Flanking Routes
Alternative ways to reach locations in game worlds which may be unexpected to others.
Games that contain aspects of area control require that players guard access routes to these. Flanking Routes are access routes that either are less likely to be used or ones that will not attract the main portions of combatants. Even so, they can be vital for the outcome since use of them can launch surprise attacks or take over areas believed to be safe.
Contents
Examples
Flanking Routes are often found in the maps of Real-Time Strategy Games and team-based First-Person Shooters. Both Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Team Fortress 2 contain maps where gameplay needs to go along certain tracks but how this progresses depend heavily on how team make use of the numerous Flanking Routes that exist. In Battlefield 2 sneaking on the left side of the map Strike at Karkand offers marine teams a viable strategy to take a spawn point, while driving jeeps off-road on the western plateau on the Dragon Valley can let them steal one deep inside the Chinese team's territory.
Flanking Routes can also exist in other Strategy Games than Real-Time Strategy Games. A well-known example from World War II which is recreated in Wargames such as the Hearts of Iron series is the possibility of Germany to avoid the French Maginot line by going through Belgium and Holland. However, in most cases flanking in these games depends more on outmaneuvering other forces than on terrain features.
Using the pattern
Flanking Routes is primarily a way to modulate how other features of Game Worlds or Levels work, e.g. Arenas, Choke Points, Galleries, or Sniper Locations. Designing them consist of providing additional ways of reaching locations in the Game Worlds. Although all accesses to a location may similar and thereby make what is perceived as Flanking Routes depend on what the current game state is, accesses that are intended to always be perceived as Flanking Routes should either be narrower or otherwise less obvious (e.g. by containing Choke Points), or be extra accesses to those that will guaranteed be focus for gameplay. An example of the latter can be found in the Gold Rush map in Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and all payload maps in Team Fortress 2. Here, the attacking team needs to move a tank or cart respectively along a predefined route but several Flanking Routes exist that let defending players various ways of trying to intercept or ambush the attackers.
An option for Flanking Routes is to make them One-Way Travel, e.g. by being down an unscalable cliff side.
When players can create Warp Zones (which engineers in Team Fortress 2 can) or Spawn Points (which North Vietnamese engineers in Battlefield Vietnam can), this opens up for these to be used as Flanking Routes.
Consequences
Can Instantiate
Selectable Set of Goals, Attention Demanding, Attention Swapping, Stealth, Strategic Locations, Surprises, Tactical Planning Varied Gameplay Combos
Can Modulate
Area Control, Arenas, Camping, Choke Points, Combat, Galleries, Game Worlds, Guard, Levels, Sniper Locations, Stealth
Potentially Conflicting With
Relations
Can Instantiate
Attention Demanding, Attention Swapping, Selectable Set of Goals, Stealth, Strategic Locations, Surprises, Tactical Planning, Varied Gameplay
Can Modulate
Area Control, Arenas, Camping, Choke Points, Combat, Combos, Galleries, Game Worlds, Guard, Levels, Sniper Locations, Stealth
Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
History
New pattern created in this wiki. However, it was first introduced 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.
- ↑ Flanking Route pattern by Kenneth Hullett.
Acknowledgements
Kennart Hullett, Jim Whitehead
