different settings in games

Game settings

In a game there are things which the player can change in order to make the game different and be aimed at a certain audience. There are several characteristics within a game these being, physical, temporal, environmental, emotional and lastly, ethical.

Physical setting

This is where the story of the game is taking place, it is the setting and the physical look of the game world itself. An example of this would be in Skyrim you are a player that is in a vast continent and you are a dragon born, this continent is far north on the globe and this is shown by the mountainous terrain and the heavy snow accompanied by Arctic animals within the game to give the game a physical setting of being north of the globe.

Temporal setting

This is the time period which the game is set in. for example if you were to play Halo 3 you would know that it is set in the future due to the fact that space travel is much easier and more advanced relative to this time period. This means that the temporal setting is set mainly by both the visual and auditory experience felt by the player, meaning that the physical setting of the game and the audio (speech from NPC’S) are going to be different relative to our time period which will tell the player that this game is set in the future rather than the past or present. However this can also change during the game because let’s say for example that in the game world it had started snowing, the player would expect that the snow will settle on the ground instead of disappearing so this has to be taken into account by the developer.

Emotional setting

This is used mainly by the developer in order to consider how the player will feel on certain levels during the game, this is done in order to adjust the levels within the game to make the gaming experience better. It is essential for the developer to understand what characters the player will become emotionally attached to and how to achieve an immersive gaming experience for the player, and this can only be done by taking the emotional setting of the game into account.

Ethical setting

The ethical setting in a game is important because you don’t want to encourage players to do something that’s illegal in reality but normal in the game world, this has to be taken into account for the developer since he/she is held responsible for any action the player of the game does if it is influenced by the game. This is why games have a rating system in order to disallow players that are too young to play games where there are mass shootings or games and is also a guideline for parents on what games they should/should not buy for their children. 

Interaction models

Interaction models

An interaction model is the part of the game that is taken into account when choosing the different ways the player is controlled and shown within the game. There are two main types of interaction models, these being, avatar interaction model and omnipresence interaction model.

An avatar interaction model is when the player is shown as being the character of the game world, and how the player controls that character. an example of a game that uses given interaction models would be grand theft auto 5. This is a game where you are one character however you can change characters in order to give the player more choice when playing the game. Another reason as to why people like this game is because your actions have a reaction within the game, what you do affects the game world in either a positive or negative way.

Omnipresence interaction is a type of interaction that allows the player to control a number of characters greater than one in the game, or the player needs to make changes to the game world itself. An example of a game that represents this type of interaction model could be SIMS 3 where you manage each different character in order to let them have an affect in the game world itself.

Addiction and rules

Rules

A rule within a game is something which the player must abide by if they want to carry on playing the game without any penalties. Some rules can consist of not killing another player during a given time period this means that the rules within a video games are meant to be treated equally as laws in the real world. The reason as to why rules are important in video games is because of the fact that it tells the player how to play and why they are supposed to play that way instead of destroying the gaming experience by breaking these rules. For example in the game rune-scape you are not allowed to use offensive language, you’re not allowed to abuse bugs, and lastly you’re not allowed to “scam” or real world trade.

Addiction.

Addiction is a term given to players who excessively game, people become addicted if a game has many long term goals or is extremely enjoyable. Game designers want to make games addictive because they want the player to experience the most fun out of their game whilst making a lot of money from the game that they have designed.

Difficulties in games

Difficulty and balance

The term balance in video games means to balance the difficulty of the game in order to make it viable for the player to play. It is crucial for the initial missions of the game to be easy and passable for even the beginner in a video game because of the fact that these will be the foundations that need to be built upon by the player as the game progresses further on. As the game goes on in a video game it will mean that the player will then be met with harder tasks to complete, this is done in order to help the gamer improve and hone his/hers abilities. A way game designers will try to balance a games difficulty is to add different difficulties which can be chosen at the start of the game. This will allow the player to set their own difficulty dependant on how much experience they have with the game or similar games. The reason as to why games use difficulty setting to balance their game is to make the game playable for the player. A game that uses difficulty settings is Halo 3, this game goes from ‘recruit’ to ‘legendary’ recruit being the easiest and legendary being the hardest.

Player actions

Different characters have different actions that can be performed by the player. The first action is what the player can do with the character inside of the video game, this means the controls of the character given by the developer of the game. within different games characters can perform different actions which allow them to complete levels or missions. for example in assassins creed the character can run, jump, grab onto ropes, balance on bars, climb and fight the enemies. whereas in FIFA the characters do different actions such as kicking the ball passing shooting tackling and defending. the actions the character can perform are determined before the game is made and depend on the genre and the type of game it is.

The way you control the character varies from game to game for example in the game League of legends you can control your character by using skills which range from character to character by pressing the buttons that are linked to that skill, “q, w, e, r, p, ctrl 1 2 3 4 and so on”, this allows the player to move the character in whichever way he or she feels necessary. The way a player can control its character ranges from the console used in order to play the game on, for example on Xbox one the player can use Xbox Kinect move the character without the use of a controller or a mouse, and it works by using sensors that view the player. Another method in which the player can control the character is using a mouse, this is used in most computer gaming scenarios because it is the most effective method this is also combined with a keyboard in order to increase the range of movements the character can perform (however there are gaming mouse which have all the keys that a keyboard has and you can link those keys in order to control the character). These things affect the gameplay because imagine if you were to play a game using Xbox Kinect and it was a racing game it would be awkward to move around in such a way to control the cars movement so it is better to use a controller in the shape of a steering wheel to control the character.

What is narrative and how is it set within a video game?

Narrative

A narrative within a video game is the ‘story line’ of the game, it is the role the main character has to play in the video game. The reason as to why video game designers use this idea is because it helps immerse the player into the game, it allows more leeway for the designers because the player will understand the ‘narrative’ of the game. The advantages of using narrative inside of games is that it lets the player know and understand the storyline of the game it is what helps develop the foundations of the game inside the players mind in order to help the player and guide them through the game. The two main types a narrative is set within a game is by using cut scenes or full motion video. An example of a narrative for a video game would be in the game Assassins creed, the narrative in this video game is to stop the Templars from doing what they’re doing.

FMV

FMV stands for full motion video it is a separation from the actual game itself. A full motion video’s purpose is to set the story line for the player, it shows the player what kind of task is going to be set for them next. FMV is used in most video games with a given narrative, one game that uses FMV is Halo 3. Halo 3 uses narrative every time a mission has been completed and also as an opening to another task. . A downside to full motion video is that it takes away from the gameplay and doesn’t allow the player to have any control of what’s going on whatsoever. full motion video costs alot of money and takes alot of time away from the designers when they are trying to develop the game. this means that the game itself wont be as appealing to others because of the fact that they spent most of their time designing a 2 minute cut scene. 

Cut scene

A cut scene is an in game interaction that happens sometimes with no player interaction or sometimes having the player doing tasks during the cut scene to make it not take away from the gameplay itself. Cut scenes are used to set a narrative for small events within the video game it allows the user to understand what is happening within the video game without taking away much of the gameplay.  This is an example of cut scenes within a video game , this game is called the Last of us and focuses on the use of cut scenes in order to convey their narrative towards the players. because cut scenes happen within the game because it doesn't take away from the gameplay, it flows with the game play so to speak. cut scenes have become more and more popular in video games as the graphics in video games have become better the quality of the cut scene doesn't take away from the game play.

What is a game world and what does it consist of?

What is a game world?

A game world is essentially the playing field for the main character to interact with. This varies with the different types of games that are played. For example in Halo reach, the game world is on different planets.  It is important for designers to make a game world that suits the game that is being played because you wouldn't put a fantasy adventure game in a bleak looking boring game world, it would make it essentially unplayable because the player wouldn't enjoy it.

 

 Games change from time to time with newer technological advancements coming into place. Thican be seen in these two examples from halo reach and halo 5, these games are 5 years apart and show a distinct difference in game world design however the key aspects stay the same within the game (a free roaming area where you can explore the design of the game). The game on the right is Halo reach (older) the game on the left is Halo 5 (new). As you can see the game worlds have distinct differences in graphics and design.

What is terrain?

Terrain are the things within the game world that makes the game world enjoyable for the player. Terrain is what the player can interact with by walking on. An example of a piece of terrain would be the grass on a football pitch (Fifa 15), the player interacts with the field it is terrain that is intractable physically to some extent. Some games have terrain that suits the game whereas others have different terrains as you progress through the game. The terrain in any game will be different from game to game. An example of terrain changing would be in Halo 3 where the terrain changes as you complete a level and go onto the next.

 

The image on the left clearly shows an almost post-apocalyptic game world with almost decayed terrain whereas the image on the left shows a tropical island with ruins of an ancient civilisation, these two images come from the same game but are on different stages on the game. The terrain between the two images clearly differ for the sole purpose of providing the player a good gaming experience.

What is architecture within games?

Architecture is the buildings within the game which your player enters and or destroys depending on the game you are playing. Some games have very distinct and complex architecture for example mirrors edge is a game that made you interact with the architecture the terrain and essentially the game world. The reason why we want games to have good architecture is because that is the main place where the game will take place in, however games are different so not all games will include architecture some games may not need architecture, some games may be made for you to make the architecture. The reason as to why it is important to have architecture is because of the fact that in most games it shows the quality of the game design and the game layout. Also it doubles as a guide to the player because of the fact that they may not know where to proceed within the game and if they see a piece of high quality architecture which may be of a higher quality than other pieces of architecture the player is surely going to interact with that architecture so it helps give the game a sort of identity and flow to it. Architecture has changed over time because of this reason and has improved the experience of many gamers. 

The game on the left is “mirrors edge” and has been awarded several times for its beautiful game world, terrain and architecture this game is much older than assassins of creed a game released 5 years after the release of mirrors edge. It is clear to us that assassins creed has much better graphics and a more detailed game world, terrain and architecture however mirrors edge doesn't fall off as much as other games in its time period due to the fact that it was so well produced. You can tell the differences between the two games just by looking at them, this shows that over time game developers/designers have become better at producing and creating games.

What is an ‘object’ within a video game?

An object is something that the player can or must interact with in order to make a portion of the game easier or to complete a stage within the game. Different games have different objects which is a given however some games have more than others, and it is the quantity of objects within a game which either makes or breaks the game. This is because if you were to have a game with a small amount of objects that would mean that the player would have a limited amount of playing time and it wouldn't be as enjoyable as other games with more objects (things to do in the game). A game that uses objects is a game called “rune-scape” it is a game which lets the users obtain different objects within the game to increase their speed of levelling up. One object from this game would be an iron plate body which is a plate of armour that you wear on your torso which protects you from enemies dealing damage to you. Some games change their objects depending on the play-style that it gives the players for example if an item were to be over powered they would have to de-buff the item in order to maintain balance between the player base also if an item were to be underpowered it would be given buffs in order to give it more incentive for players to use the object. Objects can also be used in games as a one-time interact able thing for example in battlefield 2 you can knock down different objects in order to complete your objective.

The image on the left is a “sniper rifle” from the game Halo 3 and is used by the player and AI in order to carry out the main characters mission. The image on the left is a butterfly knife used in counterstrike global offence, it is a rare object so it is hard to get for new players and even veterans however this object follows the same purpose where it completes the task you are set. 

Characters Report.

A character is something you can control within a game and you decide what to do with it. A main character however is a character with a given path throughout the game and you have to control the character in order for it to go through this given path, for example in the Halo 3 you are master chief and your end goal is to win the war between the “covenant” (an alien alliance formed between different races) and humanity, he is essentially a super soldier made to accomplish his task as fast as possible. Another example would be Assassins creed, where you are Altair, you control this character in order to accomplish his task of eliminating the Templars who are out to destroy the world for some reason. The reason why game creators want the main character to be someone who is strong or key to the path the game will take is because if the main character were to be weak it would be no fun for the player itself which means that the main character has to be someone that is key within the story and is strong within the game relative to others not necessarily strength wise it could be a psychological advantage over other NPC’S.

 Most video games do not have one main character some have two or more, the reason for this is because the creator wants to express its idea of what the game should be the path the player should take. For example in grand theft auto 5 you have three main characters which you can choose to control and this increases the diversity within the game it allows the user to immerse itself in the game even more. Because there are main characters which you can ‘control’ there are also NPC’S (non-playing characters) which are there for them main character to interact with which allows the player to get hints on what to do how to control the character and give it hints on how to complete the game. There are two types of NPC’s within a game, one NPC being able to interact with the main character in order to give it some story line to the game and another being the terrain around the main character the objects the main character cannot interact with. There are different types of NPC’S because of the fact that it allows the user to be more interacted within the game rather than aimlessly wonder what to do and where to go, whereas the other type of NPC creates the atmosphere and environment around the player in order to make it more lifelike. It is important to have strong NPC’S because of the fact that it lets you know that you aren’t the only strong character in the game this means the developer has included a character either strong or stronger than your character to invoke realism in the game because no one person can take care of a war by himself so it adds a sense of reality towards the game.