Detective Structures

Information available for a player is limited to the information of one character.

The player experiences the game event aligned with a single character. This means that all surprises and revelations occur at the same time for the players and their characters although they may make different conclusions.

Examples

The Detective Structure is a typical pattern used in many First-Person Shooters, e.g. Half-Life Series and Deus Ex Series. This come pretty natural for the genre since it is defined by how one perceives the game world from the view of one character.

However, games using Third-Person Views can also make use of the pattern, with the Silent Hill Series as one example. Although this may allow players to perceive things their characters do not (or vice versa) due to looking in different directions, this only concerns what happens in the very proximity of the characters and does not have to affect narrative structures.

Using the pattern

Using the Pattern: Detective Structure is a form of Imperfect Information (Björk, Holopainen, 2005). The information available to the player is limited to what is available to one character; the player does not need to have unlimited access to what the character knows, feels, and perceives. Detective Structure can use First-Person Views (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) or Third-Person Views (Björk, Holopainen, 2005). Detective Structure with Clues (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) can be used to support Narrative Structure (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), for example, solving a mystery by finding Clues (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) to reach the Predefined Goals (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) such as Gain Information (Björk, Holopainen, 2005). Consequences: As Detective Structure limits the player’s information. a certain point-of-view, pattern Imperfect Information (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) and Uncertainty of Information (Björk, Holopainen, 2005). This means that it can be used more freely (than with Melodramatic Structure). This is likely to add to Tension (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) and create possibilities for Surprises (Björk, Holopainen, 2005). Relations: ——Instantiates: Imperfect Information (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Uncertainty of Information (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) ——Instantiated by: none ——Modulates: Narrative Structure (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Tension (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Surprises (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) ——Modulated by: Clues (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Gain Information (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), First-Person Views (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Third-Person Views (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) ——Potentially conflicting with: Perfect Information, Melodramatic Structure

Although a Detective Structure does not by itself create Surprises, the wish to provide players with Surprises is one of the main reason to make use of the structure.

First-Person Views

Third-Person Views

Relations

Can Be Modulated By

Surprises

History

An updated version of the pattern Character Defining Actions, first introduced in Lankoski 2010.