Geospatial Game Widgets - Revision history

Staffan Björk: /* Consequences */

2016-07-17T11:05:45Z

‎Consequences

Staffan Björk at 11:03, 17 July 2016

2016-07-17T11:03:08Z

Staffan Björk at 09:09, 15 July 2016

2016-07-15T09:09:42Z

Staffan Björk at 09:37, 14 July 2016

2016-07-14T09:37:56Z

Staffan Björk at 13:41, 5 August 2015

2015-08-05T13:41:29Z

Staffan Björk at 20:44, 21 July 2014

2014-07-21T20:44:05Z

Staffan Björk at 09:06, 20 July 2014

2014-07-20T09:06:59Z

Staffan Björk at 08:38, 9 October 2012

2012-10-09T08:38:11Z

Staffan Björk at 16:17, 16 August 2011

2011-08-16T16:17:30Z

Staffan Björk at 15:59, 9 August 2011

2011-08-09T15:59:18Z

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 == Consequences ==
-[[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are [[Game State Indicators]] that, as mentioned above, break both [[Diegetic Consistency|Diegetic]] and [[Thematic Consistency]] in games by introducing [[Non-Diegetic Features]] into [[Game Worlds]] or [[Levels]]. They can provide [[Spatial Engrossment]] better compared to other ways of providing information to players, e.g. [[HUD Interfaces]] and [[Secondary Interface Screens]], since locating the information in the [[Game Worlds]] does make players shift between spatial thinking and non-spatial thinking. Since they do provide players with information that can make gameplay easier, they can be considered working against both [[Challenging Gameplay]] and [[Experimenting]] - games can easily become more challenging by removing the [[Geospatial Game Widgets]].
+[[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are [[Game State Indicators]] that, as mentioned above, break both [[Diegetic Consistency|Diegetic]] and [[Thematic Consistency]] in games by introducing [[Non-Diegetic Features]] into [[Game Worlds]] or [[Levels]]. By being [[Game State Indicators]] they can also create [[Game State Overviews]] when used in numbers. They can provide [[Spatial Engrossment]] better compared to other ways of providing information to players, e.g. [[HUD Interfaces]] and [[Secondary Interface Screens]], since locating the information in the [[Game Worlds]] does make players shift between spatial thinking and non-spatial thinking. Since they do provide players with information that can make gameplay easier, they can be considered working against both [[Challenging Gameplay]] and [[Experimenting]] - games can easily become more challenging by removing the [[Geospatial Game Widgets]].
 [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are [[Landmarks]] or markers on game elements such as [[Enemies]] or [[Units]]. By being this, [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can support [[Coordination]] in games with [[Parties]] or [[Teams]] that try to [[Cooperation|Cooperate]], especially when the widgets bluntly ignore [[Diegetic Consistency]] to be visible through diegetic elements. The can be used in this fashion even better when players can actively create the widgets - as can be done by markers in [[World of Warcraft]] or by "pings" in the [[Age of Empires series]] or the [[Battlefield series]].

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 [[Clues]],
 [[Game State Indicators]],
 [[Landmarks]],
 [[Non-Diegetic Features]],

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 [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are used to provide information to players at specific locations in [[Game Worlds]] and [[Levels]], so using them consist of choosing what information is to be shown and where to show it. A weak version of the pattern, found for example in the [[Age of Empires series]], is to place [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] on [[Mini-maps]] which spatially locates them in the [[Game Worlds]] even if it is not in the primary representation of them. [[God Fingers]] are a special case of [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] that provide [[Focus Loci]] to players rather than provide information at specific locations, but do the latter indirectly since placing one's [[God Fingers|God Finger]] at any given location in a [[Game Worlds|Game World]] reveals information about it (unless hidden due to [[Fog of War]] or other similar effects).
-Showing [[Territories]] or [[Check Points]] are common examples of what [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are used for, this since there may not be plausible ways to include this in the game's diegesis. Also common are using them to provide [[Traces]] such as check point in [[:Category:Racing Games|Racing Games]], which really can be seen as series of [[Check Points]]. [[Clues]] may also make use of them to ensure that they are unlikely to be missed, potentially modifying games using a [[Detective Structures|Detective Structure]]. [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can also be used to locate messages from [[Chat Channels]] in proximity of the [[Characters]] that said them (or to locate utterances from players near their [[Focus Loci]]).
+Showing [[Territories]] or [[Check Points]] are common examples of what [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are used for, this since there may not be plausible ways to include this in the game's diegesis. Also common are using them to provide [[Traces]] such as check point in [[:Category:Racing Games|Racing Games]], which can also work as series of [[Check Points]]. [[Clues]] may also make use of them to ensure that they are unlikely to be missed, potentially modifying games using a [[Detective Structures|Detective Structure]]. [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can also be used to locate messages from [[Chat Channels]] in proximity of the [[Characters]] that said them (or to locate utterances from players near their [[Focus Loci]]).
 [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] do not have to be their own independent game elements but can be closely tied to other game elements. One such example is to show the [[Health]] of [[Units]] directly above them or, as [[World of Warcraft]] does, show players' [[Handles]] hovering above their [[Avatars]]. The [[Left 4 Dead series]] has another version of tying [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] to [[Avatars]] - in these games the outlines of [[Avatars]] become glowing so that survivor players can notice each other through walls and other solid objects. More generally, [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can show information related to the abstract attributes of [[Characters]] in direct proximity to [[Avatars]]. A common use of [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] in games with [[Units]] is to have an indicator that indicates which [[Units|Unit]] the player is currently controlling, i.e. indicate where the player's [[Focus Loci]] is located; examples of this can be found in the marker used in the [[Sims series]] (and [[Zombie Lane]]) and in the outlines used to indicate selects [[Units]] in real-time strategy games such as the [[Warcraft series]] and the [[Command and Conquer series]]. Besides [[Avatars]] and [[Units]], [[Pick-Ups]] and [[Power-Ups]] are likely candidates to be augmented with [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] (shown for example in [[Dead Space]]) to lessen the risk that players miss noticing their locations. In fact, given that [[Power-Ups]] are only weakly present in [[Game Worlds]] and that they may not fit in the diegesis, [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can instantiate [[Power-Ups]].
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 === Can Instantiate ===
 [[Chat Channels]],
 [[Clues]],
 [[Game State Indicators]],
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 [[Avatars]],
 [[Characters]],
 [[Detective Structures]],
 [[Focus Loci]],

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 [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are used to provide information to players at specific locations in [[Game Worlds]] and [[Levels]], so using them consist of choosing what information is to be shown and where to show it. A weak version of the pattern, found for example in the [[Age of Empires series]], is to place [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] on [[Mini-maps]] which spatially locates them in the [[Game Worlds]] even if it is not in the primary representation of them. [[God Fingers]] are a special case of [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] that provide [[Focus Loci]] to players rather than provide information at specific locations, but do the latter indirectly since placing one's [[God Fingers|God Finger]] at any given location in a [[Game Worlds|Game World]] reveals information about it (unless hidden due to [[Fog of War]] or other similar effects).
-Showing [[Territories]] or [[Goal Points]] are common examples of what [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are used for, this since there may not be plausible ways to include this in the game's diegesis. Also common are using them to provide [[Traces]] such as check point in [[:Category:Racing Games|Racing Games]], which really can be seen as series of [[Goal Points]]. [[Clues]] may also make use of them to ensure that they are unlikely to be missed, potentially modifying games using a [[Detective Structures|Detective Structure]]. [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can also be used to locate messages from [[Chat Channels]] in proximity of the [[Characters]] that said them (or to locate utterances from players near their [[Focus Loci]]).
+Showing [[Territories]] or [[Check Points]] are common examples of what [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are used for, this since there may not be plausible ways to include this in the game's diegesis. Also common are using them to provide [[Traces]] such as check point in [[:Category:Racing Games|Racing Games]], which really can be seen as series of [[Check Points]]. [[Clues]] may also make use of them to ensure that they are unlikely to be missed, potentially modifying games using a [[Detective Structures|Detective Structure]]. [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can also be used to locate messages from [[Chat Channels]] in proximity of the [[Characters]] that said them (or to locate utterances from players near their [[Focus Loci]]).
 [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] do not have to be their own independent game elements but can be closely tied to other game elements. One such example is to show the [[Health]] of [[Units]] directly above them or, as [[World of Warcraft]] does, show players' [[Handles]] hovering above their [[Avatars]]. The [[Left 4 Dead series]] has another version of tying [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] to [[Avatars]] - in these games the outlines of [[Avatars]] become glowing so that survivor players can notice each other through walls and other solid objects. More generally, [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can show information related to the abstract attributes of [[Characters]] in direct proximity to [[Avatars]]. A common use of [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] in games with [[Units]] is to have an indicator that indicates which [[Units|Unit]] the player is currently controlling, i.e. indicate where the player's [[Focus Loci]] is located; examples of this can be found in the marker used in the [[Sims series]] (and [[Zombie Lane]]) and in the outlines used to indicate selects [[Units]] in real-time strategy games such as the [[Warcraft series]] and the [[Command and Conquer series]]. Besides [[Avatars]] and [[Units]], [[Pick-Ups]] and [[Power-Ups]] are likely candidates to be augmented with [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] (shown for example in [[Dead Space]]) to lessen the risk that players miss noticing their locations. In fact, given that [[Power-Ups]] are only weakly present in [[Game Worlds]] and that they may not fit in the diegesis, [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can instantiate [[Power-Ups]].
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 [[Avatars]],
 [[Characters]],
 [[Detective Structures]],
 [[Focus Loci]],
 [[Game Worlds]],
 [[Handles]],
 [[Health]],

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 [[Traces]]
-==== with [[Cooperation]] ====
+==== with [[Cooperation]] or [[Teams]] ====
 [[Coordination]]

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 === Diegetic Aspects ===
-[[Diegetic Consistency|Diegetic]] and [[Thematic Consistency]] is impossible to fully maintain in games with [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] since these are non-diegetic in their nature. This is especially true when they are no occluded by diegetic elements, as is the case for the outlines of [[Avatars]] and specific [[Pick-Ups]] in the [[Left 4 Dead Series]]. They can in some cases be diegetically explained if this includes explaining their insubstantiality, [[Dead Space]] does this by explaining the [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are holograms.
+[[Diegetic Consistency|Diegetic]] and [[Thematic Consistency]] is impossible to fully maintain in games with [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] since these are non-diegetic in their nature. This is especially true when they are no occluded by diegetic elements, as is the case for the outlines of [[Avatars]] and specific [[Pick-Ups]] in the [[Left 4 Dead Series]]. They can in some cases be diegetically explained if this includes explaining their insubstantiality, [[Dead Space]] does this by explaining the [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] as holograms.
 === Interface Aspects ===

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 == Consequences ==
-[[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are [[Game State Indicators]] that, as mentioned above, break both [[Diegetic Consistency|Diegetic]] and [[Thematic Consistency]] in games by introducing non-diegetic elements into [[Game Worlds]] or [[Levels]]. They can provide [[Spatial Engrossment]] better compared to other ways of providing information to players, e.g. [[HUD Interfaces]] and [[Secondary Interface Screens]], since locating the information in the [[Game Worlds]] does make players shift between spatial thinking and non-spatial thinking. Since they do provide players with information that can make gameplay easier, they can be considered working against [[Challenging Gameplay]] - games can easily become more challenging by removing the [[Geospatial Game Widgets]].
+[[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are [[Game State Indicators]] that, as mentioned above, break both [[Diegetic Consistency|Diegetic]] and [[Thematic Consistency]] in games by introducing non-diegetic elements into [[Game Worlds]] or [[Levels]]. They can provide [[Spatial Engrossment]] better compared to other ways of providing information to players, e.g. [[HUD Interfaces]] and [[Secondary Interface Screens]], since locating the information in the [[Game Worlds]] does make players shift between spatial thinking and non-spatial thinking. Since they do provide players with information that can make gameplay easier, they can be considered working against both [[Challenging Gameplay]] and [[Experimenting]] - games can easily become more challenging by removing the [[Geospatial Game Widgets]].
 [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] are [[Landmarks]] or markers on game elements such as [[Enemies]] or [[Units]]. By being this, [[Geospatial Game Widgets]] can support [[Coordination]] in games with [[Parties]] or [[Teams]] that try to [[Cooperation|Cooperate]], especially when the widgets bluntly ignore [[Diegetic Consistency]] to be visible through diegetic elements. The can be used in this fashion even better when players can actively create the widgets - as can be done by markers in [[World of Warcraft]] or by "pings" in the [[Age of Empires series]] or the [[Battlefield series]].
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 [[Challenging Gameplay]],
 [[Diegetic Consistency]],
 [[Thematic Consistency]]