Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
PERCEPTUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Perceptual opportunities offer a generic means of talking about both the denotative
and connotative meanings of game objects. They can also be used to look at the
relationship between objects' connotative meanings and the way these affect game-
play. It is not diffi cult to see the kinds of connotative roles objects can play. Some
objects seem to attract our attention to the possibility of danger or reward. Identify-
ing such objects offers opportunities to establish intentions to further our progress
through the game. Other objects, or combinations of objects, are useful in helping
us plan and achieve intentions. Intense patterns of such connotations form mini-
missions and retain our focus of activity in the cause of larger game objectives.
The keyword here is opportunity. Part of the art of game design is surely to
provide players with carefully structured opportunities to allow them to explore,
strategize, formulate and solve problems, and plan for and attain intentions, not to
mention shooting, fi ghting, and destroying. This in turn allows them to feel some
degree of control over what they are doing, allows them to creatively unfold the
plot, become present, and maybe become transformed in terms of skills or their
whole persona.
The PO model is a characterization of the roles objects (game content) are
intended to play in establishing gameplay. Figure 7.1 shows how POs may be broken
down into three principal forms, each of which focuses on different kinds of meaning
that objects may offer. Sureties deliver denotative meaning and collectively try to
establish basic believability. Surprises seek to deliver connotative meaning and thus
collectively seek to deliver purpose. Shocks are perceptual bugs that tend to negate
the other two forms by breaking the illusion of nonmediation; more later.
The relationships between POs can be documented using perceptual maps,
which are various ways of organizing POs—a sort of grammar for POs— that seek
to ensure that users construct an appropriate temporal ordering over their intentions
and rewards within the game. In other words, through the exercise of agency they
Perceptual Opportunities
Sureties
Surprises
Shocks
Attractors
Connectors
Rewards
Local
Choice Points
Retainers
Routes
Dynamic
Peripatetic
Figure 7.1
Characterizing perceptual opportunities.
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