not supposed to, actually transforming entire fictive cities into a giant concrete tunnel. Lack of interactivity: This effects linear games as much as open world games. In linear games, the lack of interactivity hinders you amongst other things from taking paths, you're not supposed to take. In open world games, this hinders you from getting into areas you are not supposed to go (e.g. entering houses). Lack of interactivity is however a much broader concept, it applies whenever you are supplied with tools, which would allow in a real-life situation to manipulate your surroundings. E.g. "There are trees everywhere in this level and I've seen an axe lying around near the abandoned car park. Whenever I myself reloading a weapon, I see that I actually have hands. So what could possibly hinder me from taking the axe and cutting down the trees?". Relevant posts: [1], [2] Performance-oriented level architecture: Ever noticed that a level is created basically in a way, resembling several large and separated rooms, in which the sight on the other rooms is prohibited? That's done so that the engine can fade out what's happening in the other rooms, effectively boosting the performance of the game. Within walking distance: The name of this concept might be not the most suitable, but describes the best how a lot of levels are designed. Basically, whenever you want to go from point A to B, there is always an option available, which allows you to finish your journey within less than 5 minutes. In non-vehicle based games, this necessary leads to the fact, that every interesting point of the level lies within walking distance. Relevant posts: [1] One thing I'm questioning myself, is whether or not the significantly higher movement speed of a player also has a subtle, unconscious influence on the level architecture. I can't tell for now, but if you have anything to add, please let me know. Anyways, I collected these tropes and concepts from my own personal experience, so some of they might not be the best formulated, might overlap with other concepts, might even be better described with more broader terms or even are part of a hierarchy of tropes. But these proto-tropes give us something to discuss about. It would be great if we could further discuss about them and add much more to the list. So if you noticed further level design tropes in video games, or you anything to add, feel free to share it in this thread. Edit: Some more contributions to the list. Non-functional infrastructure and architecture (as pointed out by Stainless): Infrastructure and architecture which doesn't make sense from an engineering point of view. For instance: Buildings without a proper design to account for water supply, lacking of any sanitary installations like bathrooms, etc. Relevant posts: [1], [2]

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by Dr. Penguin July 29, 2014 05:39 PM

29 comments, last by wodinoneeye 10 years, 5 months ago

wodinoneeye

1,691

August 04, 2014 11:58 AM

We have everything you want already.

It's called VISUAL STUDIO.

What you are asking for is not a game, it's not even a game engine. To do what you want FOR EACH GAME, boot up visual studio and start from scratch.

I would like to start up an application, set a few flags, hit run and go home.

Next morning I would into the office and have a fully functioning game.

Technically it's possible, using procedural generation and genetic algorithms, but I'm not holding my breath. Writing a visual system for evaluating a generated generic 3d mesh is probably measured in man lifetimes rather than man days.

Have you ever written a game?

Wrong thread or forum ?

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How video game level architecture fundamentally differs from reality

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