Traces

Game elements, or distinct parts of game worlds, that give evidence of events in the environment that influence gameplay.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

Left 4 Dead series

Example: A common example of traces is footsteps left by avatars in first-person shooters when the avatars have passed through water or acid. Other examples include skid tracks in racing games or blood drops in adventure games.

Using the pattern

The appearance of Traces is usually determined by the nature of what or where the Trace was generated, e. g. combat can generate Traces of blood while cars generate skid tracks. Common uses of Traces are to show the Privileged Movement of others, help Game World Navigation, or give indications of Achilles' Heels. However, Traces may also work as Red Herrings that lead to dead ends, either within the Consistent Reality Logic of the game or for the completion of the goals in the game. In the latter case the appearance of the Traces can be more varied.

The functional nature of Traces in a game can be separated into two general classes: those that cannot be manipulated by the players and those that can. The first class solely provides the players with information about what previous actions have happened before and during the gameplay. Those generated before the gameplay typically provide information about Enemies or Puzzles while those generated during the gameplay can also be Traces of other players and often disappear after a certain Time Limit.

Traces which consist of game elements that can be manipulated by the players create additional tactics in games. Players may be able to move the elements to set-up false Traces, i. e. Red Herrings that may led to Deadly Traps, or make Tradeoff decision whether to spend time hiding their own Traces or not.

Traces can also occur through the lack of game elements, e. g.Pick-Ups or Enemies. In these cases the configuration of game elementscan be seen as negative Traces, i. e. the Traces can only be detected because something is lacking or has been changed due to the actions of the players or game events.

Can Be Instantiated By

Diegetically Outstanding Features, Environmental Storytelling, Geospatial Game Widgets, Landmarks, Pick-Ups, Props, Switches

to indicate the presence and location of Resource Sources, Deadly Traps or Enemies

Traces can provide information about how to accomplish Traverse and Exploration goals and thereby set the Right Level of Difficulty. In Reconnaissance goals, the detection of Traces can be the primary subgoal.

Can Be Modulated By

Cutscenes

Narrative Aspects

Even if the Traces pattern relates primarily to how players can be informed about previous and potentially future gameplay events, it can also support Narration Structures. This is more or less a given when they are created as part of Environmental Storytelling.

Traces may be especially appropriate for those Narration Structures using a Detective Structure since these rely on players slowly being told the story from one perspective.

Consequences

Traces are either built from Diegetically Outstanding Features or become this through how they attract attention, or both. By directing players towards points of interest in Game Worlds or Levels where danger or Rewards can be found there, Traces provides Clues that can give rise to Anticipation and Tension in games. However, not all Traces lead to what they seem; these are instead Red Herrings which promise Illusionary Rewards. Being able to both give players information and misinformation about future gameplay, Traces are able to modulate the difficulty in games to have the right level of Challenging Gameplay.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Anticipation, Clues, Diegetically Outstanding Features, Narration Structures, Red Herrings, Tension

with Red Herrings

Illusionary Rewards

Can Modulate

Challenging Gameplay, Detective Structure, Game Worlds, Levels

Can Be Instantiated By

Diegetically Outstanding Features, Environmental Storytelling, Geospatial Game Widgets, Landmarks, Pick-Ups, Props, Switches

Can Be Modulated By

Cutscenes

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

An updated version of the pattern Traces that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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