WYDZIAŁ FILOLOGICZNY

UNIWERSYTETU ŚLĄSKIEGO W KATOWICACH

INSTYTUT KULTUR I LUTERATUR ANGLOJĘZYCZNYCH

ŁUKASZ SCHWARTZ
NR ALBUMU: 295396

PRZESTRZEŃ GRY KOMPUTEROWEJ:

PROJEKTOWANIE WIARYGODNYCH ŚRODOWISK

PRACA DYPLOMOWA
LICENCJACKA

PROMOTOR:
DR TOMASZ GNAT

SOSNOWIEC, 2016
 FACULTY OF PHILOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF SILESIA IN KATOWICE

INSTITUTE OF ENGLISH CULTURES AND LITERATURES

ŁUKASZ SCHWARTZ
NR ALBUMU: 295396

VIDEO GAME SPACE:

DESIGNING BELIEVABLE ENVIRONMENTS

B.A. THESIS

ADVISOR:
DR TOMASZ GNAT

SOSNOWIEC, 2016
 3

Słowa kluczowe: gry komputerowe, przestrzeń, immersja, przepływ, zawieszenie niewiary.

Oświadczenie autora pracy

Ja, niżej podpisany:

Łukasz Jan Schwartz
autor pracy dyplomowej pt. „Video Game Space: Designing Believable
Environments”
Numer albumu: 295396,
Student Wydziału Filologicznego Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach,
kierunku studiów filologia angielska, Specjalności Projektowanie rozrywki
interaktywnej oraz lokalizacja gier i oprogramowania (SPRINT-WRITE),
oświadczam, że ww. praca dyplomowa:
• została przygotowana przeze mnie samodzielnie1,
• nie narusza praw autorskich w rozumieniu ustawy z dnia 4 lutego 1994 r. o
prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych (tekst jednolity Dz. U. z 2006 r.
Nr 90, poz. 631, z późn. zm.) oraz dóbr osobistych chronionych prawem
cywilnym,
• nie zawiera danych i informacji, które uzyskałem/-am w sposób
niedozwolony,
• nie była podstawą nadania dyplomu uczelni wyższej lub tytułu
zawodowego ani mnie, ani innej osobie.

Oświadczam również, że treść pracy dyplomowej zamieszczonej przeze

mnie w Archiwum Prac Dyplomowych jest identyczna z treścią zawartą w
wydrukowanej wersji pracy.

Jestem świadomy odpowiedzialności karnej za złożenie fałszywego

oświadczenia.

........................................................... ..........................................................
Data Podpis autora pracy

1 uwzględniając merytoryczny wkład promotora (w ramach prowadzonego seminarium dyplomowego)

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................5

CHAPTER I: IMMERSION, FLOW AND SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF...7

CHAPTER II: WORLD BOUNDARIES...........................................................10

2.1 Boundaries in early video games.........................................................10

2.2 Types of boundaries in modern 3D games...........................................14

CHAPTER III: NAVIGATION...........................................................................19

3.1 Linear Games.......................................................................................19

3.2 Metroidvania-type exploration.............................................................21

3.3 Open Worlds.........................................................................................23

3.4 Transitions, continuity and consistency................................................25

CHAPTER IV: BREATHING LIFE INTO THE ENVIRONMENT..............27

4.1 Visual consistency................................................................................27

4.2 Environmental storytelling...................................................................28

CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................34

BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................36

SUMMARY...........................................................................................................40

STRESZCZENIE.................................................................................................41
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INTRODUCTION

As the medium of video games matures and both the detail of the audiovisual

representation and the complexity of the storytelling increase, more and more care

has to be put into facilitating and maintaining the willing suspension of disbelief

within players in order to ensure a level of immersion into the games' virtual

worlds. The aim of this thesis is to provide insight into methods of designing and

implementing believable and internally consistent environments for use within

games, as well as an examination and discussion of the common failings of game

developers in this regard. The thesis will ultimately attempt to answer the question

of how video game space relates to both gameplay and narrative, and how these

aspects come together to create an immersive experience.

The thesis will be divided into four chapters. The first chapter will provide

a definition for some of the core concepts related to the believability of an

environment in a video game. The following three chapters will each deal with an

aspect of the creation of an environment to be used within a video game.

The second chapter of the thesis will specifically focus on the issues faced

by developers while creating boundaries around the areas accessible to the player.

A brief history of the expanding scope of video game environments will be

presented first, while the second part of the chapter to present examples of

different types of boundaries in modern video games.

The third chapter shall focus on the idea of navigation within games. Three

distinct modes of navigation will be discussed, from linear to semi-open to open

world. The chapter will also venture into issues that can be encountered while

designing transitions between different areas of the game.

The fourth chapter will focus on bringing detail into the environment and
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providing meaning to it. First, the choice between realistic and stylised visual

styles will be briefly discussed. The chapter will then proceed by introducing and

elaborating on the idea of visual storytelling.

The thesis will conclude with thoughts on the relation of video game space

toward the aspects of gameplay and narrative, a well as point to a common thread

throughout the preceding chapters.

A variety of specific examples will be included in all chapters of the thesis,

referenced from assorted video games, illustrating issues arising within their

respective environments and how these issues were tackled by the developers of

the aforementioned games.

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CHAPTER I: IMMERSION, FLOW AND SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF

Before proceeding to the discussion of specific aspects of environmental design,

the ideas of immersion, flow and suspension of disbelief need to be introduced.

“Immersion” is term often used by players while discussing their

enjoyment of video games as well as by researchers of the medium. While the

exact understanding of the concept tends to vary, the general idea is that of being

captivated by a game, partially losing oneself in it.

It is important to note that the idea of immersion as presented in this work

does not assume that its ideal state should be a total simulation indistinguishable

from reality, a position which researchers Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman refer

to as the “immersive fallacy”1 and gaming theorist Tadgh Kelly as the “simulation

trap.” As Kelly observes:

Simulationists believe that the reason for playing a game is to

immerse yourself in a world (this is true) and the best way to do
that is to make that world as real as possible (this is not true).
Simulation run amok tends to result in dead-end development,
unnecessary features, and huge amounts of wasted effort.2

Instead of striving toward a complete simulation, a well designed game should

therefore aim for an amount of simulation which provides the most enjoyable

overall experience for the player.

Several different types of immersion have been identified by researchers,

but for the purposes of this work, focus will be put on spatial immersion,

governed by the representation of environments. Psychologist Jamie Madigan

argues that immersion correlates to the concept known in the field of psychology

1 Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play - Game Design Fundamentals (Cambridge,
Massachusetts, London, England: The MIT Press, 2004), Chapter 27, p. 31.
2 Tadgh Kelly, “Simulacra or Simulation [What Games Are Not],” What Games Are, February
23, 2011, accessed June 13, 2016, http://www.whatgamesare.com/2011/02/simulacra-or-
simulation-what-games-are-not.html.
 8

as “presence”, and more specifically “patial presence.” As Madigan puts it: “[t]he

idea is just that a game (or any other media from books to movies) creates spatial

presence when the user starts to feel like he is 'there' in the world that the game

creates.”3

Another concept that will be used throughout the thesis is that of gameplay

flow. The idea of “flow” was defined by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi as

the optimal experience while performing an activity, an exhilarating feeling of

being in control of one's actions.4 Katie Salen and Salen and Eric Zimmerman

note on the usefulness of the concept in relation to gameplay:

[G]ames are one of the best kinds of activities to produce flow. The
rules, goals, feedback, uncertain outcome, and other qualities of
games make them fertile terrain for the flowering of a flow
experience. We believe there is an intrinsic connection between game
play and flow. Although the maximum flow “optimal experience” that
Csikszentmihalyi describes is rarely achieved, all forms of play in
some way partake of the flow experience. The conditions for flow are
established as players find the interstices of a rigid structure, engaging
with rules in order to play with them and transform them. Flow is one
way of understanding that pleasure which draws players to a game and
keeps them there.5

While flow is mostly connected to gameplay in the context of games, it can also arguably

be linked to the progression of narrative.

Finally, the “willing suspension of disbelief” is an idea first introduced by

poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his 1817 work Biographia

Literaria, describing the ability of the reader to derive enjoyment from a literary

work despite implausibilities such as supernatural elements. 6 Today, the term is

used not only with regards to literature, but also more broadly with regards to
3 Jamie Madigan, “The Psychology of Video Game Immersion,” Psychology Today, 03 July,
2012, accessed June 13, 2016, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-
games/201207/the-psychology-video-game-immersion.
4 Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York, Harper
and Collins Publishing, 1992), p. 3.
5 Salen and Zimmerman, Rules of Play, chapter 23, p. 10.
6 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University
Press, 1984) Vol. II, pp. 1-5.
 9

other media, such as film or video games.

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CHAPTER II: WORLD BOUNDARIES

The interactivity and non-linearity of contemporary video games provides a

complex challenge to developers, as world designers need to account for the

player's freedom of movement and focus. This is true especially in the case of

“open-world” titles which allow the players to relatively freely explore their

environments, while simultaneously still needing to confine them within certain

bounds, due to both the limitations of technology and conscious game design

choices. This necessitates the presence of barriers or boundaries to the player

character's movement. Gareth Griffiths identifies the main issue regarding video

game boundaries thusly: “What happens when we cannot tell the difference

between a 'friendly' barrier (one which we can interact with in some way) and one

which is so unmovable that a nuclear missile wouldn't make a dent? More

importantly, how does the player feel and what do they do to overcome this?” The

following paragraphs will attempt to provide some answers.

2.1 Boundaries in early video games

Before discussing the different approaches to the restriction of player movement

in modern 3D open-world games, the history of boundaries in early computer

entertainment needs to be addressed first to provide a context. It should be noted

that for the purposes of this work, this history will be presented in a somewhat

simplified fashion, since it would be beyond the scope of the work to cover all of

the different approaches.

Owing to the limited technology of the time, early video games often

featured somewhat abstract environments. Furthermore, these environments were

oft restricted to the screen space. As such, the bounds of movement were quite
 11

frequently marked by the edges of the actual screen the game was displayed on.

One of the most well known early arcade video games, Pong, released in 1972 by

Atari Inc., uses the screen space as an extremely simplified top-down

representation of a table in a table tennis game, with the caveat that the top and

bottom edges actually behave like walls which the ball bounces off – a necessary

modification considering the 2D space of the game. The left and right edges do

not serve as wall, but still serve as boundaries – if the ball does not hit the player's

pallet and bounce off, it leaves the screen, resulting in a point for the other player.

As Mark J. P. Wolf observes, there is an implication here of a space which exists

outside of the screen:

Both the early films and the early games also acknowledged that
there was a space outside of the frame, even if it was never
shown; for example, in PONG, missed balls fly off screen,
scoring a point and in Space Invaders, bullets missing the
invaders fly up and off-screen. Likewise, Lumiére's Workers
Leaving the Lumiére Factory (1895) showed people moving
through the frame who disappeared off the edge of the screen in
a manner similar to the bullets and balls. Although this off-
screen space was not actively used (objects leaving the screen
were not seen again), its presence was implied in both cases.7

This existence of unreachable space beyond the playing field will later become an

important factor in 3D games, where the player can often see further than their

avatar is able to travel, and this space is no longer wholly off-screen.

A somewhat more advanced example of the single-screen type of game,

and one which features a more complex setting, is Donkey Kong, released in 1981

by Nintendo. The environment of the game represents a construction site, through

the use of sprites depicting metal girders and ladders. Still illustrating the abstract

nature of early games, at least some of the girders seem to be suspended in mid-

7 Mark J. P. Wolf, The Medium of the Video Game (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press,
2001), pp. 55–56.
 12

air, with no visible supports. While the bottom part of the screen uses a platform

as a floor, both the left and right sides of the screen feature no visible walls, yet

they stop the player character's movement.

Some other games, rather than having the player be stopped by the edges

of the screen, instead used a technique called “wraparound,” whereby an object

leaving the screen reappears at the opposite edge of the screen. A well-known

example of this technique is the game Asteroids, released in 1979 by Atari, Inc. In

Asteroids, the player took control of a spaceship amid an asteroid field. The aim of

the game was to break apart the eponymous asteroids by shooting at them, while

avoiding collision. Both the player's ship and the obstacles would wrap around the

screen, creating tense scenarios to navigate.

Soon, games moved beyond a single screen. At first, this was done through

a technique called flip-screen, where upon reaching the edge of the screen, the

screen would switch to the next portion of the scenery, with the character starting

at the opposite edge of the screen. The edges of the screen stopped being

immediately perceived as the boundaries of a game. More substantial boundaries

needed to be put in place. These would often be represented quite literally by

sprites of brick walls. However, as game environments were also starting to

become less abstract, some of them required different sorts of boundaries. An

example is The Legend of Zelda, released in 1986 by Nintendo. In many ways, the

game can be seen as the precursor to modern open-world games, and is often

referred to as an early example of, or at least a precursor to the idea of open-world

games. Lizzy Finnegan lists some of the most important innovations which

support this:

Now that there was the ability to save your game, it was time to
 13

make a game that was worth saving. It could be bigger, deeper,

more engaging, and the areas could evolve alongside the story. No
longer would areas disappear simply because they scrolled off
screen. The open world approach to The Legend of Zelda made
the game, the land, and its inhabitants feel more alive. Revisiting
areas was encouraged, and often necessary. The Legend of Zelda
was an important influence on the action RPG genre, serving as
an early example of open world, nonlinear gameplay. The Legend
of Zelda was not the type of game that would give you any
indication of where to go - nor would it actively deter you from
entering an area you were not yet prepared for. In truth, you can
make your way to the final boss without even picking up a sword
(although you do need the sword to beat him). 8

The quote also illustrates how higher degree of amount of free exploration

corresponds to a higher level of believability.

The Legend of Zelda attempted to portray a fairly open fantasy world with

large outdoor environments traditionally referred to as the “overworld”, in

contrast to the “underworld,” comprised of the game's dungeons, caves and

building interiors. The overworld is bounded by sprites representing natural

features of terrain, such as cliff sides or water, but also ones representing trees,

creating what may be referred to as “forest walls.” The forest wall in particular is

a type of obstacle which illustrates the difficulty of portraying credible barriers in

games with realistic graphics: while the player is prone to accept this type of

barrier in a game with simplified graphics, in an advanced 3D game the player is

bound to notice the absurdity. As Kyle Hillard observes in his article “The Worst

Artificial Barriers In Video Games”: “The average tree is about two feet in

diameter, and in the average woods they usually grow around five feet apart. In

the world of video games, however, that is a gap that no amount of squeezing will

let you through. “9 This absurdity is sure to damage the player's suspension of
8 Lizzy Finnegan, “How The Legend of Zelda Changed Video Games,” The Escapist, February
26, 2016, accessed June 13, 2016,
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/videogames/16779-How-The-Legend-of-
Zelda-Changed-Gaming.
9 Kyle Hillard, “The Worst Artificial Barriers In Video Games,” Gameinformer, August 30,
 14

disbelief.

2.2 Types of world boundaries in modern 3D games

With the advent of 3D graphics and the stride towards increased realism came

new challenges. The simplest way of restricting players' movement at the edge of

an open environment is the invisible wall. At some point, the player is blocked by

an arbitrary barrier. The player's character either simply stops moving in the

desired direction, is repelled or automatically turned around. At times, this sort of

barrier may actually have a visual representation, such as, for example, a line

rendered on the ground, but it is clear that this boundary is not part of the world

represented by the game, but rather a feature of the interface. As such, the barrier

is visible to the player, but it would still be invisible for the player's character. In

his dissertation “Of Worlds and Avatars: A Playercentric Approach to Videogame

Discourse”, Robert Buerkle describes a typical player encounter with the invisible

wall type of barrier in the game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion:

I move through the hills and valleys, traipse over a grassy ridge,
and see below me a blue stream winding west to the sea, I hop
down from a rocky outcropping and continue striding ahead,
when suddenly, and without explanation, I hit what appears to be
an invisible wall.
'You cannot continue this way. Please turn back' I'm told
by white text that appears at the top of my screen. Defying this
request, I attempt to press my avatar ahead, yet my movement
continues to be blocked by this invisible barrier. I try to run
around the impenetrable blockade, yet everywhere I go, the
invisible wall blocks my progress. I can see the open hillside
continuing in front of me, the stream still winding below yet try
as I might, I cannot continue any further. My Redguard Crusader
ineffectually runs in place, impeded by an invisible barrier for
which the game offers no explanation. For a brief moment, all
semblance of the game's internal reality subsides; I've reached

2013, accessed June 13, 2016,

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/08/30/the-worst-artificial-barriers-in-
video-games.aspx.
 15

the border of the gameworld.10

Notable in this example is the interface message accompanying the invisible wall.

Certain games feature similar messages, that offer justifications for this kind of

boundary, providing various reasons why the character cannot proceed. In

military-themed games such as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, released

by Konami Digital Entertainment in 2015, this often comes in the form of a

predetermined “mission area.” Jesper Juul offers another example: “In Battlefield

1942 [released in 2002 by Electronic Arts], the player approaching the edge of the

screen is informed by a textual message, 'Warning, you are leaving combat area.

Deserters will be shot.' This is known as invisible walls: The fiction gives no clue

that the world ends, but for no apparent reason, the game space ends.” 11 While

Juul is dismissive of the message, Adam Rowan Chapman offers a more

favourable view: “This is a more believable diegetic boundary and yet is not

visually characterised as overtly spatial but is labelled more as a consequence of

the represented historical system which the player's character is depicted as part

of.”12 An interesting type of justification is presented in Assassin's Creed, released

in 2007 by Ubisoft. Here, the environment the player character spends the most

time in is actually acknowledged as an imperfect virtual reality simulation. This

form of meta-narrative device not only allows the justification of invisible walls,

but also potentially any other discrepancies found within the game world.

An arguably better approach than the use of the invisible wall is to block

10 Robert Buerkle, Of Worlds and Avatars: A Playercentric Approach to Videogame Discourse

(Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 2008), pp. 141–142.
11 Jesper Juul, Half-Real: Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds (Cambridge,
Massachusets; London, England: The MIT Press, 2005), p. 165.
12 Adam Rowan Chapman, “The History beyond the Frame: Off-Screen Space in the Historical
First-Person Shooter,” in: Early Modernity and Video Games, ed. Tobias Winnerling and
Florian Kerschbaumer (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014), p. 44.
 16

the player through the use of barriers that are diegetic. These often come in the

form of barriers typical to natural terrain – steep cliff sides or large bodies of

water. While usually not completely insurmountable in the real world, these types

of terrain are considerably more difficult to traverse, which lets players more

easily accept them as a limit to their characters' mobility. An obvious and common

technique used in the creation of open-world video games is to have the game be

set on an island. This allows for an area that is justifiably mostly cut off from the

rest of the world. Examples include the Grand Theft Auto III, released 2001 by

Rockstar Games or The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, released 2002 by Bethesda

Softworks.

In games belonging to science-fiction, fantasy or horror genres, boundaries

may take the form of fantastical elements. Throughout the game Half-Life 2,

released 2004 by Valve Corporation, the alien-ruled metropolis named City 17 is

being partially “devoured” by advancing mechanical walls erected by the game's

antagonists. This provides a boundary that is not only justifiable, but that is also

used for dramatic effect, illustrating the aliens' stranglehold on the planet. The

Silent Hill series, originating in 1999 and published by Konami, features

cataclysmic ravines in the streets of the town to prevent the characters from

leaving. The origin of those rifts is never explained, but this fits in with the

generally mysterious tone of the game and the uncertain status of Silent Hill the

town. In combination with the thick fog, the ravines create a sense of the town

being completely isolated from the outside world, with escape seemingly

impossible. This is further reinforced when the environment is periodically shifted

even further from reality, morphing into a hellish version of itself. Parts of the

streets are replaced with metallic meshes revealing that the town is seemingly
 17

suspended in an endless, dark void. The player is thereby compelled to forego

attempts to leave, and focus on more immediate goals offered by the games.

A barrier being diegetic is not, on its own, a guarantee of it being

acceptable. Often times, objects are used as barriers which would be easy to

traverse in reality, especially if the situation called for it. The internet wiki site TV

Tropes humorously refers to this type of barrier as the “Insurmountable Waist-

Height Fence”: “The basic Insurmountable Waist Height Fence is an obstacle,

usually between ankle and chest height, that should be reasonably easy for any

abled-bodied [sic] human to traverse, but the character(s) can't climb or step over

simply because the game doesn't include such an action.” 13 A barrier that should

reasonably be traversable is therefore not far from the previously discussed

invisible wall, in that the player will likely regard it as an arbitrary, unjustified

limitation.

Even when a barrier seems relatively reasonable, care needs to be put into

maintaining consistency. Throughout Half-Life 2, wood as a material mostly

denotes breakable objects: crates can be smashed to reveal their contents, wooden

planks barring passage can be destroyed. However, at times, missteps in design

happen and wooden objects are also used as unbreakable and impassable barriers.

This sort of inconsistency can potentially cause confusion or frustration in the

player, who has come to expect that wooden objects blocking their path can be

destroyed. The player's feel of the flow of the gameplay is thus interrupted,

resulting in a lowered state of immersion. A player might even consider an

unbreakable wooden barrier to be a bug in the game and seek technical help rather

than search for an alternate route. Temporary barriers and their importance to

13 “Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence,” TV Tropes, last edited June 15, 2016, accessed 13 June,
2016, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InsurmountableWaistHeightFence.
 18

navigation will be further discussed in the following chapter.

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CHAPTER III: NAVIGATION

This chapter's main focus will be on navigation through the space of a game, and

how it affects the perception of the environment by the player. It will start with an

examination of the evolution of navigation in games. Three types distinct types of

navigation will be introduced. The chapter will then proceed to discuss issues

related to streaming transitions.

3.1 Linear games

As discussed in the previous chapter, early games were often confined to a single

screen. A popular type of game which started to emerge was that of the platform

game, also known as the platformer. Here, the player character would run and

jump to traverse platforms of varying height. In platformers with scrolling

backgrounds, the direction of movement would predominantly be from left to

right, constantly funneling the player toward the end goal.

Similarly to platform games, early first person shooters also often featured

a string of levels unconnected by a narrative thread. This approach is very well

visible in the seminal trinity of games by Id Software: Wolfenstein 3D (published

in 1992 by Apogee Software), Doom (1993, GT Interactive) and Quake (1996, GT

Interactive). Showcasing the attitude of lead programmer John Carmack, who

once infamously stated that “Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's

expected to be there, but it's not that important.” 14 these games had relatively

simple backstories, mostly just there as general themes for the level decor.

One of the major breakthroughs in the treatment of narrative in shooters

14 John Carmack, interview, quoted in: David Kushner, Masters of Doom: How Two Guys
Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture (New York City: Random House, 2003), p.
120.
 20

came with Half-Life, released in 1999 by Sierra Studios. The game is mostly set in

“Black Mesa,” a vast research complex carved into a mountainside. The

introductory sequence of the game - a tram commute through the facility to the

specific workplace of the main character, accompanied by automated service

announcements detailing security protocols - succeeds at giving the player a sense

of the environment: it is a highly organized and structured, yet volatile place.

After the inevitable catastrophic event which sets off the proper action of the

game, the player's main goal becomes survival, as they try to evacuate the

premises. The navigation of the facility is hindered by factors such as collapsed

floors and hallways, malfunctioning equipment and a variety of other hazards

either caused or exacerbated by the catastrophe. In his review of the game for

Gamespot, Jeff Green praised the innovative structure of the game:

Levels - at least as we've come to know them - don't really exist

in Half-Life. Instead the game comprises a series of titled
chapters, each of which groups a number of minilevels into one
cohesive unit. As a result, rather than forcing you to wait
minutes for a huge level to load, like some games we could
mention (SiN) but won't (fallout 2), Half-Life loads just a
portion of the chapter at a time, as you play it.
Aesthetically, it breaks the game into a number of
settings, each one different from the next, each one offering a
changing set of challenges and obstacles. In “On a Rail” you'll
need to dodge a series of threats while riding a tram; in
“Apprehension” you'll need to swim frantically through sunken
rooms without drowning or getting eaten by giant alien fish; in
Surface Tension, perhaps the game's best chapter, you'll have to
fight an army of outrageously intelligent bad guys through a
series of outdoor settings.
Thanks to creative level design, you almost never feel
that you're doing the same thing twice.15

From Green's description, it is easy to notice how both the technology allowing

15 Jeff Green, “Half-Life,” Gamespot, January 2, 1999, accessed June 22, 2016, archived at
http://web.archive.org/web/20000816005900/www.gamespot.com/action/halflif/review_cgw.ht
ml.
 21

for smoother transitions and the continuous yet varied environment contribute to

the gameplay flow and facilitate an increased level of immersion.

Half-Life 2 changed the setting from the interiors of Black Mesa to the

streets of of a dystopian Eastern European city. Despite the more cramped spaces

of the original, it is the sequel which often feels more restrictive. This can be

explained when one starts to analyse the in-universe reasons for limited

navigation. Compared to Black Mesa, City 17 does not seem to have a strong

single excuse for constricting the player's freedom of movement. While it is a

dystopian metropolis controlled by an occupying force, the environments still feel

more restricted than is visually suggested. The strong sense of place created by the

surroundings causes the player to feel the need to explore, however attempts at

exploration are rarely rewarded, and the player is constantly locked and funneled

through a predetermined route. This can create a sense of disconnect between

expectations fuelled by the visual space and the restrictions forced upon the

player. A conclusion can be formed that showing the player too much of the world

at large can somewhat paradoxically be damaging to immersion if the game is too

linear and does not offer much in the way of exploration.

3.2 Metroidvania-type exploration

With 2D games, introducing additional elements of exploration eventually

resulted in the creation of the “metroidvania” type of game – a portmanteau of

Metroid and Castlevania, two series which popularised this type of gameplay. In

metroidvanias, the traditionally linear progression of levels would be mostly

abandoned in favour of semi-open, sprawling environments, with more sections

becoming available to the players as they gained traversal abilities (such as, for
 22

example, a higher jump, allowing to reach hitherto unavailable platforms), or key

items. This structure of the exploration is similar to that mentioned with regards to

Legend of Zelda earlier, and, in fact, the producer of Castlevania: Symphony of

the Night , Koji Igarashi, revealed that Zelda was the inspiration for the game.16

Interestingly, while the Legend of Zelda series was the first to successfully

transition to 3D with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it is the metroidvania

moniker which gets frequently brought up in relation to modern 3D action-

adventure games that feature a similar type of controlled exploration. Games

which have been referred to as 3D metroidvanias include the Dark Souls and

Darksiders series, or Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Especially in games set in modern, realistic environments, interior

navigation can be a challenge to correctly balance. In reality, most buildings have

a multitude of similar rooms. This poses a challenge to developers: how many of

the rooms have to be modelled? How to handle the player knowing which doors

are open, which unlockable and which can not be opened at all? One of the

frequent criticisms levelled at the Silent Hill series is the abundance of interiors

consisting of corridors lined with doors, which the player needs to tediously check

in order to progress through the game. In an article for The Dominion Post, Andy

Astruc describes the experience:

I've been playing Silent Hill games lately and doors keep getting
in the way of my fear. Every corridor and courtyard is full of
them, except what they're really full of is lies and pretty pictures.
You see, they aren't really there at all. They're just decoration, a
way to fill the gap between the last door you went through and
the next scene. A cheap way to fancy-up a boring piece of
scenery. 17
16 Jeffrey Matulef, “Koji Igarashi Says Castlevania: SotN Was Inspired by Zelda, not Metroid,”
Eurogamer.net, March 21, 2004, accessed June 22, 2016,
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-03-21-koji-igarashi-says-castlevania-sotn-was-
inspired-by-zelda-not-metroid.
17 Andy Astruc, “Locked Doors and Other Horror Cliches,” The Dominion Post, last updated
 23

While this type of complaint is understandable, the flow of the gameplay in Silent

Hill series, and in the genre of survival horror in general, is arguably defined by

this type of slow and methodical exploration. Attempts at speeding up the pace of

horror games have lead to actionised horror titles which have met with lukewarm

reception, as in the case of Resident Evil 6 (released in 2012 by Capcom), which

reviewer Jim Sterling characterised as “stuffed to the gills with bombastic action

segments, car chases, and relentless chaos, Capcom has abandoned any pretense

of the survival horror genre and embraced a world of skin-deep Hollywood

audacity.”18 It can be concluded that the pace of the gameplay should be controlled

in a such a way that it is consistent with the narrative genre of the game.

3.3 Open worlds

Open-world games, such as the aforementioned Grand Theft Auto or The Elder

Scrolls series, provide the highest level of freedom for player navigation. The

environment is ideally fully explorable within the outer bounds of the game space,

with most barriers to exploration being at worst temporary.

Even in open-world games, it is important to somewhat steer the player in

the right direction at specific times, in order to proceed the narrative. This can be

achieved without the use of intrusive prompts can be through the use of

signposting. Level designer Michael Barclay signposting as involving the setting

up of structures around the level which then act as landmarks for the player. 19

Barclay continues to elaborate:

September 10, 2009, accessed 22 June, 2016, http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-
post/culture/blogs/infernal-machines/2849632/Locked-doors-and-other-horror-cliches.
18 Jim Sterling, “Review: Resident Evil 6,” Destructoid, October 01, 2012, accessed June 22,
2016, https://www.destructoid.com/review-resident-evil-6-235326.phtml.
19 Michael Barclay, “My Level Design Guides,” Michael Barclay – Level Designer, May 13,
2016, accessed June 22, 2016, http://www.mikebarclay.co.uk/my-level-design-guidelines/.
 24

In single player levels, the player’s next goal or destination

should be signposted to help guide the player. It should be
visible enough to reduce frustration but shouldn’t remove the
sense of exploration and challenge. If the player is challenged
with uncovering the route, then the steps to achieve this can be
signposted through lighting, audio or clever game mechanics.20

While Barclay does not list them here, environmental props are also a common

way of implementing signposting.

While not actually an open-world title, one of the best examples of a game

which relies almost entirely on environmental, visual signposting to guide the

player is Journey (released in 2012 by Sony Computer Entertainment). Upon

starting the game, the player character is dropped without any clear exposition

into a mostly featureless desert environment which seemingly stretches beyond

the horizon into every direction. The clearest point of reference is a mountain

looming in the distance, with a shaft of light beaming toward the sky. It is this

mountain which organically becomes an end goal which the player will attempt to

reach. In a review of the game written for the site Gamespot, Jane Douglas

observes:

instinctively you seek an objective and the mountain, topped

with an unexplained bright light, is your only option. It's a
straightforward but elegant kind of signposting, making the
mountain a near-constant, towering waypoint. Elsewhere,
Journey's signposting is lighter-touch but similarly deft,
suggesting objectives so subtly as to feel like you're always
exploring on instinct--as though while being drawn onwards to
that distant peak, every reveal is your own discovery. 21

The objectives mentioned are the various points of interest that the desert pock-

20 Barclay, “My Level Design Guides,”

21 Jane Douglas, “Mysterious Desert Adventure Journey Is an Uncommonly Unthralling
Experience,” Gamespot, March 2, 2012, http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/journey-
review/1900-6363693/.
 25

marked with – stone markers, crumbling fragments of ancient ruins, pieces of

cloth dancing in the wind. As mentioned, all of these are placed in such a way as

to draw the player towards them and investigate, each guiding the player along

their way toward their final destination.

3.4 Transitions, continuity and consistency

The transition between two levels of a game hides another potential trap for

developers: spatial continuity. In games like The Legend of Zelda, the overworld

was usually scaled down in comparison to interior spaces such as houses or

dungeons. Upon entering an interior, the player would find themselves in spaces

much larger than their representation. This convention was taken for granted due

to both technological and gameplay reasons. In modern 3D games with relatively

more realistic representations of environments, these conventions do not apply

however, and players expect a consistent scale. Entering a building that is

noticeably larger on the inside than the outside may easily break the players'

suspension of disbelief, drawing attention to the artificiality of the environment.

Still, scale discrepancies are only one of the possible pitfalls when dealing

with level transitions. In Dark Souls II, released in 2014 by Bandai Namco

Games, one of the criticisms from players involved several illogical level

transitions, including a particularly glaring example in which the player ascends to

the top floor of Earthen Peak, a towering windmill, only to travel via elevator

upwards to the Old Iron Keep, a fortress surrounded by lava. This volcanic

environment would have to illogically exist atop the windmill of Earthen Peak.

Typing “Earthen Peak elevator” into a search engine brings up thousands of

results, most of them commenting on the baffling transition. In fact, PC Mag

 26

writer Gabriel Zamora included this aspect of environmental design in his list of

reasons why the downloadable content for Dark Souls II provides, in his opinion,

a better experience than the base game:

Environments in Dark Souls II don't always connect to one

another in ways that make sense. The illogical placement of
Earthen Peak in relation to the Iron Keep is perhaps the most
jarring, but attentive players can easily identify other
geographical oddities. On the other hand, each Dark Souls II
DLC episode is designed as a self-contained stage, filled with
shortcuts and passages that link several parts of the environment
to one another in a way that is both convenient and
meaningful.22

This shows how important spatial consistency is to both flow (convenience) and

believability (meaning).

While unintended spatial discrepancies are undoubtedly damaging to

immersion, when used deliberately they can actually enhance immersion by

creating a feeling of uncanniness where it is appropriate. The first-person shooter

Prey (released in is 2006 by 2K Games) effectively built around the idea of the

player character having to find and fight his way through an alien environment

defying logic. The game is mostly set aboard the Sphere, an enormous

extraterrestrial spaceship filled with bizarre, advanced biomechanical technology

including portals, variable gravity and size shifting. The game uses these as

integral elements of gameplay, and pushes the players to learn how to navigate

spaces governed by rules different from those expected.

22 Gabriel Zamora, “5 Reasons Why the Dark Souls II DLC Bests the Main Game,” PC Mag,
October 14, 2014, accessed June 22, 2016,
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2470373,00.asp.
 27

CHAPTER IV: BREATHING LIFE INTO THE ENVIRONMENT

While the previous chapters focused on This chapter will attempt to answer the

question of how to set up details that breathe life into a world and make it seem

lifelike. Naturally, designing the space is only part of this process, other aspects

include character dialogue, audio cues, in-game text among others. However,

these aspects fall outside of the scope of this work.

4.1 Visual consistency

It is important to establish that a high level of immersion can be achieved

regardless of graphical fidelity, and that both realistic and stylised visuals used to

illustrate an environment can be used to achieve this. The use of a particular visual

style is the choice of the developers, but they should consider the effect they want

to achieve and consistently visualise it.

At the level of high concept, the games Deus Ex: Human Revolution

(released in 2011 by Square Enix) and Neon Struct: Die Augen der Welt (released

in 2015 by Minor Key Games) share many similarities. Both are set in cyberpunk-

themed worlds, concerned with conspiracies and feature stealth as one of the main

gameplay elements. However, the way that environments are visually portrayed

differs drastically.

Human Revolution, a high-budget game, uses visuals that fall on the

realistic side of the spectrum, and the environments are highly detailed. The Art

Director on the project, Jonathan Jacques-Belletete, explains in a developer diary

video that the idea of clutter was one of the main visual directions he gave for the
 28

game, resulting in around 1300 or 1400 various props being designed for the

game.23

Meanwhile, Neon Struct is an independent game which focuses on the idea

of visual minimalism. Environments are constructed of blocky geometry, textures

are relatively simple and the use of environmental props is deliberately minimal.

And yet, reviewer James Cunningham notes how “[e]very level is a compact open

space to explore, filled with interconnected buildings that feel believable despite

their blocky style.”24 The visual style also mirrors the simplified, distilled

gameplay of the game, compared to the sprawling gameplay systems of Human

Revolution.

Thus, the example of the two games illustrates how similar concepts can

be successfully implemented in different ways provided that the underlying vision

is strong enough and its realisation consistent.

4.2 Environmental Storytelling

Don Carson, a designer and illustrator who had previously held the position of

Senior Show Designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, explains the idea of

environmental storytelling as an element of story infused into the physical space a

guest at a theme park attraction walks through, and calls it one of the secrets

behind the design of entertaining themed environments.25 Game and level designer

Jethro Jongeneel elaborates on this notion, further explaining the appeal of

23 GamerNL, “Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Developer Diary,” Youtube, June 30, 2011, accessed
June 22, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BqDpuPVdbA.
24 James Cunningham, “Review: NEON STRUCT,” HardcoreGamer, June 29, 2015, accessed
June 22, 2016, http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2015/06/29/review-neon-struct/151593/.
25 Don Carson, “Environmental Storytelling: Creating Immersive 3D Worlds Using Lessons
Learned from the Theme Park Industry,” Gamasutra, March 1, 2000 accessed 22 June 2016,
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131594/environmental_storytelling_.php.
 29

environmental storytelling by pointing out the participatory element of

interpreting props and clues embedded into a space:

ES is a way of telling an incomplete story which the receiver of

the story needs to actively interpret. It incites participation by
omitting certain aspects of the story. If the story is interesting
enough, the receiver of the story will go to great lengths to find
out about the missing elements that are not presented. ES is a
form of storytelling that incites participation. It makes sure the
player is constantly connected to, and reminded of, the story.

In the next paragraph, I will present an example personal of personal

interpretation of a piece of environmental storytelling.

In the game Dark Souls III (released in 2016 by Bandai Namco

Entertainment), a certain non-player character, the sorcerer Orbeck of Vinheim,

can be encountered in his makeshift study. The player could question the choice of

place for this study, located in a ruined building beset by shambling undead

humans as well as other dangerous creatures, and surrounded by the Crucifixion

Woods, a decidedly unpleasant area where gruesome executions took place.

However, one element of the decor stands out: a chair refashioned from one of the

crucifixion crosses. This single piece of visual narrative immediately suggests

several things about Orbeck's character: pragmatism, a level of cynicism, and a

degree of power allowing him to safely bring this piece of furniture into the study.

The cross-chair stands in front of a desk with an unravelled magic scroll, and

surrounded by shelves and crates holding more scrolls and books. Orbeck is

clearly unfazed by his surroundings and focused on his work studying the

artefacts scavenged from the ruins.

The above example is only one possible interpretation of the detail, neither

confirmed or denied by the game's creators. However, such interpretations, even if

 30

not fully intended, can benefit a game. In Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the

protagonist, Adam Jensen, is a security specialist for a technology corporation,

who has recently been gravely injured in an attack on his employer and had went

extensive cybernetic reconstruction.

“I never asked for this,”26 says Adam in a memorable quote from the game.

This attitude is reflected in the environment of his hotel apartment, with a

smashed bathroom mirror, suggesting a level of resentment for his altered body.

This detail, borne partly out of technical limitations (the game's engine does not

allow for true reflective surfaces), is not the only detail of the apartment which

gives insight into Jensen's character. Mary DeMerle, the game's writer, has this to

say about the partially assembled mechanical devices on Adam's workbench:

Yeah, there's all this stuff on the work bench because we

had written in his back story, this big long thing about how
he's always been a collector. He used to go to old second
hand stores and find stuff and find old mechanical objects
that he liked to take apart, because he was curious; he was
very into that. And so we pulled that out and what was
interesting about it is we didn't actually tell the story of his
back story, but people who came and saw that work bench
then made up their own stories, and were saying things
like, “Wow, it's so cool. It's like how he's trying to
understand his own body, and his new mechanics,” and I
was like... “I like that back story a lot better than what I
came up with... so yeah, that's what we're going with!”27

The above example clearly illustrates how the process of player participation in

the interpretation of environmental storytelling enhances their experience.

Well-placed environmental props can enhance the player's understanding

of the relationship between a character and their environment. Conversely, badly

placed props might take the player out of the experience, breaking suspension of

26 Eidos Montreal, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix, 2011).

27 Eidos Montreal, Deus Ex: Human Revolution:Director's Cut (Square Enix, 2013).
 31

disbelief rather than enhancing it. Rock Paper Shotgun editor Alex Wiltshire

describes such a dissonance that he encountered while playing Fallout 4 (released

2015 by Bethesda):

So I’m wandering through Fallout 4, and I come across

this old diner, sitting there, neon still lit, almost jaunty in a
destroyed land. There’s a guy outside called Wolfgang, a
leathered drug dealer, who explains that a mother and son
have set up a shop in this diner, and that he wants paying
for goods he’s sold to the son.

I go inside, aiming to resolve the problem between the

dealer and the son, and get into conversation with the
mother. But, looking down, I notice that, despite trading
from this place, she hasn’t thought to remove a skeleton
from one of the booths. Because why would you remove a
skeleton from your shop? Or any of the filth that’s
accumulated on the floor?

It’s just one of the weird little things about the world of
Fallout 4 that I find confusing and alienating. Little things
that nudge me out out my suspension of disbelief that this
is a place. Instead of enveloping myself in all its detail, it
just gets me wondering, absently, is this how it would
be?28

On one hand, a withered skeleton is a prop that is fitting and expected in a game

set in a post-apocalyptic setting, and one that can be effectively used to create

particular feelings and visual stories in isolated, abandoned places or the hideouts

of frenzied raiders. However, the diner is supposed to be one of the places in this

world which show the hopes of rebuilding a civilisation, and while it is still part of

a post-apocalyptic setting, it needs different props than a building that has been

abandoned for two hundred years.

A somewhat similar example in that it's also showcasing the difficulty of

creating a believable post-apocalyptic environment is the underwater city of

28 Alex Wiltshire, “Is It Important That Fallout 4's World Lacks Credibility?,” Rock Paper
Shotgun, December 9, 2015, accessed June 22, 2016,
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/12/09/fallout-4-makes-no-sense/.
 32

Rapture in the game Bioshock (released 2007 by 2K Games). Within the game's

story, the city was built as an objectivist utopia, which proved unsustainable and

eventually succumbed to chaos and madness. While the setting is compelling both

conceptually and visually, some critics have noted that the areas in the game never

quite feel like they were once parts of a well-functioning city. Richard Cobbett

observes:

Not least of the problems is dealing with Rapture not as a

collection of levels, but as the city that never was.
Architecturally astounding as it is, it never feels real
enough - and that’s entirely the fault of the scripting.
Instead of building a city and then destroying it, Irrational
clearly built a destroyed city and poured on a story.29

This was somewhat abated in the second sequel to the game, Bioshock Infinite

(released in 2013 by 2K games). The airborne city of Columbia follows a similar

anti-utopian pattern as Rapture did in the first two games in the series, but here,

the player gets to experience what the city was like before its fall. Interestingly,

the downloadable content of the game, Burial at Sea, returns to the Rapture

setting, finally providing a longer glimpse of the underwater city as a still

functioning metropolis.

How to avoid creating an environment that doesn't feel authentic,

however? In her presentation at the Game Industry Conference 2016 in Poznań,

CD Projekt Red environment artist Len de Gracia argued that in order to seem

convincing, video game spaces should be designed from the point of view of a

non-player character.30 This approach allows for the creation of spaces which feel

lived-in and practical, their existence justified by their primary functionality first,

29 Richard Cobbett, “Bioshock,” Richard's Online Journal, August 27, 2007, accessed June 22,
2016 archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20080820105537/
http://www.richardcobbett.co.uk/codex/journal/filingcabinet/bioshock/.
30 Len De Gracia, “Silent Narratives: Designing Through the Eyes of an NPC,” Youtube, May 19,
2015, accessed 15 June 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC8B8gh0UH8.
 33

and importance to the player only later. Naturally, bearing in mind the previous

chapter this should not take precedence over issues of player navigation..

Another theme de Gracia touched upon in her presentation is how even

fantastic environments that there exists no direct frame of reference for within the

real world should feature elements recognizable by the player. This relates to the

semiotic concepts of hyperreality and simulacra. Hyperreality is defined by Jean

Baudrillard31 as “the generation by models of a real without origin or reality.”

Similarily, the simulacrum is “an image without resemblance”, as defined by

Gilles Deleuze32. Fantastic games certainly fall into these categories, as they

simulate aspects which have no base in reality.

One example of this type of environment given by De Gracia was the

interior of a school building situated in a poor part of a city, needed for the game

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (released in 2015 by CD Projekt). The game's world is

in large a somewhat typical “medieval European fantasy” setting. Historically, the

medieval period did not see environments like schools, let alone situated in poor

districts of cities. To illustrate what a place of conducting any teaching for poor

children at the time would have looked like, De Gracia jokingly pulled up an

image of a large tree. However, this image would not be relatable to. Since the

setting was a fantasy one and not really bound to historical accuracy, De Gracia

instead decided to look up photos of poor modern schools in third world countries,

and then recreate the general layout and feel by using assets appropriate for the

world of The Witcher.33 The end result should be an interior that feels both

appropriate to the setting, and relatable to by the player.

31 Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
1988), pp. 166-184.
32 Gilles Deleuze, The logic of sense, trans. Mark Lester with Charles Stivale, ed. Constantin V.
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), p. 295.
33 De Gracia, “Silent Narratives.”
 34

Conclusion

The space of a video game can ultimately be thought of as the medium where the

gameplay and the narrative of the game meet. Therefore, to be believable and

immersive, the environment needs to be designed to support both of these aspects

in a balanced way, achieving both fluid navigation and narrative meaning.

It is interesting to note the relationship between the navigation of an

environment and environmental storytelling. Naturally, props used in storytelling

may or indeed some times need to be used for signposting purposes. However,

even when not directly used to steer the player toward a gameplay goal of

progressing to another area, environmental storytelling can still be used to support

gameplay flow.

A theoretical example would be a corridor which branches off into two

different directions. One of those eventually leads to a door which the player

needs to pass through in order to progress, the other to a dead end with no notable

features of environmental narrative. Should the player choose to explore the

second corridor first, they might be disappointed in the pointlessness of their

venture, correctly perceiving that it is an example of false non-linearity and an

artificial means to prolong the game. The dead end corridor will be also perceived

as a disappointing boundary of the game space.

However, putting a unique piece of environmental storytelling in the dead

end corridor can instead produce a sense of satisfaction in the player by rewarding

their exploration. The reward offered is not a tangible in terms of gameplay, such

as, for example, a useful item would be. Instead, it offers a narrative reward by

providing the player with a distinct piece of story to interpret. Thus, flow is
 35

maintained through a combination of gameplay (navigation) and narrative

(discovery and interpretation of the ES element). The boundary which the dead

end still constitutes is also made more agreeable – while no more physical space is

available to traverse, the player can instead set their mind to work navigating the

intangible space of meanings and connections produced by various pieces of

environmental storytelling. In some ways, this space can be said to almost behave

like another level of playable space in itself.

Possibly the most important recurring idea in the preceding chapters is that

of internal consistency. Whether it is present in the creation of unobtrusive world

boundaries giving a sense of potential continuity between the space accessible by

the player and the world that is implied to lie beyond it; planned level layouts

supporting instinctive navigation which reduces the likelihood of the player

getting stuck or lost; or the choice of graphical style and environmental props

fitting to the setting and reinforcing its character, it can be concluded that internal

consistency provides a sense of clarity of purpose for the player.

This clarity, a subconscious understanding of the workings of an

environment, enhances the gameplay flow, which makes the continued suspension

of disbelief easier. All of this in turn results in in a heightened sense of immersion

for the player.

An aspect which has not been exhausted in this thesis and seems worth

further investigation in the future is the relationship between the genre of a game

and the feelings designers want to achieve in the player, and the pacing of

gameplay flow, as mentioned in the example of survival horror games and their

deliberate slowing down of navigation.

 36

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 40

SUMMARY

The aim of this thesis is to provide insight into methods of designing and

implementing believable and internally consistent environments for use within

video games.

The first chapter introduces the ideas of immersion, flow and suspension

of disbelief, which will be referred to throughut the rest of the text.

The second chapter deals with setting up the boundaries of playable space,

first presenting the history of such boundaries and then proceeding to discuss

types of boundaries in modern games and their effect on the player.

The third chapter focuses on the navigation of playable space,

distinguishing between three types of navigation based on the level of freedom of

movement. The impact of navigation on gameplay flow is examined, as well as

methods of steering player in the right direction and the necessity of maintaining

spatial continuity for supporting suspension of disbelief.

The fourth chapter is concerned with breathing life into the environment

through the choice of a visual style and technique of environmental storytelling.

The thesis concludes with the idea that a video game's space serves as a

medium between the gameplay and the narrative, needing to support both in order

to achieve believability. A common thread throughout the preceding chapters is

identified in the idea of internal consistency, while the relationship between the

genre and atmosphere of a game and the required pacing of gameplay flow is

considered as an avenue of further study.

 41

STRESZCZENIE

Celem pracy jest zapewnienie wglądu w metody projektowania i implementacji

wiarygodnych i wewnętrznie spójnych środowisk do wykorzystania w grach

komputerowych.

Pierwszy rozdział wprowadza idee immersji, przepływu i zawieszenia

niewiary, odniesienia do których znajdą się w dalszej części tekstu.

Drugi rozdział poświęcony jest ustanawianiu granic grywalnej przestrzeni.

Rozdział najpierw prezentuje historię zagadnienia a później przechodzi do

omówienia typów granic we współczesnych grach, oraz ich wpływu na odczucia

gracza.

Trzeci rozdział skupia się na nawigacji grywalnej przestrzeni, rozróżniając

trzy typy nawigacji na podstawie poziomu swobody w poruszaniu się.

Rozpatrywany jest wpływ nawigacji na przepływ rozgrywki, a także metody

kierowania gracza w odpowiednim kierunku oraz konieczność utrzymywania

ciągłości przestrzeni dla podtrzymania zawieszenia niewiary.

Rozdział czwarty zajmuje się metodami tchnięcia życia w przestrzeń

poprzez wybór odpowiedniego stylu wizualnego oraz technikę narracji za pomocą

środowiska.

Pracę zamyka podsumowanie, prezentujące ideę przestzeni w grze

komputerowej jako medium pomiędzy rozgrywką a narracją, wymagającego

uwzględnienia obu aspektów dla osiągnięcia wiarygodności. Ponadto,

wewnętrzna spójność zostaje zidentyfikowana jako element łączący poprzednie

rozdziały, a związek pomiędzy gatunkiem i atmosferą gry a wymaganym tempem

gry jest przedstawiony jako potencjalny kierunek dalszych badań.