Emergence and progression - Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design - page 25

data and process intensity
The game designer chris crawford's notions of process intensity and data intensity apply
to progression and emergence in games. computers differ from most other gaming media
because computers are good at processing numbers. computers also allow fast access
to random locations within a large database, an ability put to good use within games
of progression. But it is the ability to create new content on the fly and handle complex
simulations where computers really shine. Like no other medium before, computers have
the capacity to surprise players and designers with clever simulations and emergent
gameplay. crawford believes games should capitalize on this ability of the computer:
Games should be process-intensive, rather than data-intensive. he says that video games
should be games of emergence rather than games of progression.
In his later book Half-Real , Juul is more nuanced in his discussion of emergence and
progression (2005). Most modern video games are hybrids; they include some fea-
tures of both. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas provides a vast open world but also has
a mission structure that introduces new elements and unlocks this world piece by
piece. In the story-driven first-person shooter game Deus Ex , the storyline dictates
where the player needs to go next, but players have many different strategies and
tactics available to deal with the problems they encounter on the way. It is possi-
ble to write a walkthrough for Deus Ex , which would make it a game of progression
according to Juul's classification, but there are many possible walkthroughs for Deus
Ex —just as, at least in theory, it is possible to create a walkthrough for a particular
map in SimCity , instructing the player to build certain zones or infrastructure at a
particular time in order to build an effective city. It would be hard to follow such a
walkthrough, but creating one is possible.
Emergence is not better than progression. They are simply different. Pure games of
emergence and pure games of progression represent two extremes on a bipolar scale.
Many casual games, such as Bejeweled , are pure games of emergence. Pure games
of progression are fairly rare. The most typical examples are adventure games such
as The Longest Journey, but they are no longer the dominant genre they once were.
Other games include elements of both, often by exhibiting emergent behavior
within a given level but offering their levels in a strict sequence from which the
player cannot depart (progressive behavior). Today, action-adventure games such
as Half-Life and the Legend of Zelda series are much more common than traditional
adventure games: Action-adventures include some form of emergent action as part
of the gameplay. Among large games, hybrid forms are the most popular.