Comments on: Perplex City Exposed http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/perplex-city-exposed/ A blogged course production experiment... Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:47:05 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Tony Hirst http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/perplex-city-exposed/#comment-652 Tony Hirst Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:24:33 +0000 http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/?p=94#comment-652 If you create a large 3D world and expect the player to be able to learn the geography of the place, bear in mind that the player will find it increasingly difficult to learn their way around as the world gets bigger. The following article suggests several ways to help the player find their way around the game world. "Design Lesson: The ability for landmarks to sufficiently guide the player around the game world dramatically decreases as the size of the world increases." http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/04/column_design_lesson_101_grand.php One widely used way of helping the player around is to have dominant landmarks that the player can use to help work out where in the world they are, but these rapidly lose their effectiveness (i.e. the player is more likely to be confused as to the actual location of each landmark, and their positions relative to one another) as the world gets larger. Another approach is to have a 'minimap' display that shows whereabouts in the overall game map the player is located, as well as possible goals and threats. If you create a large 3D world and expect the player to be able to learn the geography of the place, bear in mind that the player will find it increasingly difficult to learn their way around as the world gets bigger.

The following article suggests several ways to help the player find their way around the game world.

“Design Lesson: The ability for landmarks to sufficiently guide the player around the game world dramatically decreases as the size of the world increases.”
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/04/column_design_lesson_101_grand.php

One widely used way of helping the player around is to have dominant landmarks that the player can use to help work out where in the world they are, but these rapidly lose their effectiveness (i.e. the player is more likely to be confused as to the actual location of each landmark, and their positions relative to one another) as the world gets larger.

Another approach is to have a ‘minimap’ display that shows whereabouts in the overall game map the player is located, as well as possible goals and threats.

]]> By: ARGs, Serious Games and the Magic Circle « Digital Worlds - Interactive Media and Game Design http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/perplex-city-exposed/#comment-580 ARGs, Serious Games and the Magic Circle « Digital Worlds - Interactive Media and Game Design Wed, 14 May 2008 10:07:32 +0000 http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/?p=94#comment-580 [...] If you aren’t particularly familiar with an ARG, see if you can identify features of the ARG Perplex City that correspond to the categories listed above. To what extent do you think these “essential [...] [...] If you aren’t particularly familiar with an ARG, see if you can identify features of the ARG Perplex City that correspond to the categories listed above. To what extent do you think these “essential [...]

]]> By: Tony Hirst http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/perplex-city-exposed/#comment-532 Tony Hirst Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:50:31 +0000 http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/?p=94#comment-532 I just noticed that a with the release of GTA IV (Grand Theft Auto IV), a Google map of the Liberty City, the setting of the game, has also appeared: http://grandtheftauto.ign.com/maps/1/Liberty-City-Map I just noticed that a with the release of GTA IV (Grand Theft Auto IV), a Google map of the Liberty City, the setting of the game, has also appeared:

http://grandtheftauto.ign.com/maps/1/Liberty-City-Map

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