Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

Building Game Worlds
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U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N
FIGURE 1-3
Player can flee north
F UNCTION
During the previsualization process, it is always useful to consider function, which in
this context is something akin to “gameplay purpose.” A well-crafted game environment
has several simultaneous goals (for example, support actions and character
abilities in an exciting way, perform at optimum speed on the given hardware, display
logic in the environmental lay-out, and be navigable). At a minimum, you want
your game environment to support in the right physical ways the kind of play dynamic
you are trying to build or graft into the environment. This is a cross-genre principle.
It makes little difference what kind of game we’re talking about—from a state
of the art first-person shooter (FPS) to a multiplayer party arena game—in all cases,
you want to give forethought to the environment and its function (gameplay purpose)
and direct your thoughts toward supporting gameplay. In the end, the environment
that you’re building will be built to host gameplay.