View source for Conditional Passageways

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''Passageways in games that can only be moved through if certain conditions are met.''

Many games have areas that players cannot access before fulfilling certain objectives or goals. [[Conditional Passageways]] are the places in the game worlds that provide the blockage and these may be literal blockages, like a pile of rocks blocking a tunnel, or be more abstract reasons why movement is not possible, e.g. a rocket that will not take off before it is repaired.

=== Examples ===
Many doors in the [[Doom series|Doom]], [[Far Cry series|Far Cry]], and [[Quake series]] cannot be opened before players have accessed the proper security cards. [[The Legend of Zelda series]] requires players to collect keys, defeat boss monsters or manipulate the environment in different ways to open doors. The [[Super Mario series]] requires players to collect stars to be able to enter levels that are more difficult and thereby guarantee that players have completed easier challenges before ones that are more difficult.

[[:Category:Adventure Games|Adventure Games]] like [[Day of the Tentacle]], the [[Leisure Suit Larry series]], and the [[Zork series]] have meeting the requirements of [[Conditional Passageways]] as major part of their gameplay, although in many cases figuring out what the requirements are is the most difficult part.

== Using the pattern ==
Designing [[Conditional Passageways]] consist of first making travel between two points in a [[Game World]] possible and then preventing this [[Movement]], and one of the most common reasons for this is to make it possible to open up otherwise [[Inaccessible Areas]]. One way of doing this is by inserting [[Choke Points]] together with [[Enemies]] or [[Obstacles]] - making the removal of the [[Enemies]] or [[Obstacles]] the requirement for opening up the passages. Another is to have [[Environmental Effects]] or [[Obstacles]] that block [[Movement]] but having [[Switches]] (or [[Controllers]]) that can remove these. In the case of [[Environmental Effects]], having [[Invulnerabilities]] or [[Privileged Abilities]] that allow players to ignore them is another option. A third is having [[Warp Zones]] that only can be activated under certain circumstances. Places with [[One-Way Travel]] provide [[Conditional Passageways]] that only depend on from which direction one is approaching them; related to these are [[Conditional Passageways]] that support [[Quick Returns]] by making returns easy once one as gotten to a specific point. More generally, [[Tools]] can allow passage through [[Conditional Passageways]]. 

Besides the above options to creating [[Conditional Passageways]], these can be modulated by only applying to certain players or [[Teams]], or if one is using [[Vehicles]] or not; the latter is often an effect of some [[Vehicles]] being larger than opening or passages. 

[[Conditional Passageways]] may be between parts of [[Game Worlds]] that cannot be moved between through continuously [[Movement]]. The most usual case of this is [[Movement]] between [[Levels]] and for games with [[Levels]] it is very common - in most cases one has to "complete the level" before being able to go on to the next [[Levels|Level]].

Not all [[Conditional Passageways]] need to be apparent as potential routes to new areas; the most common reason for this is to create [[Secret Areas]].

=== Narrative Aspects ===
Many games tell stories as a consequence of how players have been able to move to different areas in [[Game Worlds]]. For games designed in this fashion, [[Conditional Passageways]] can be used to ensure that the order in which [[Predetermined Story Structures]] are unfolded is the one intended.

== Consequences ==
[[Conditional Passageways]] are ways of controlling and directing [[Movement]] in [[Game Worlds]] - as a specific example, they can control access between [[Levels]], and those that can pass through them have a certain type of [[Privileged Movement]]. Two effects of using [[Conditional Passageways]] is that they can ensure that [[Predetermined Story Structures]] are unfolded in a specific order and that players receive [[Smooth Learning Curves]] by having to complete easier challenges before trying harder ones.

[[Conditional Passageways]] that are unknown to players help define [[Secret Areas]]. Those that are known, and where the requirements to go through them are also known, typically lead to goals of [[Gain Competence]] or [[Gain Ownership]] depending on what the specific requirements are.

When [[Conditional Passageways]] limit travel to those that use [[Vehicles]] (as for example the impossibility of tanks to enter most buildings in the [[Battlefield series]]), this provides [[Balancing Effects]] by requiring that all combatants are pedestrians inside buildings. In contrast, when the condition instead is that only specific players or [[Teams]] can pass through this can create [[Safe Havens]].

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Gain Competence]], 
[[Gain Ownership]], 
[[Predetermined Story Structures]], 
[[Privileged Movement]], 
[[Quick Returns]], 
[[Safe Havens]], 
[[Secret Areas]], 
[[Smooth Learning Curves]]

==== with [[Vehicles]] ====
[[Balancing Effects]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Game Worlds]], 
[[Levels]], 
[[Movement]], 
[[Vehicles]], 
[[Warp Zones]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[One-Way Travel]]

[[Choke Points]] together with [[Enemies]] or [[Obstacles]]

[[Environmental Effects]] together with [[Invulnerabilities]], [[Privileged Abilities]], or [[Switches]]

[[Obstacles]] together with [[Switches]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Controllers]], 
[[Inaccessible Areas]], 
[[Teams]], 
[[Tools]], 
[[Vehicles]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
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=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
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== History ==
New pattern created in this wiki.

== References ==
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== Acknowledgements ==