All Work and Play - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 163

most of the game world is hidden from us. But, importantly, the two ISs are very
similar. We can generalize them, and we can defi ne a generalized interaction sequence
(GIS) for all games:

1. Identify the next attractor : either wait for it to become apparent or select
one on offer.
2. Form an intention with respect to the attractor.
3. Attractor in view intention in mind means:

a. make one or more interventions,
b. monitor perceivable consequences, and
c. keep doing this until a reward on offer either:
i. appears to enable the intention , go to 4.
ii. appears to match the intention , go to 1.
4. Make interventions until a reward on offer matches the intention.

+

The nature of attractors and intentions and the relationship between them varies
from game to game and within the same game. The differences between the GIS
and the two ISs above refl ects this. With games like Tetris and Breakout we do not
have to search for an attractor or choose between competing attractors; the next
attractor is simply presented to us. In Tetris we have to formulate an intention which
makes best use of or does the least amount of damage with the group of blocks that
appear. In Breakout, the intention is always the same—hit the ball back upscreen—
but we have to work out where it's going to take place—where we have to match
the intention—and we can't be sure of that until the ball rebounds off the wall at
the top of the screen. In both games, the intention can be matched directly; it does
not have to be enabled as in Pac-Man or Shenmue. Hence the divergence in 3c in
the GIS above. In RPGs , for instance, the intention we form in response to a particu-
lar attractor might relate to something not in view and not even known to us. We
will need to enable the intention before we can match it. We have already discussed
this in terms of myth and back-story earlier in the topic.
Shenmue is more complicated than Pac-Man for other reasons. We can still only
handle one sign, Ryo, but we have a lot more control over him. This is because there
are more signs of intervention than in Pac-Man. In Shenmue all the signs of inter-
vention are sited on the standard Dreamcast game pad, where for the main adventure
gameplay we have:

• The arrow keys, which signify commands to move Ryo around
• The twitch stick, which can also control his movements
• The A (red), X (yellow), Y (green), and B (blue) buttons, which signify other
types of interaction such as saving the game and calling up the inventory and
notebook
• The two fi nger switches underneath the controller which signify the command
for Ryo to look at or examine objects.