Difference between revisions of "Traverse"
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− | + | ''The goal to try to move a game element from one position in a game world to another position.'' | |
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− | + | Many games have gameplay areas representing fictional worlds, and it is not surprising that getting from one place to another in these are common activities. The goal to [[Traverse]] may be given explicitly by game rules - the most common case probably being that of races - or simply occur due to players perceiving that it would be to their advantage to have some game elements at specific locations or areas. | |
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=== Examples === | === Examples === | ||
− | + | [[:Category:Board Games|Board Games]] such as [[Ludo]], [[RoboRally]], [[Ricochet Robots]], and [[Snakes and Ladders]] have as their winning condition to get one or several game pieces to specific places. [[Chess]] does not have this as a winning condition, but moving one's pawn to the opposite end of the board is a [[Traverse]] goal in the game since it can then be transform into another piece. [[:Category:Pool Games|Pool Games]] such as [[Eight-ball]] and [[Snooker]] have goals related to potting balls into specific pockets by hitting them with another ball. | |
− | + | [[:Category:Platform Games|Platform games]] such as the [[Super Mario series|Super Mario]] or [[Super Monkey Ball series]] can be defined as having [[Traverse]] goals of going from the beginning of a level to the end. The same applies to the single-player campaigns in the [[:Category:FPS Games|First-Person Shooters]] of the [[Doom series|Doom]], [[Half-Life series|Half-Life]], and [[Quake series]]; The [[Left 4 Dead series]] shows that this can also be applied to multiplayer versions of the genre. Many of the quests in the [[Assassin's Creed series]] also require movement to specific points in the game world; some quests consist only of doing so within a given time limit. [[:Category:Computer-based Roleplaying Games|Computer-based Roleplaying Games]] have [[Traverse]] goals as part of many quests, and in some cases, e.g. in the [[Elder Scrolls series|Elder Scrolls]] and [[Fallout series]], this is partly done to give players reasons to visit other parts of the game worlds and notice what gameplay opportunities are available there. | |
− | [[ | + | == Using the pattern == |
+ | [[Traverse]] goals are often introduce in games to create [[Races]], or to make it sure (or at least make it likely) that players visit certain parts of [[Game Worlds]] or [[Levels]]. [[Quests]] and [[Game World Navigation]] tasks can specifically require [[Traverse]] goals to be completed and [[Traverse]] goals can provide [[Narration Structures]]. [[Levels]] can in themselves be seen as creating [[Traverse]] goals since they most often have an entry and exit point which players need to move between to finish them. The mere existence of [[Game Worlds]] and [[Transport Routes]] can also indirectly cause [[Traverse]] goals to emerge whenever players have a reason to want game elements to be in other locations or move to other locations. For example, [[Strategic Locations]] such as [[Chargers]] can make players want to move game elements close to them, especially if they can gain [[Area Control]] over them, and the presence of [[Big Dumb Objects]] may make players want to get to them simply to investigate them. The three main considerations when designing [[Traverse]] goals are: where are the goal areas, how one can move there, and what are the layouts of the game spaces one has to move through. | ||
− | [[ | + | The simplest way to define goal areas is to make use of [[Check Points]], and if the overall distanced need to be traveled is long this can be broken down into several [[Supporting Goals]] each with their own [[Check Points|Check Point]] (races in [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]] does this) or through making [[Goal Hierarchies]] (the overall game structure in many of the games in the [[Super Mario Bros series]] can be described like this). The intermittent goals make natural locations for [[Save Points]] (and make new shorter [[Traverse]] goals), although the use of these may disrupt the [[Temporal Consistency]] of a game. Having intermittent goals as points in [[Progress Indicators]] is a quite natural way of presenting to players how far they (and other players) have gotten towards finishing their [[Traverse]] goals. While simply getting to the area may be enough to complete the goal, a couple of more specific [[Traverse]] goals with other requirements exist. One common variant is [[Deliver]], where a goal object needs by somebody to the goal area (''Capture the Flag'' matches in the [[Quake series]] are examples of this). Another is [[Herd]], where [[Deliver]] is combined with [[Indirect Control]] and [[Agents]] to make players in various ways affect other game objects to make them move to specific points ([[:Category:Pool Games|Pool Games]] such as [[Eight-ball]] and [[Snooker]] are examples of this). Not giving players the location of the goal area adds a [[Gain Information]] component to the pattern, and this forces players to engage in [[Game World Exploration]]. The use of [[Invisible Walls]] may make the goal locations easy to perceive but difficult to reach, create a need for [[Game World Navigation]] rather than [[Game World Exploration]]. |
− | [[ | + | |
− | [[ | + | [[Movement]] is a basic requirement for [[Traverse]] goals to be possible at all. However, this can create [[Risk/Reward]] situations or require players to do [[Trade-Offs]] when players have a [[Freedom of Choice]] regarding the means of [[Movement]] available. [[Privileged Movement]] and [[Vehicles]] can provide [[Asymmetric Abilities]] regarding this, making [[Traverse]] goals different to different players or different between game instances. If some form of [[Limited Resources]] is consumed by the [[Movement]] required to succeed with the [[Traverse]] goal, this can create more [[Complex Gameplay]] especially if the rate of consumption depend on factors such as speed, vehicle used, and environment traveled in. |
− | [[ | + | The layout of [[Game Worlds]] and [[Levels]] naturally affect how easy [[Traverse]] goals are to complete. [[Enemies]], [[Choke Points]], [[Conditional Passageways]], and [[Obstacles]] can make them more difficult while [[Safe Havens]] can be player respite along the way of getting the goal areas ([[Enemies]] can in practice make some [[Traverse]] goals impossible and this can be used intentionally by game designers). [[Privileged Movement]] can make [[Traverse]] easier for some while having to deal with [[Enemies]] that have this can instead make it more difficult. [[Backtracking Levels]] (with a [[Check Points|Check Point]] at the point furthest away) makes more use of the gameplay areas, while [[Quick Returns]] avoids the [[Excise]] of having to move back to the beginning after succeeding with the [[Traverse]] goal. The game space can either only allow one specific path to be followed (as in [[Snakes and Ladders]]), or allow players a [[Freedom of Choice]] to choose between different paths. The latter is an example of giving players a [[Selectable Set of Goals]]. It allow players to make plans depending on what [[Strategic Locations]] exist as well as what [[Enemies]] and [[Obstacles]] exist, for example, letting players choose between [[Evade]], [[Overcome]], and [[Conceal]] goals - the last of these create [[Stealth]] goals when combined with the [[Traverse]] goal. Like the case of not giving players the location of the goal area, not providing them with all the details about the area they need to move through adds an [[Gain Information]] component and makes them have to perform not only a certain amount of [[Game World Exploration]] but also [[Game World Navigation]]; [[Diegetically Outstanding Features]] and [[Traces]] can help make both tasks easier. If wanted, the need for them can be eliminated or at least significantly reduced by using [[Game State Overviews]] such as [[Mini-maps]]. The actual goal areas does not have to be perceivable if [[Conditional Passageways]] are used together with [[Inaccessible Areas]] since players can then instead work on the subgoal of opening the [[Conditional Passageways]] - this is a case where the [[Movement]] aspect of [[Traverse]] can be trivial. |
− | + | The typical design of [[Traverse]] is based on moving [[Avatars]], [[Character]], [[Units]], or [[Tokens]]. For games which make use of [[Player-Location Proximity]] or [[Artifact-Location Proximity]], the [[Traverse]] pattern can also be applied to how ''players'' move. | |
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=== Diegetic Aspects === | === Diegetic Aspects === | ||
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== Consequences == | == Consequences == | ||
− | [[Traverse]] goals gives players clear goals related to [[Movement]] and achieving [[ | + | [[Traverse]] goals gives players clear goals related to [[Movement]] and achieving [[Connection]] with a specific game object or gameplay area. One example of the former is when [[Reconnaissance]] goals are defined by following specific routes to notice differences in [[Game Worlds]]. They most often allows players to judge their local progress by their position in the game space, but while this may seem to remove the need of [[Progress Indicators]] if the end point is known - since the positions of player's game elements provide a diegetic measure of progress - it does not necessarily provide good overviews. Then again, many [[Traverse]] goals stringed together can function as [[Progress Indicators]]. Making players think about how they should move their [[Focus Loci]] or other game elements to succeed with [[Traverse]] goals is likely to support [[Spatial Engrossment]]. |
− | While [[Traverse]] goals are often placed in games to create [[Races]], the presence of other types of [[Traverse]] goals can make [[Races]] emerge if two or more [[Agents]] decide to strive for the [[Traverse]] goals (an example of this can be found in the [[Civilization (video game) series|Civilization series]] where different players may be rushing to find as many ruins as possible before other players do). [[Traverse]] goals through environments containing [[Enemies]] suggest [[Stealth]] goals to players as long as the environment and the perceptual abilities of the [[Enemies]] make | + | While [[Traverse]] goals are often placed in games to create [[Races]], the presence of other types of [[Traverse]] goals can make [[Races]] emerge if two or more [[Agents]] decide to strive for the [[Traverse]] goals (an example of this can be found in the [[Civilization (video game) series|Civilization series]] where different players may be rushing to find as many ruins as possible before other players do). [[Traverse]] goals through environments containing [[Enemies]] suggest [[Stealth]] goals to players as long as the environment and the perceptual abilities of the [[Enemies]] make [[Conceal]] goals possible. |
Try to performing [[Aim & Shoot]] actions while also trying to achieve [[Traverse]] goals is more difficult than doing just one. | Try to performing [[Aim & Shoot]] actions while also trying to achieve [[Traverse]] goals is more difficult than doing just one. | ||
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== Relations == | == Relations == | ||
=== Can Instantiate === | === Can Instantiate === | ||
− | [[ | + | [[Connection]], |
[[Game World Navigation]], | [[Game World Navigation]], | ||
+ | [[Narration Structures]], | ||
[[Quests]], | [[Quests]], | ||
[[Predetermined Story Structures]], | [[Predetermined Story Structures]], | ||
+ | [[Progress Indicators]], | ||
[[Races]], | [[Races]], | ||
[[Spatial Engrossment]] | [[Spatial Engrossment]] | ||
− | ==== with [[ | + | ==== with [[Conceal]] ==== |
− | [[Stealth]] | + | [[Stealth]] |
==== with [[Gain Information]] ==== | ==== with [[Gain Information]] ==== | ||
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[[Aim & Shoot]], | [[Aim & Shoot]], | ||
[[Game Worlds]], | [[Game Worlds]], | ||
− | [[Levels]] | + | [[Levels]], |
+ | [[Reconnaissance]] | ||
=== Can Be Instantiated By === | === Can Be Instantiated By === | ||
[[Area Control]], | [[Area Control]], | ||
+ | [[Artifact-Location Proximity]], | ||
[[Big Dumb Objects]], | [[Big Dumb Objects]], | ||
[[Chargers]], | [[Chargers]], | ||
[[Check Points]], | [[Check Points]], | ||
− | [[ | + | [[Deliver]], |
[[Game World Navigation]], | [[Game World Navigation]], | ||
− | [[ | + | [[Herd]], |
[[Inaccessible Areas]], | [[Inaccessible Areas]], | ||
[[Levels]], | [[Levels]], | ||
[[Movement]], | [[Movement]], | ||
+ | [[Player-Location Proximity]], | ||
[[Quests]], | [[Quests]], | ||
− | [[Strategic Locations]] | + | [[Save Points]], |
+ | [[Strategic Locations]], | ||
+ | [[Transport Routes]] | ||
[[Conditional Passageways]] together with [[Inaccessible Areas]] | [[Conditional Passageways]] together with [[Inaccessible Areas]] | ||
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[[Diegetically Outstanding Features]], | [[Diegetically Outstanding Features]], | ||
[[Enemies]], | [[Enemies]], | ||
+ | [[Evade]], | ||
[[Gain Information]], | [[Gain Information]], | ||
[[Game State Overviews]], | [[Game State Overviews]], | ||
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[[Obstacles]], | [[Obstacles]], | ||
[[Privileged Movement]], | [[Privileged Movement]], | ||
+ | [[Progress Indicators]], | ||
[[Quick Returns]], | [[Quick Returns]], | ||
[[Safe Havens]], | [[Safe Havens]], |
Latest revision as of 07:47, 20 May 2022
The goal to try to move a game element from one position in a game world to another position.
Many games have gameplay areas representing fictional worlds, and it is not surprising that getting from one place to another in these are common activities. The goal to Traverse may be given explicitly by game rules - the most common case probably being that of races - or simply occur due to players perceiving that it would be to their advantage to have some game elements at specific locations or areas.
Contents
Examples
Board Games such as Ludo, RoboRally, Ricochet Robots, and Snakes and Ladders have as their winning condition to get one or several game pieces to specific places. Chess does not have this as a winning condition, but moving one's pawn to the opposite end of the board is a Traverse goal in the game since it can then be transform into another piece. Pool Games such as Eight-ball and Snooker have goals related to potting balls into specific pockets by hitting them with another ball.
Platform games such as the Super Mario or Super Monkey Ball series can be defined as having Traverse goals of going from the beginning of a level to the end. The same applies to the single-player campaigns in the First-Person Shooters of the Doom, Half-Life, and Quake series; The Left 4 Dead series shows that this can also be applied to multiplayer versions of the genre. Many of the quests in the Assassin's Creed series also require movement to specific points in the game world; some quests consist only of doing so within a given time limit. Computer-based Roleplaying Games have Traverse goals as part of many quests, and in some cases, e.g. in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, this is partly done to give players reasons to visit other parts of the game worlds and notice what gameplay opportunities are available there.
Using the pattern
Traverse goals are often introduce in games to create Races, or to make it sure (or at least make it likely) that players visit certain parts of Game Worlds or Levels. Quests and Game World Navigation tasks can specifically require Traverse goals to be completed and Traverse goals can provide Narration Structures. Levels can in themselves be seen as creating Traverse goals since they most often have an entry and exit point which players need to move between to finish them. The mere existence of Game Worlds and Transport Routes can also indirectly cause Traverse goals to emerge whenever players have a reason to want game elements to be in other locations or move to other locations. For example, Strategic Locations such as Chargers can make players want to move game elements close to them, especially if they can gain Area Control over them, and the presence of Big Dumb Objects may make players want to get to them simply to investigate them. The three main considerations when designing Traverse goals are: where are the goal areas, how one can move there, and what are the layouts of the game spaces one has to move through.
The simplest way to define goal areas is to make use of Check Points, and if the overall distanced need to be traveled is long this can be broken down into several Supporting Goals each with their own Check Point (races in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas does this) or through making Goal Hierarchies (the overall game structure in many of the games in the Super Mario Bros series can be described like this). The intermittent goals make natural locations for Save Points (and make new shorter Traverse goals), although the use of these may disrupt the Temporal Consistency of a game. Having intermittent goals as points in Progress Indicators is a quite natural way of presenting to players how far they (and other players) have gotten towards finishing their Traverse goals. While simply getting to the area may be enough to complete the goal, a couple of more specific Traverse goals with other requirements exist. One common variant is Deliver, where a goal object needs by somebody to the goal area (Capture the Flag matches in the Quake series are examples of this). Another is Herd, where Deliver is combined with Indirect Control and Agents to make players in various ways affect other game objects to make them move to specific points (Pool Games such as Eight-ball and Snooker are examples of this). Not giving players the location of the goal area adds a Gain Information component to the pattern, and this forces players to engage in Game World Exploration. The use of Invisible Walls may make the goal locations easy to perceive but difficult to reach, create a need for Game World Navigation rather than Game World Exploration.
Movement is a basic requirement for Traverse goals to be possible at all. However, this can create Risk/Reward situations or require players to do Trade-Offs when players have a Freedom of Choice regarding the means of Movement available. Privileged Movement and Vehicles can provide Asymmetric Abilities regarding this, making Traverse goals different to different players or different between game instances. If some form of Limited Resources is consumed by the Movement required to succeed with the Traverse goal, this can create more Complex Gameplay especially if the rate of consumption depend on factors such as speed, vehicle used, and environment traveled in.
The layout of Game Worlds and Levels naturally affect how easy Traverse goals are to complete. Enemies, Choke Points, Conditional Passageways, and Obstacles can make them more difficult while Safe Havens can be player respite along the way of getting the goal areas (Enemies can in practice make some Traverse goals impossible and this can be used intentionally by game designers). Privileged Movement can make Traverse easier for some while having to deal with Enemies that have this can instead make it more difficult. Backtracking Levels (with a Check Point at the point furthest away) makes more use of the gameplay areas, while Quick Returns avoids the Excise of having to move back to the beginning after succeeding with the Traverse goal. The game space can either only allow one specific path to be followed (as in Snakes and Ladders), or allow players a Freedom of Choice to choose between different paths. The latter is an example of giving players a Selectable Set of Goals. It allow players to make plans depending on what Strategic Locations exist as well as what Enemies and Obstacles exist, for example, letting players choose between Evade, Overcome, and Conceal goals - the last of these create Stealth goals when combined with the Traverse goal. Like the case of not giving players the location of the goal area, not providing them with all the details about the area they need to move through adds an Gain Information component and makes them have to perform not only a certain amount of Game World Exploration but also Game World Navigation; Diegetically Outstanding Features and Traces can help make both tasks easier. If wanted, the need for them can be eliminated or at least significantly reduced by using Game State Overviews such as Mini-maps. The actual goal areas does not have to be perceivable if Conditional Passageways are used together with Inaccessible Areas since players can then instead work on the subgoal of opening the Conditional Passageways - this is a case where the Movement aspect of Traverse can be trivial.
The typical design of Traverse is based on moving Avatars, Character, Units, or Tokens. For games which make use of Player-Location Proximity or Artifact-Location Proximity, the Traverse pattern can also be applied to how players move.
Diegetic Aspects
Traverse is a Diegetic Pattern in that in related to trying to move from one part to another in a diegetic world.
Narrative Aspects
As Traverse depends on players moving from one area within a Game World to the other, the completion of the goal guarantees that the player has changed environment. This can be used to set up progression in Predetermined Story Structures.
Consequences
Traverse goals gives players clear goals related to Movement and achieving Connection with a specific game object or gameplay area. One example of the former is when Reconnaissance goals are defined by following specific routes to notice differences in Game Worlds. They most often allows players to judge their local progress by their position in the game space, but while this may seem to remove the need of Progress Indicators if the end point is known - since the positions of player's game elements provide a diegetic measure of progress - it does not necessarily provide good overviews. Then again, many Traverse goals stringed together can function as Progress Indicators. Making players think about how they should move their Focus Loci or other game elements to succeed with Traverse goals is likely to support Spatial Engrossment.
While Traverse goals are often placed in games to create Races, the presence of other types of Traverse goals can make Races emerge if two or more Agents decide to strive for the Traverse goals (an example of this can be found in the Civilization series where different players may be rushing to find as many ruins as possible before other players do). Traverse goals through environments containing Enemies suggest Stealth goals to players as long as the environment and the perceptual abilities of the Enemies make Conceal goals possible.
Try to performing Aim & Shoot actions while also trying to achieve Traverse goals is more difficult than doing just one.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Connection, Game World Navigation, Narration Structures, Quests, Predetermined Story Structures, Progress Indicators, Races, Spatial Engrossment
with Conceal
with Gain Information
with Limited Resources
with Selectable Set of Goals
Can Modulate
Aim & Shoot, Game Worlds, Levels, Reconnaissance
Can Be Instantiated By
Area Control, Artifact-Location Proximity, Big Dumb Objects, Chargers, Check Points, Deliver, Game World Navigation, Herd, Inaccessible Areas, Levels, Movement, Player-Location Proximity, Quests, Save Points, Strategic Locations, Transport Routes
Conditional Passageways together with Inaccessible Areas
Can Be Modulated By
Backtracking Levels, Choke Points, Conditional Passageways, Diegetically Outstanding Features, Enemies, Evade, Gain Information, Game State Overviews, Goal Hierarchies, Invisible Walls, Mini-maps, Obstacles, Privileged Movement, Progress Indicators, Quick Returns, Safe Havens, Save Points, Supporting Goals, Traces, Vehicles
Possible Closure Effects
-
Potentially Conflicting With
History
An updated version of the pattern Traverse that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design[1].
References
- ↑ Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.