Equipment
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.
Contents
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.
Agents that are to equip Game Items typically need to have Ownership of these.
Types of Game Items commonly equipped for active use is Weapons and Tools while Armor and Equipment are commonly done so for defensive use.
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.
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
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. 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,
with Sockets
with Decreased Abilities and Irreversible Events
Can Modulate
Armor, Equipment, Game Items, Inventories, Sockets, Tools, Weapons
Can Be Instantiated By
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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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