Construction

The action of introducing or rearranging game elements to create structures in game worlds.

Building is a common activity possible in games; this may be actual constructions or simply actions that are diegetically presented as constructing something but other possibilities exist. One is that players may construct their own set of game elements to bring to a game, which may include actually building or creating them also. Another is that the main activity for players is to create the code that will be performing the actual gameplay.

Examples

Building houses and hotels in Monopoly and pyramids in Amun-Re are simple examples of how game actions can represent Construction, and this exists in computer games such as FarmVille and Ravenwood Fair as well. The Sims series combines this with controlling the 'Sims' or simply letting them behave as they wish in the houses constructed by the players. Games such as the Sim City series, the Incredible Machine game series, Pontifex, Minecraft, and Slaves to Armok II: Dwarf Fortress all focus heavily on building, and the two latter do that to a level of complexity that players have constructed computers within the games. Probots and C-Robots are games where the only influence players can have on the gameplay is how they program the robots. Although Construction is part of the diegesis of Puerto Rico and Race for the Galaxy, here players win or lose by how they build the functionality of their colonies and empires respectively, and an important part of mastering the game is knowing how to construct efficient combinations.

Some games make construction privileged actions for some players. Typical cases for this is so-called 'class-based' FPS Games, for example the 'engineer' class in the Team Fortress series and the 'field ops', 'engineer', 'constructor', and 'technician' classes in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

Tabletop Roleplaying Games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay most often have ready-made game worlds and narratives but the final touches are made by the game masters, besides that players often get to create their own characters.

This was continued in early Massively Multiplayer Online Games, e.g. Kingdoms and DragonMud, where players that had shown their commitment could expand the game rules and game world. Some of the later commercial versions, e.g. Ultima Online, maintained aspects of this by letting players buy (and thereby build) houses.

Players of Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40K need to construct the armies which they intended to play with using ones they have purchased. The Category:Collectible Card Games:Collectible Card Games Magic: the Gathering and Pokémon Trading Card Game work in a similar fashion. For those participating in Live Action Roleplaying Games such as 1942 – Noen å stole på and Dragonbane need to create not only some items with narrative importance, such as full-scale dragons, but also everyday utensils and clothing.

A World without Oil ?

Spore

Using the pattern

Pottering

One use of Construction is to make players consider different Combos, as for example Puerto Rico and Race for the Galaxy requires. These Combos can intentionally be put into the game design as a way to modulate Construction but can also easily emerge as an effect.

Player Created Game Elements Player-Created Characters

The game elements used from Construction can come from a number of different source. One is from outside the game as Game Element Insertion, while another is that they are created by the game system and a third is that they are simply rearranged within the Game Worlds through Movement.

or within the game but 

Narration Structures

Investments

Coding can be a form of Construction when is used to support Action Programming or the create of AI Players, as for example done in Probots and C-Robots. This is taken further in the Player Constructed Worlds of early Massively Multiplayer Games such as Kingdoms and DragonMud since the actual Game Worlds are the result of player Construction. Taking this even more step further is the examples of how players construct computers in games such as Conway's Game of Life, Minecraft, and Slaves to Armok II: Dwarf Fortress to be able to code within the Game Worlds.

Casual Gameplay Private Game Spaces Freedom of Choice Heterogeneous Game Element Ownership Multiplayer Games Zero-Player Games Single-Player Games Persistent Game Worlds

The main design choices for supporting Construction include the design of the new game elements that are the product of the action, what Resources are needed, the possibility of succeeding, and the variations in designs that the players can create. Requiring scarce Resources for construction to occur can give rise to Exploration or Gain Ownership as well as Trading. Linking the chance of success to a Skill encourages Construction as a Competence Area. Allowing a large variation in the possible Constructions give players a Freedom of Choice and the Creative Control to Experiment and select Player Defined Goals. The possibility of failed Constructions leading to alternative Constructions also encourages Experimenting.

The amount of Construction in a game can easily be limited by making it a Privileged Ability.

Freedom of Choice

Stimulated Planning

Persistent Game Worlds

Spectators

An obvious way to affect the Game World in this fashion is through Tile-Laying.

Game Masters

Consequences

Construction can easily give rise to Combos and Emergent Gameplay, and knowing about these effects is often part of what is required to have Game Mastery in games focusing on Construction.

The introduction of game elements through Construction is functionally similar to the effect of Producers but does not need to use Spawning. As such, Construction can more easily be given representations that allow the introduction of Game Elements in Game Worlds without breaking Diegetic Consistency.

Construction actions typically represent Investments and are perceived as Constructive Play. With enough possible permutations in what and how to construct things, the pattern gives Freedom of Choice and Creative Control which in turn can lead to Surprises, both for themselves and others. When players can create game elements that affect the Game Worlds, especially in Persistent Game Worlds, Construction can enable Player Constructed Worlds.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Freedom of Choice, Combos, Constructive Play, Creative Control, Emergent Gameplay, Investments, Player Constructed Worlds, Producers

with Combos or Emergent Gameplay

Game Mastery

with Creative Control

Surprises

Can Be Instantiated By

Action Programming, AI Players, Game Element Insertion, Movement

Can Be Modulated By

Combos

History

An updated version of the pattern Construction that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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