Difference between revisions of "Sniper Locations"

Revision as of 09:12, 14 July 2011

Locations in game worlds suited for snipers.

Use of ranged weapons are often beneficial in games since enemies may not be able to fight back. This is especially true when the attacks can be done at very long ranges or it is difficult to detect from where the attack came. Sniper Locations are places in game worlds that provide one or both of these advantages.

Examples

For obvious reasons, Sniper Locations are most common in First-Person Shooters. The Battlefield series provides many locations where snipers can have good overviews over large parts of the gameplay area. This includes tops of cliffs, roof tops, and scalable cranes. Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas has many features in their game worlds that can be used to attack enemies at long distances and in relative safety. This is also encouraged by the presence of specialized sniping weapons in the game. The open and hilly worlds in the Crysis series also provide many Sniper Locations and

Using the pattern

Two main design requirements exist for locations to be usable as Sniper Locations: that it covers an area which is suitable for targeting Enemies and that the location itself is relatively safe.

Arenas, or any other open area where players can have Line of Sight to large continuous gameplay areas, make good places to observe from Sniper Locations. If there areas are too open, this can easily be adjusted by providing Obstacles or Flanking Routes.

Making Sniper Locations safe can be done in several ways. Height differences and Inaccessible Areas can both make attacking sniper more difficult and require Enemies to take detours to reach the Sniper Locations. Placing Obstacles in the Sniper Locations does typically not cause problems with Line of Sight to the overlooked areas but does help snipers in providing cover and making it more difficult to spot them.

Diegetic Aspects

Interface Aspects

Narrative Aspects

Consequences

Sniper Locations affect how Combat, Aim & Shoot specifically, can be done in Game Worlds or Levels by offering Strategic Locations from which engage in these activities. This encourages Camping in these locations and, since not being noticed in them is an advantage, Stealth both in getting there are while being there. Getting to these locations and using them effectively thereby requires Tactical Planning, as does dislocating those that have gotten access to them.

Sniper Locations occupied by Enemies can effectively become Inaccessible Areas until the Enemies have be removed somehow. This feature, or if victims fail to detect the Sniper Locations, can make for Repeated Domination in games with Sniper Locations.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Camping, Repeated Domination, Stealth, Strategic Locations, Tactical Planning

with Enemies

Inaccessible Areas

Can Modulate

Aim & Shoot, Combat, Game Worlds, Levels

Can Be Instantiated By

Arenas, Inaccessible Areas

Can Be Modulated By

Flanking Routes

Possible Closure Effects

-

Potentially Conflicting With

-

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. ↑ Sniper Location pattern by Kenneth Hullett.

Acknowledgements

Kennart Hullett, Jim Whitehead