Artifact-Location Proximity

The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.

Many games have bringing items to specific locations as conditions for gameplay events. While this is in many cases done with both items and locations that are either fictional or virtual, it may also be done with physical ones. The pattern Artifact-Location Proximity signifies when technology checks whether these types of condition are met for physical items and locations.

Examples

The movement of teams giant animal totems in ConQwest is an example of Artifcat-Location Proximity. In the Swedish LARP Kejsartemplet the placement of a magic stone in its receptacle removed the power from all wizards; this was implemented through sensing the stone's presence in the receptacle and relaying this electronically to bracelets worn by the wizards.

Using the pattern

Making use of Artifact-Location Proximity in a game consist of modifying physical Game Items (quite often Tools) so that they can be sensed by some technology embedded in a specific location. The modification required depends primarily on the sensing technology used, and the technology choice can also determine what actually is meant by proximity and what artifacts can trigger the proximity. For example, RFID tags can let the game design determine exactly which unique artifacts trigger conditions with a short range while a pressure plate would accept all artifacts over a certain weight placed on it.

Artifact-Location Proximity can require Extended Actions to trigger either the condition of entering or leaving the proximity of a location. This may be to control player actions (not being able to leave with the artifact immediately or having a chance of returning it shortly after it has been removed). It also provides a safeguard if the sensing technology used is deemed a bit unreliable.

Consequences

Artifact-Location Proximity quite often naturally combines with the Delivery pattern, and this is likely to cause Physical Navigation and Player-Location Proximity to become part of the gameplay.

Relations

Game Masters

Can Instantiate

-

with Delivery

Physical Navigation, Player-Location Proximity

Can Modulate

Game Items, Tools

Can Be Instantiated By

-

Can Be Modulated By

Extended Actions

Possible Closure Effects

-

Potentially Conflicting With

-

History

Updated version of the pattern Artifact-Location Proximity first described in the report Game Design Patterns for Mobile Games.

Acknowledgements

Johan Peitz