Information Passing
The passing, from a character to another, of information having influence on the gameplay. One or more characters are talking. The information perceived could trigger new goals, add action possibilities, or improve changes to make good choices.
Contents
Examples
In Lies and Seductions[1] finding out that a non-player character, Ed, is a good poker player, but becomes legless when drunk, reveals the possible strategy to win money from Ed.
New goals are triggered or the current goals are canceled based on an overheard discussion in Thief Deadly Shadows (Ion Storm, 2005).
Using the pattern
Conversation can include Clues (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) or trigger Predefined Goals (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) to link information in the conversation to the gameplay.
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
Perfect Information
Conversation becomes more tightly integrated with the Character-Driven Game Design gameplay and they can be used to tie the gameplay and the Narrative Structures (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) together.
Typically, a game event of containing Information Passing results in information being gained by players also, although it may not be the same information or only the knowledge that information has been passed. Regardless, this may be sufficient to achieve Gain Information goals.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Can Modulate
Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
Potentially Conflicting With
History
An updated version of the pattern Faction, first introduced in Lankoski 2010[1].
