Difference between revisions of "Equipment"

Revision as of 19:34, 12 April 2011

Game items that can be equipped.

In games where players can get hold of many types of items that can be used or worn, players need to actively choose which items to use. This is typically done by equipping them, and since not all items necessarily can be equipped it makes sense to distinguish between those that are Equipable Items and those that are not.

Examples

Roleplaying Games such as Dungeons and Dragons and Mutant have many Equipable Items such as weapons, armor, tools, and for some cases magical items. While neither players nor game masters necessarily keep exact track of what is equipped (except maybe armor) since this can be negotiated as necessary, computer-based examples such as the Elder Scrolls and Dragon Age series requires that players explicitly choose which items are equipped. NetHack and Minecraft are games sharing similarities with Roleplaying Games, including the requirement to equip items for them to be usable or affect gameplay beyond what they weight.

First-Person Shooters such as the Quake series and the Left 4 Dead series have a limited set of weapons (and medical equipment for the latter) that players can use. At any given point only one of these are usable, but all can be said to be Equipable Items in that players have to select one for it to become active.

Using the pattern

Besides deciding which ones should become Equipable Items, making Game Items possible to equip consists of deciding if they are actively or passively equipped. Actively equipped Game Items let Agents be prepared to use specific actions while passively equipped Game Items either constantly provide a benefit or does so when Enemies perform actions against them. In both cases this is done to receive New or Improved Abilities compared to what one currently has, although this can also be seen as selecting the most appropriate ones for a given situation if the items selected from are available most of the time. Types of Game Items commonly equipped for active use is Weapons and Tools while Armor and Equipment are commonly done so for defensive use. Game Items that provide Upgrades need to be Equipable Items since they are to be applied on other Game Items.

A special case of Equipable Items are cursed Game Items. These, most often found in Roleplaying Games (and NetHack), give Decreased Abilities. Equipping them are Irreversible Events to avoid them simply being removed, or at least until some type of Privileged Ability has been applied on them.

Agents that are to equip Game Items need to have Ownership of these in some form. This can be proven by having Equipable Items in Inventories or Sockets. For Sockets, Equipable Items can be said to be possible to equip twice - once when acquired and placed in a sockets (e.g. picking up a weapon in the Left 4 Dead series) and once when that Socket is chosen to be active.

Diegetic Aspects

While equipping any Equipable Items can affect the diegetic presentation of Avatars, the sole purpose of Cosmetic Game Items is to have this effect. This means that unless they are Equipable Items they need to be "automatically" equipped as soon as they are acquired.

Interface Aspects

Equipping Game Items are typically done through adding functionality to the Secondary Interface Screens used for Inventories and Sockets.

Consequences

Equipable Items provide a Freedom of Choice for players, not only by having the option to use one particular Game Item but also indirectly because there typically are several Game Items to choose from. The typical reason to equip is to access Improved or New Abilities of Game Items so in one sense Equipable Items make these changes possible as well, and since this is often done through Inventories of systems of Sockets the pattern changes how these are used as well. However, equipping cursed Game Items and thereby receiving Decreased Abilities are likely to cause Surprises since Game Items rarely are equipped if one knows their effects.

When equipping Game Items is done through choosing which out of several Sockets should be active, this provides a form of Limited Set of Actions - players can choose which action to be ready to perform out of a limited selection.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Decreased Abilities, Freedom of Choice, Improved Abilities, Irreversible Events, New Abilities, Upgrades

with Sockets

Limited Set of Actions

with Decreased Abilities and Irreversible Events

Surprises

Can Modulate

Avatars, Cosmetic Game Items, Game Items, Inventories, Sockets

Can Be Instantiated By

Armor, Equipment, Tools, Weapons

Can Be Modulated By

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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