Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
With the advent of 3D in videogames, designers had to face the problem of realism
and how to preserve the players' immersion throughout the game. If one's playing
from the perspective of the game character in a First Person Shooter, is it acceptable
to provide him with a HUD? Won't this break his suspension of disbelief? Though a
full detailed HUD can fit Crysis, which is set in the future, how can it be adapted to a
title set in WWII?
Still, players need plenty of info when playing shooters, especially competitive ones:
ammo available, direction they are facing, stance of the character, map, and others.
Correctly displayed, these info can make the difference between "life and death" dur-
ing a multiplayer death match.
With regard to the types of different interface styles adopted by videogames, a very
popular theory, adapted from the diegesis theory used in literature and film, defines
four categories to classify game interfaces: diegetic, non-diegetic, spatial, and meta.
The classification is based on two dimensions, depending on the answers given to
the following two questions:
• Is the interface component part of the game story\narrative?
• Is the interface component part of the actual game space?
The following figure offers a representation of this classification:
Let's explain these concepts through examples taken from actual 3D games.
•
Diegetic
: A diegetic representation answers "yes" to both the questions of
the diagram: the component is part of the game narrative and it is located in-
side the game world. It is experienced by both the player and his character.
