Chargers

Chargers are locations in the Game World that affect the players' resources when they are in the location.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

Example: Speed boosters in Super Monkey Ball II: Monkey Race give, as their names imply, more speed to the player driving on top of the charger.

Example: Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam have two categories of chargers: medicine cabinets and ammunition caches that replenish the health and ammunition of the players' Avatars and repair facilities that fix damages to vehicles.

Example: The board game Robo-Rally contains repair areas, which remove damage from the player's robot if it spends time there.

Using the pattern

Selecting the Improved Abilities, the New Abilities, and possibly Privileged Abilities, or Resource gained defines the use of the Charger. The way it produces Resources is similar to Resource Generators except that players usually do not have any choice if they should be affected by the Charger (besides not entering its affect area), and any Privileged Ability granted by the Charger may be activated at once, for example, as in the case of speed boosters in most racing games. Improved Abilities can be handled by simply increasing Skills or increasing the effect of player actions.

Races Territories

Interface Aspects

Given their importance to gameplay, it may be relevant to make Chargers have Diegetically Outstanding Features so that players are unlikely to miss noticing them.

Consequences

Chargers provide means for players to get Improved Abilities as well as being sources for Renewable Resources. In the latter case, they function as both Resource Locations and Resource Generators but do typically not produce any Resources unless players are in the immediate vicinity. They are Environmental Effects in Game Worlds and usually define natural Collecting and Traverse goals to Gain Competence, and may add additional challenges to Maneuvering.

If Chargers provides bonuses beyond the normal limits of the game, i.e., letting players move faster than otherwise possible, it can be seen as a form of Power-Up that gives Privileged Abilities. For Chargers that give a certain effect per time unit spent in its effect area, staying on it is a Risk/Reward Tradeoff for players as their Freedom of Choice is limited. If the area that contains the Charger can be controlled so other players cannot access the Charger, this can give rise to Gain Ownership goals.

Can Instantiate

Location-Fixed Abilities, Strategic Locations

with Maneuvering

Collecting

Relations

Can Instantiate

Collecting, Environmental Effects, Gain Competence, Improved Abilities, Location-Fixed Abilities, Strategic Locations, Resource Generators, Resource Locations, Renewable Resources, Traverse

Can Modulate

Maneuvering

Can Be Instantiated By

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Can Be Modulated By

Diegetically Outstanding Features

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

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

Acknowledgements

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