Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Zelda is not a pure Game oF proGression
all games in the
Legend of Zelda
series combine mechanics of progression with emer-
gent gameplay. combat, for example, features a lot of emergent mechanics in which
the players must learn and master many different fighting techniques and discover for
themselves which strategy works best against what enemy. as already noted, pure games
of progression are quite rare these days. however, the
Legend of Zelda
games do include
strong mechanics of progression: They have cleverly designed levels and a long story line
to structure the gameplay experience. as such, it is a prime example of progression in
games.
The mission structure for the Forest Temple level has a few striking features. One
is the bottleneck formed by the fight with the mini-boss and the retrieval of the
boomerang halfway through the mission and the two sections of parallel options
before and after the bottleneck. The game space features a hub-and-spoke layout
(see the “Hub-and-Spoke Layout in Zelda Games” sidebar) that supports the parallel
tasks of the mission structure. From the central hall (where the big spider is fought),
the player can go in three directions. The pathway that leads to the right quickly
branches into three more pathways. Three pathways lead to captured monkeys and
one to the mini-boss. The last pathway is open to Link only after he has freed the
first four monkeys. After the player has retrieved the gale boomerang, he can reach
additional spaces in the first hub-and-spoke structure and a new hub.
hub-and-spoke layout in Zelda Games
The dungeons of Zelda games are frequently arranged in a hub-and-spoke layout. One
central room in the dungeon acts as a hub. From this location the player can venture
into different parts of the dungeon: the spokes. Players frequently return to the hub after
completing a particular task in a spoke. The advantages of a hub-and-spoke layout are
that it lets players choose which tasks to complete first (and lets them choose a new one
if the first one they try is too difficult), and hubs are good locations for save points or
dungeon entrances. Using a hub-and-spoke layout minimizes backtracking through areas
players have already seen. For a more detailed discussion on the hub-and-spoke layout
technique, refer to chapter 12 of
Fundamentals of Game Design.
The gale boomerang itself is a good example of the lock and key mechanisms typical
of the series. This is used in many action-adventure games, as Ashmore and Nietsche
observed in their paper “The Quest in a Generated World” (2007). Lock and key
mechanisms are one way to translate strong prerequisites in a mission into spatial
constructions that enforce the relationships between tasks. The boomerang is both a
weapon and a key that can be used in different ways. It has the capability to activate
switches operated by wind. Link needs to operate these switches to control a few
turning bridges to give him access to new areas. To get to the master key that unlocks
