Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Introducing health and oxygen
The protagonist has two vital variables: health and oxygen. They are tightly intercon-
nected. The astronaut needs air to breathe. One of the essential ingredients in the air
is oxygen. It is also used to supply the level of health if the astronaut is wounded. In
this case, he consumes the oxygen much faster (to refill the health bar, it may take
more than half of the oxygen tank) since there are no medicine chests in the game,
only oxygen canisters.
You might notice that most modern games do not feature an image of a red cross on
any medical supply recourses. Usually, it is replaced with a stylized emblem that is
close to the cross, but has other visual properties. This is because the red cross sym-
bol belongs to International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Because it has
a specific and significant meaning, any misuse is forbidden by the law. This protects
the emblem from contamination by unnecessary connotations and inflation of correct
sense. Thus, other medical symbols should be used in games, and they need not re-
semble the red cross.
For instance, the Rod of Asclepius, which was taken from Greek mythology, looks
like a stick entwined by a serpent. Asclepius was honored as the God of medicine
and healing while the serpent itself symbolizes drugs (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
By now, the Rod of Asclepius is pretty popular. It is used by many medical facilities
and organizations (for example, it is a part of the logo of the World Health Organiza-
tion). Many ambulances in the United States and Europe have this logo. The symbol
is written into the Star of Life, which is the emblem of
emergency medical services
(
EMS
).
The Caduceus is another well-known symbol of medicine, especially in the U.S. You
may find it in many games, printed on medical chests and other types of medical stuff.
The most interesting point is that originally, it was associated only with commerce be-
