Extended Actions

Actions that take so long to complete that they require players to miss opportunities to perform other actions in order to complete them.

Not all actions in games take place immediately, and some require that players continue to perform them for a period of time before taking effect. Such actions are Extended Actions and require players to make choices between completing them and abandoning them in order to start other actions. If they cannot be interrupted, they do not even let player abandon them in favor of other actions, and the player must commit fully to them.

Examples

The existence of Extended Actions are easily notice in turn-based games since the game system lets players view the state every turn. One example can be found in the Europa Universalis series, where requires players to commit their armies for up to years when each turn is a day to win siege.

Extended Actions are however also quite common in real-time games. Buildings in the Age of Empires series let players build units, but the production of these take time, and while they are being produced no new production can start. The activating of machinery, the helping of other survivors hanging from ledges, and the healing of oneself or others are all examples of Extended Actions in the Left 4 Dead series. Taking photographs to complete certain mission goals in America's Army requires that the player performs an action continuously for a certain period of time, is not able to check the surroundings freely, and risk being killed.

All Live Action Roleplaying Games include Extended Actions since they include everyday actions such as walking, talking, and eating that take seconds or minutes to perform.

Using the pattern

Extended Actions can quite easily be created from any action by requiring that its effects do not take place instantaneously but rather require players to continue performing them for some while. Time Limits can be used to set a fixed amount of time needed but another option is to vary the effect by how long time a player has performed the actions for through the use of Investments and here Geometric Rewards for Investments can be used to provide increased Value of Effort.

Once the action is started, the Extended Actions may either be possible to stop as examples of Interruptible Actions, or be unstoppable by the players who initiated the actions as examples of Irreversible Events and possibly Helplessness.

Extended Actions can be seen as a form of Investments as they tie up the possible actions available to players besides any possible uses of Resources. They may either start taking effect immediately, having increased consequences the longer they are performed, or may require an initial threshold to be reached before starting to have effect. In the latter case, the completion of them entails Hovering Closures and has Perceivable Margins, especially if they are also Collaborative Actions, since they then show the willingness of several players to perform the actions. A Progress Indicator, which may be an Illusionary Reward to provide feedback within a Game World, usually shows how close to the threshold the player is in this case.

When Extended Actions do not produce effects until they are finished, the actions leading up to the completion can be regarded as No-Ops and the initial action can be seen as having a Delayed Effect. When players only have one Focus Loci, these No-Ops can equal Downtime for the player and limit their Freedom of Choice. In contrast, when Extended Actions are used in combination with multiple Focus Loci, typically Units, gaining maximal benefit of all the possible actions through Attention Swapping can become a part of Game Mastery.

Producers and Controllers are typically game elements to provide Extended Actions that are not provided by players' Focus Loci. Combos and Dexterity-Based Actions such as Aim & Shoot are examples of Extended Actions provided by players' Focus Loci. Rhythm-Based Actions are a form of Dexterity-Based Action that can support Extended Actions using or not using Focus Loci.

Gaining Area Control is an example of an action often using Extended Actions for the third reason.

Real-Time Games Freedom of Choice Encouraged Return Visits

Interface Aspects

It is quite common to use Game State Indicators to let players know how much time they have put into an Extended Action (see for example the Left 4 Dead series).

Consequences

Extended Actions typically give one out of three effects: requiring a certain level of commitment from players to start using the actions but then make the continued use easy; encouraging players to use the actions continuously to achieve additional effects; or requiring commitment from players for a continuous period of time. The first reason gives Stimulated Planning and may have Balancing Effects if more powerful actions require more preparation and Resources. The second reason gives players increased Freedom of Choice, as it provides players with additional ways of using actions but can also limit players by making the continuation of the action very valuable, as for example when using Geometric Rewards for Investments. The third reason can, like the first reason, cause Stimulated Planning and have Balancing Effects but can also increase Tension if the actions are Interruptible Actions since they are Continuous Goals. The last case can also cause Tension and require Risk/Reward considerations if players are vulnerable to hostile actions due to being affected by Helplessness.

Seen from the point of when the Extended Actions are started, they create Delayed Effects.

The first case makes completing the actions into Continuous Goals as the player may be tempted to perform other actions instead, and the completions may be affected by other players' actions if the actions are Interruptible Actions.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Balancing Effects, Delayed Effects, Stimulated Planning

with Geometric Rewards for Investments

Value of Effort

with Helplessness

Risk/Reward, Tension

with Interruptible Actions

Continuous Goals, Tension

Can Modulate

Freedom of Choice,

Can Be Instantiated By

Investments, Geometric Rewards for Investments Time Limits

Can Be Modulated By

Freedom of Choice, Game State Indicators, Helplessness, Interruptible Actions, Irreversible Events

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

A revised version of the pattern Extended Actions that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.