Difference between revisions of "Flanking Routes"

Revision as of 09:17, 17 July 2011

Alternative ways to reach locations in game worlds which may be unexpected to others.

Games that contain aspects of area control

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

Using the pattern

Flanking Routes is primarily a way to modulate how other features of Game Worlds or Levels work, e.g. Arenas, Choke Points, Galleries, or Sniper Locations. Designing them consist of providing additional ways of reaching locations in the Game Worlds. Although all accesses to a location may similar and thereby make what is perceived as Flanking Routes depend on what the current game state is, accesses that are intended to always be perceived as Flanking Routes should either be narrower or otherwise less obvious (e.g. by containing Choke Points), or be extra accesses to those that will guaranteed be focus for gameplay. An example of the latter can be found in the Gold Rush map in Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and all payload maps in Team Fortress 2. Here, the attacking team needs to move a tank or cart respectively along a predefined route but several Flanking Routes exist that let defending players various ways of trying to intercept or ambush the attackers.

An option for Flanking Routes is to make them One-Way Travel, e.g. by being down an unscalable cliff side.

When players can create Warp Zones (which engineers in Team Fortress 2 can) or Spawn Points (which North Vietnamese engineers in Battlefield Vietnam can), this opens up for these to be used as Flanking Routes.

Diegetic Aspects

Interface Aspects

Narrative Aspects

Consequences

Can Instantiate

Selectable Set of Goals, Attention Demanding, Attention Swapping, Stealth, Strategic Locations, Surprises, Tactical Planning Varied Gameplay

Can Modulate

Area Control, Arenas, Camping, Choke Points, Combat, Galleries, Game Worlds, Guard, Levels, Sniper Locations, Stealth

Potentially Conflicting With

Camping, Choke Points

Relations

Can Instantiate

Attention Demanding, Attention Swapping, Selectable Set of Goals, Stealth, Strategic Locations, Surprises, Tactical Planning, Varied Gameplay

Can Modulate

Area Control, Arenas, Camping, Choke Points, Combat, Galleries, Game Worlds, Guard, Levels, Sniper Locations, Stealth

Can Be Instantiated By

Spawn Points, Warp Zones

Can Be Modulated By

Choke Points, One-Way Travel

Possible Closure Effects

-

Potentially Conflicting With

Camping, Choke Points

History

New pattern created in this wiki. However, it was first introduced using another template by Hullett and Whitehead^[1], and a more detailed description in this template is available^[2].

References

1. ↑ Hullett, K. & Whitehead, J. (2010). Design Patterns in FPS Levels, paper presentation at Foundations of Digital Games 2010, June 19-21, Monterey, CA, USA.
2. ↑ Flanking Route pattern by Kenneth Hullett.

Acknowledgements

Kennart Hullett, Jim Whitehead