Unit 68 assignment 1
Task 1
Layered Environments in Games
To what extent do developers utilise layered environments within games?
1
*Floors, walls and ceilings.
*Roads, stairs, alley ways and general buildings.
*Trees, lamp posts, water, barrels and crates.
2
*Fences, crates, tankers, trees and lamp posts
*Explosive barrels and containers.
Layers are very important to adding depth and immersing the player in the game. The extra layers also help to guide the player through the level and the extra interaction gives the player the option to make their own path through the level whether it be single player or multi player. All the different assets and consistency of those assets make the game seem somewhat believable regardless of its realism.
How the developers use assets for:
*Atmosphere
One way to add atmosphere is to add tension, for example you could add blinking lights, sparks these are visual effects.
Environmental sequences, buildings collapsing, this adds a sense of scale.
*Gameplay hints
These are added into the game to help the player learn the game basics; these hints can influence the players interaction with the environment. These hints can offer aid through intense games, and are usually consistent through the levels and situations within the game.
Association
*Association is massively important for keeping the player immersed in your game.
*If things don’t make sense or interaction with the environment is inconsistent, players will often become confused.
*Avoid confusion, you are aiming for your environment to make sense and be easy to navigate as possible for the player.
A game doesn’t need to be realistic as long as it’s believable. The environment needs to be consistent in order to be believable no matter how far-fetched it is.
We don’t question Mario’s environments because they are consistent and change depending on their level, hence we don’t question them.
Summery
Environments are a massive part of a successful game, if the environment fits the style of game then the player is likely to feel a sense of emersion, the assets used and the possible use of background noise and/r music can help with that sense of emersion. If the environment changes unexpectedly or in a way that doesn’t fit the game style then the emersion is broken whereas if the environment changes consistently in line with the events happening in the game then it becomes a lot more believable and immersive, it wouldn’t help if it was all sunshine and flowers in a wrecked and burning city though to an extent that may be realistic, it may not be very immersive.
The extra effects can give an extra sense of depth. For example, on a wrecked space ship a lot of things would be broken, wires would be broken so they would be sparking, some of the lights are out so some areas are darker than others, the ships integrity has been compromised so there might be a lot of creaking, maybe some water pipes are broken so the sound of water dripping echoes through the hall ways. Or in an urban environment there is a dog barking in the distance and people shouting, adding small background effects like these can make a place seem alive and almost real.
jpinnington 