Conditional Passageways

Passageways in games that can only be moved through if certain conditions are met.

Many games have areas that players cannot access before fulfilling certain objectives or goals. Conditional Passageways are the places in the game worlds that provide the blockage and these may be literal blockages, like a pile of rocks blocking a tunnel, or be more abstract reasons why movement is not possible, e.g. a rocket that will not take off before it is repaired.

Examples

Many doors in the Doom, Far Cry, and Quake series cannot be opened before players have accessed the proper security cards. The Legend of Zelda series requires players to collect keys, defeat boss monsters or manipulate the environment in different ways to open doors. The Super Mario series requires players to collect stars to be able to enter more difficult levels and thereby guarantee that players have completed easier challenges before trying more difficult ones.

Adventure Games like Day of the Tentacle, the Leisure Suit Larry series, and the Zork series have meeting the requirements of Conditional Passageways as major part of their gameplay, although in many cases figuring out what the requirements are is the most difficult part.

Using the pattern

Not all Conditional Passageways need to be apparent as potential routes to new areas.

Can Be Instantiated By

Environmental Effects, One-Way Travel

Choke Points together with Enemies or Obstacles

Can Be Modulated By

Controllers, Inaccessible Areas, Switches, Teams, Tools, Vehicles

Consequences

Conditional Passageways are ways of controlling and directing which parts of Game Worlds players travel to. As a specific example, they can control access to Levels. Two effects of using Conditional Passageways is that they can ensure that Predetermined Story Structures are unfolded in a specific order and that players receive Smooth Learning Curves by having to complete easier challenges before trying harder ones.

Conditional Passageways that are unknown to players help define Secret Areas. Those that are known, and where the requirement to go through them are also known, typically lead to goals of Gain Competence or Gain Ownership depending on what the specific requirements are.

When Conditional Passageways limit travel to those that use Vehicles (as for example the impossibility of tanks to enter most buildings in the Battlefield series), this provides Balancing Effects by requiring that all combatants are pedestrians inside buildings. In contrast, when the condition instead is that only specific players or Teams can pass through this can create Safe Havens.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Gain Competence, Gain Ownership, Predetermined Story Structures, Privileged Movement, Safe Havens, Secret Areas, Smooth Learning Curves

with Vehicles

Balancing Effects

Can Modulate

Game Worlds, Levels, Movement, Vehicles

Can Be Instantiated By

Environmental Effects, One-Way Travel

Choke Points together with Enemies or Obstacles

Can Be Modulated By

Controllers, Inaccessible Areas, Switches, Teams, Tools, Vehicles

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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