Enforced Agent Behavior
The game takes a control of certain or all actions from a player in order to maintain the character’s personality.
Enforced Character Behavior is used to maintain character personality by limiting the player’s choices or taking control way from the player.
Contents
Examples
Dialogue systems of games
Thief: Deadly Shadows (Ion Storm, 2005) uses goals and game system enforce certain behaviors. Goals are used to make sure that a player will steal valuables. Game system, in general, will promote sneaking over fighting.
Call of Cthulhu (Monroe, Petersen, 2004) have rules for character insanity. When insanity checks are failed, if the character sees some horrific monsters or heinous acts, the character, for example, freezes or flees despite the player’s will.
Using the pattern
Enforced Character Behavior can be introduced with Cut Scenes (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) portraying player character and Predefined Goals (Björk, Holopainen, 2005). Also using predefined functions
and Limited Set of Actions1 (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) and Trait Regulated Behavior are forms of Enforced Character Behavior.
Interface Aspects
Diegetic Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
Exaggerated Perception of Influence
Enforced Character Behavior takes some control from the player to maintain the character’s personality. However, the pattern can conflict Roleplaying (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) if the character design is not transferred consistently to the gameplay.
Relations
——Instantiates: Character Defining Actions ——Instantiated by: Cut-scenes (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Predefined Goals (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Limited Set of Actions (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Trait Regulated Behavior ——Modulates: Character (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) ——Potentially Conflicting with: Illusion of Influence (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Role-playing (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Freedom of Choice (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Player Designed Character
Can Instantiate
Can Modulate
Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
Potentially Conflicting With
History
An updated version of the pattern Enforced Character Behavior, first introduced in Lankoski 2010[1].
References
- ↑ Lankoski (2010). Character-Driven Game Design - A Design Approach and Its Foundations in Character Engagement. PhD thesis at Aalto University. Publication Series of the School of Art and Design A 101.
