Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Other types of navigation include side scrollers, where the background scrolls
back and forth or up and down to provide new playing areas.
Shooters are the most common type of games these days, and they tend to be
linear, but most RPGs and strategy-type games use some form of hub and spoke.
Most casual/social games stick to a single screen or use an array method that
lets the player choose from a variety of screens without a hub. Figure 7.7 pro-
vides an example of an array method.
In the game
Fröbish Riddles
, the player can choose a variety of locations to
visit by navigating through the scene using visible exits rather than choosing a
destination from a central map. Or the player can select another screen from a
drop-down menu; this, in a way, substitutes for the hub, but it's not graphical,
so the player never changes screens to make a selection.
Linear gameplay
encourages play-
ers to follow nar-
row story lines
and achieve short,
simple goals instead
of wandering around
the entire world.
FiGuRe 7.7
This is an array method for choosing locations to visit.
Green highlights indicate doorways the player can choose to navigate to
another part of the building.
hub-and-spoke Design
In a hub-and-spoke design (also known as
wagon wheel
), players begin play in a
central area of the game and can then choose which direction to go in. They may
choose to revisit an area they've already explored or won. They may decide to reen-
ter a section of the game that is in progress or move into an entirely new area.
