Secret Areas
Areas of game worlds that are not easily noticed.
While most gameplay areas created for games are made so players naturally will visit them, some are Secret Areas that players may need to explicitly search for in order to find. If players know these exist it gives them reason to explore the game worlds more throughly than otherwise, and even if they do not know about them finding one can provide surprises for them.
Contents
Examples
One of the first documented easter eggs in a game was a Secret Area, a room in the game Adventure that revealed the name of its creator Warren Robinett.
Many First-Person Shooters like the Doom and Quake series contain Secret Areas with extra resources. The Half-Life series include these as well, sometimes as caches for resistance fighters, as does the Portal series with the dens of the rat man.
Using the pattern
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
Relations
Can Instantiate
Easter Eggs, Exploration, Surprises, Strategic Knowledge
Can Modulate
Can Be Instantiated By
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Can Be Modulated By
Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
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History
New pattern created in this wiki. However, it was first introduced as Hidden Area using another template by Hullett and Whitehead[1], and a more detailed description in this template is available[2].
References
- ↑ Hullett, K. & Whitehead, J. (2010). Design Patterns in FPS Levels, paper presentation at Foundations of Digital Games 2010, June 19-21, Monterey, CA, USA.
- ↑ Hidden Area pattern by Kenneth Hullett.
Acknowledgements
Kennart Hullett, Jim Whitehead
