Environmental Effects

Changes to how actions or events function due to being in a specific part of the game world.

For game worlds to have interesting features, the different parts of need to vary. Besides their relation to each other and the game components they contain, this can be done by having Environmental Effects. This may be adding, removing, or modifying the actions possible for those within them, doing the same with actions directed towards those within them, or by having specific events take place within them due to their nature.

Examples

Fallout series has water in various areas which slows movement and causes damage when one is submerged for too long without any breathing support, and have other areas tainted with radioactivity that damages those present depending on how resistant they are. Minecraft, and The Elder Scrolls series have water areas as well and in addition have other areas with filled with lava that quickly kills those in it. The Lemmings series of games make both water and lava deadly to the lemmings, while the Super Mario series varies the effects of lava between games.

The production of villages and town in Settlers of Catan depend on what hexes they border to.

The terrain one's car is on affects acceleration, deceleration and grip in Racing Games such as Need for Speed series and Gran Turismo series. More unrealistic racing games such as Super Monkey Ball series and the Wipeout series have stretches which adds boost to whatever vehicles is on it.

Hey! That's My Fish!, Forbidden Island, and Greed Corp all have game worlds which gradually disappears, and the disappeared parts can be said to be under an Environmental Effect.

Using the pattern

Environmental Effects are ways of changing details of Levels and Game Worlds, although the most important part of any part of a Game World is how it connects to the rest of it. For each Environmental Effects created, one has to consider which combination of Avatars, Diegetically Tangible Game Items, and Units it affects.

A simple example of an Environmental Effect is to make a part of the Game World into an Inaccessible Area. Privileged Abilities or Privileged Movement can then be given, temporarily or permanently, to some game elements possible to provide Orthogonal Unit Differentiation or Varied Gameplay respectively. While Inaccessible Areas block Movement completely, Environmental Effects can also provide Privileged Movement through making it quicker or easier, or provide Movement Limitations through making it slower or more difficult. Warp Zones are another example of Environmental Effects and interesting enough share many of the design options with Inaccessible Areas even if they connect specific parts of Game Worlds to other parts of the same Game Worlds. The Environmental Effects that make players' actions easier in some way are functionally Installations since they work similar to Tools that provide Buffs.

Resources can quite often be diegetically tied to specific parts of Game Worlds. This provides a natural basis for having Resource Generators as Environmental Effects, but an alternative is to let the environmental modify the effect of generic Resource Generators - Settlers of Catan uses this alternative by making the products of settlements depend on which hexes they border. The places where Power-Ups appears can be seen as Environmental Effects depending on areas being Resource Generators.

Other possible Environmental Effects include granting Privileged Abilities, blocking or modifying Line of Sight rules, and modify how Combat and Damage works. Some environments make sense, e.g. underwater areas, to design so they can only be entered for a certain period of time before one takes Damage, this is in effect linking Time Limits to the them.

The inverse of Environmental Effects is actions and events that affect the environment, and it makes sense to consider both when using one. An example of this can be found in Hey! That's My Fish!, Forbidden Island, and Greed Corp, which all have Shrinking Game Worlds through the removal of tiles and the disappearance of these tiles causes death, require instantaneous movement, or makes places into Inaccessible Areas. Forbidden Island modifies this by allowing the 'diver' to move through the disappeared areas as a form of Privileged Movement.

Diegetic Aspects

To make players aware of the presence or properties of Environmental Effects, these are typically linked to Diegetically Outstanding Features but unless these maintain Diegetic Consistency the effects are likely to become Alien Space Bats. The existence of Alien Space Bats can however also be used to explain radical changes in Environmental Effects during gameplay.

Although the diegetic explanations can be many for Environmental Effects, some are more common than others. Liquids can provide Movement Limitations and Damage if entered or after Time Limits have expired. Ice can provide another type of Movement Limitations by not slowing speed but making changes in direction difficult. Vegetation such as forests, jungle, and swamp can explain Movement Limitations, protection against Damage, and blocked Line of Sight. Height differences can do the same.

Interface Aspects

Important Environmental Effects may be appropriate to display on Mini-maps so that players can know their locations even if they are not close to them.

Narration Aspects

Since Environmental Effects can be explained as having been caused by earlier event (e.g. the radioactive areas in the Fallout series), they can be used for Environmental Storytelling.

Consequences

Game Worlds and Levels are modulated by Environmental Effects, e.g. by providing Resource Generators. Since they localize places where specific rules apply, they give Varying Rule Sets. Depending on how they are diegetically presented, they can both provide Environmental Storytelling and be examples or effects of Alien Space Bats. Depending on how they modify possible actions, they can provide Movement Limitations, Privileged Ability, or Privileged Movement, and this in turn can give Varied Gameplay. The presence of beneficial effects can motivate the strive for owning the Territories containing them if Territories are used.

Environmental Effects that give Damage, or otherwise give negative effects, to those enter them are Traps.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Alien Space Bats, Buffs, Environmental Storytelling, Installations, Movement Limitations, Privileged Abilities, Privileged Movement, Resource Generators, Varying Rule Sets

with Buffs

Installations

with Damage =

Traps

with Inaccessible Areas and Privileged Abilities or Privileged Movement

Orthogonal Unit Differentiation, Varied Gameplay

Can Modulate

Avatars, Combat, Damage, Diegetically Tangible Game Items, Game Worlds, Levels, Line of Sight, Movement, Power-Ups, Resource Generators, Territories, Units

Can Be Instantiated By

Inaccessible Areas, Warp Zones

Can Be Modulated By

Alien Space Bats, Diegetically Outstanding Features, Mini-maps, Privileged Abilities, Privileged Movement, Shrinking Game Worlds, Time Limits

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

New pattern created in this wiki.

References

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Acknowledgements

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