Difference between revisions of "Framed Freedom"

Revision as of 21:26, 12 May 2011

Having a perceived richness in possible choices without feeling tension from having too many of them, or having to prioritize between them.

Games often try to present players with a freedom regarding the actions possible in order for them to feel that they have meaningful choices. At the same time the games want to direct the activities gamers are having by interacting with them. Framed Freedom emerges when game design balanced these two aspects so players have a clear sense of what they can do but still feel unrestricted.

Examples

The Sims series and "tycoon" games such as Zoo Tycoon series gives Framed Freedom to players by providing a simulation of a certain environment (a household in a city and a zoo respectively) and letting players choose their own goals within that context. This also goes for simulation games such as SimAnt, the SimCity series, and SimEarth. Although some grand strategy games, e.g. the Civilization series, do have clear winning conditions and some do not, e.g. the Europa Universalis series, both types also have Framed Freedom in that there are relatively few choices in each moment of gameplay and players need to set their own long-term goals.

The possibility of building ones own complexes in Minecraft and Slaves to Armok II: Dwarf Fortress is a form of Framed Freedom since they are restricted by the resources and tools players have gotten accesses to. The same applies to social network games such as CityVille and FarmVille.

Using the pattern

Framed Freedom is a Subjective Pattern and as such can be difficult to design for broad groups of gamers. A general requirement is however that players should not feel that the game is enforcing goals or actions on them. For this reason, use of Enforced Goals or Timing is difficult to combine with the Framed Freedom.

Creative Control is a core component of creative Framed Freedom. One common pattern used in combination with Creative Control is Construction or patterns closely related to it, e.g. Crafting, Game Element Insertion, or Landscaping. However, for Framed Freedom to exist the Creative Control cannot allow too many different types of actions, and typically this also requires that the actions are explicitly presented to the players in some way. Limited Resources and Limited Set of Actions are natural way of supporting this and leads Framed Freedom to often have Resource Management.

The freedom aspect of Framed Freedom is often provided by offering Sandbox Gameplay or Player Defined Goals. Cheat Codes is a way of letting players choose to have more freedom if they do not feel there is enough in a game, or lets players have Framed Freedom when they wish in games that otherwise do not support the pattern clearly.

Value of Effort

Agent Needs Game Items

Difficulty Levels Game Pauses

FRAMED FREEDOM saves the players from being overwhelmed with choices. By doing so it enables players to set up reasonable goals in order to provide Satisfaction and VALUE OF EFFORT, and saves them from feeling too much accountability for their own experience, which incidentally, is central to the pottering component of Accountability. The framing can be achieved from LIMITED RESOURCES () and the necessary RESOURCE MANAGEMENT this spawns, but also through AGENT NEEDS. It is often common to frame the activity through limiting the options of how one can interaction with parts of the GAME WORLDS, e.g.

having inaccessible areas of the world in. The main source of freedom in the games studied came from players having the CREATIVE CONTROL to set up PLAYER DECIDED GOALS, often regarding the CONSTRUCTION activities of GAME ELEMENT INSERTION, LANDSCAPING, and CRAFTING. Somewhat paradoxically these goals provide a kind of framing as well, since having a favorite animal one wants to use in Zoo Tycoon or a planned house in The Sims 3 limits what other actions make sense in the game. It does however support an Emotional Flux regarding activities; players can select goals fitting their mood and wanted experience. While the games typically open up for more freedom as gameplay progresses, the presence in several of the cases of modes for SANDBOX GAMEPLAY and CHEAT CODES show how players can be give themselves more freedom if this is wanted.

Diegetic Aspects

Interface Aspects

Narrative Aspects

Consequences

Framed Freedom often requires players to engage Resource Management but without associating too much Tension with it. This makes games having the pattern an likely source for supporting Pottering activities.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Resource Management, Pottering

Can Modulate

Can Be Instantiated By

Cheat Codes, Player Defined Goals, Sandbox Gameplay

Creative Control together with Construction, Crafting, Game Element Insertion or Landscaping

Can Be Modulated By

Limited Resources, Limited Set of Actions

Possible Closure Effects

Potentially Conflicting With

Enforced Goals, Tension, Timing

History

New pattern created in this wiki.

References

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Acknowledgements

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