Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
The world must have underlying tensions that allow for the creation of
interest and drama through conflict. It must also have enough variety that
players are able to choose their own path through the world and be sure to
have their interest fed at all times.
The game world should be one that allows the writing team to develop a
rich back story - nothing makes a player feel that they are in a compelling
world more than being able to discover its complex history. More so if that
history has a bearing on the current situation the world finds itself in and
influences the quests the players undertake.
Hopefully the writing and design teams are able to create a world that
feels and looks unique, without which it is going to be difficult for players to
see what is special about the game and may well find it derivative. Even if the
game is set in a traditional fantasy world, think of some way that you can put
a new spin onto the world, the people, the stories and quests.What is it about
your world that will not only get people playing it but make them want to
continue to do so?
Thousands of people must be able to occupy the game world at the same
time as one another and play in such a way that each player has the oppor-
tunity to have an exciting and worthwhile experience.The world's physical
locations must be large enough to accommodate all the players without
giving the feeling that it is too crowded, but not go to the other extreme
and make it feel too sparse.There must be the right balance between player
characters and non-player characters (NPCs), the latter being important to
the fleshing out of the world and providing the player with information.
In many single-player games the player often only sees a very small part of
the world the game is set in. For a multiplayer game, the world must have an
epic feeling and give the impression that there is nowhere the player cannot
go, within reasonable constraints. Because there are so many players
inhabiting the game world at any one time, the design team must ensure that
there are enough collectable items to go around and that they exist in great
variety, too, for which the writers must create suitable descriptions.
As the game world is populated by a large number of player characters,
there should be a broad enough variety of character choices to appeal to the
numerous player tastes, which in turn helps extend the richness of the game
world.
For a story- and quest-driven game, it is important that the gameplay does
not simply revolve around levelling up through combat. If there are no game-
play and rewards linked to the other aspects of the world - the quests them-
