Replays
Stored recordings of gameplay.
Replays are recordings of what have happened during a game session. It can either be done by a player following his or her gameplay or an independent presentation of the overall gameplay. The actual recording may be playable as other videos, be records of game state updates that only can be shown in game engines, or be used as input to entities in future game instances.
Contents
Examples
Regardless of if they are supported by the game designs themselves, players can usually create Replays. Screen recording programs running simultaneously as games can do this on computers while it can be done for nearly all types of with the use of regular video cameras. One exception is games providing 3D projections since these are difficult to capture correctly and another one is Live Action Roleplaying Games since video recording equipment is usually not consistent with the diegesis nor easy to hide. Pelageya, a two part Finnish LARP, shows a case where Replays can be used effectively: players of the first part recorded events in a spaceship as they took place and players of the second part later had to try and figure out what had happen on the ship by viewing the recordings.
Examples of games that have built-in systems to create Replays include America's Army, Battlefield 2 and later installments of the Battlefield series. These Replays can take much less space than other Replays since they only need to contain the game state updates; the downside to this is that they need game engines to play or export the Replays later.
Racing Games such as the F-Zero series, the Gran Turismo series, and the Mario Kart series make use of Replays in another fashion. Here, the Replays are shown during other play sessions to provide incorporeal racing opponents that lets players compete against non-present players or even themselves. The cooperative two-player game the ESP Game takes this one step further in that players do not know if they are playing with other humans or Replays of these humans previous game sessions.
Using the pattern
Replays are from a gameplay perspective trivial to design. They do however need Dedicated Game Facilitators, not only to generate the actual footage but also to be able and store the Replays and later play them. They also require consideration on how controlling the creation of Replays can be done through the game interface without distracting from playing the games.
One design option that does exist for Replays is whether it is players or the game system that initiates the recording and presentations of Replays. An example of the latter is Killcams, which affect gameplay since they are shown directly after kills and can reveal the location of enemy players.
Interface Aspects
Even if starting and stopping the recordings of Replays are Extra-Game Actions, the interface for doing so is typically accessible through key presses rather than Secondary Interface Screens. This is to avoid distracting players from the often challenging gameplay they wish to save for posterity.
Narrative Aspects
Replays let players record gameplay sequences which can become narratives of their own gameplay experience or the narratives contained within the Predetermined Story Structures of games (or both). They can support Player-Generated Narratives even if games have Predetermined Story Structures since players can manipulate the footage in post-production through cutting, voice-overs, special effects, etc.
Consequences
Replays are Extra-Game Consequences of gameplay and a form of Gameplay Statistics. When players can control the creation of Replays this gives them a Freedom of Choice to engage in Extra-Game Actions that will allow others to later be Spectators to the play sessions. This in turn can support Meta Games in the form of Speed Runs.
Replays can be the basis for Bragging and Game-Induced Player Social Status. For Single-Player Games, this can modulate them so they support Social Interaction even if not during gameplay itself.
System-created Replays can be used to create AI Players and Ghosts through letting the actions of game entities be based upon those contained within the Replays. One use of these is to show opponents during Speed Runs.
Relations
Can Instantiate
AI Players, Bragging, Extra-Game Actions, Extra-Game Consequences, Freedom of Choice, Gameplay Statistics, Game-Induced Player Social Status, Ghosts, Meta Games, Player-Generated Narratives, Spectators, Speed Runs
with Single-Player Games
Can Modulate
Single-Player Games, Speed Runs
Can Be Instantiated By
Dedicated Game Facilitators, Killcams
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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Acknowledgements
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