2023-11-10 10:32:38
Creating high-quality hidden map and quest navigation in open-world games is one of the most difficult tasks for a developer, because it is difficult to maintain a balance between non-obvious control techniques, player attention, and overly simple and obvious pointers. The world designer must lead the player to the right place so that he thinks that he made his own decisions and that there is an open world around him in which he can go anywhere, rather than along a sequential path of quests.
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This article will be useful for level designers and game designers who are faced with the task of thinking through an open world, as well as specialists in other narrow areas: render artists, layout artists, etc., since creating high-quality navigation includes the use of techniques at different stages creating a game. The purpose of this article is to talk about techniques for controlling the player’s attention using visual solutions and provide successful examples of their use.
Mental mapping
Mental mapping is the process of a person’s perception of the space around him, fixing the structural features of the territory and awareness of his place in the world. This technique is borrowed from geography; it is used in level design so that the player can imagine and think through his path, and anticipate possible obstacles. Well-constructed mental mapping enhances immersion in exploring the world, gives the player the feeling that he understands the space and builds his own path, and this gives the developer the opportunity to lead the player to the right place.
Thus, mental mapping is built from the general to the specific. The player should always have a main landmark in the distance – a dominant target: a tower, mountain, spire, etc. It is better that it be one object that is easily readable from any angle. The middle part is the main game area where the player moves, picks up resources, and hits enemies. The smaller and most important aspect to the feeling of free exploration are the nooks, rooms, and other optional spaces along the path that the player enters at will. Such a system forms the basis for the player to think through his sequence of actions and simulates independent research, although the final goal is set initially.
Example of a three-plane track system
You play a game in an urban setting. In the distance looms a large office building, which you intuitively wanted to explore, and your path lies through the zoo. You run along the alley between the enclosures, overcoming obstacles. At the same time, you have the opportunity to go into each enclosure, look at the animals, and find loot. This way, you can think through the sequence of actions yourself, without losing the final goal.
Of the existing examples, we can recall Journey:
The same technique is used in Sky: Children of the Light:
Sky: Children of the Light
Repeating structures
Another component of mental mapping is repeated structures that implicitly tell the player what to expect from a given part of the path.
So, when the player sees an arena-like space, he understands that a fight is coming. When there is a lot of cover, stealth is anticipated. And if the structure is solid and unchanged throughout the game, the player understands what space he is in and how to behave in it. It is important to maintain a unified system of elements and their purposes throughout the game so as not to confuse the player’s attention.
For example, when a lot of round red bushes appear in Horizon Zero Dawn, it means there is someone to hide from.
And when in Alice: Madness Returns in the Lands of the Queen a long corridor appears in front of the player, it becomes clear that the Executioner will now run after the player.
In the same game there is another such solution: when the player sees purple flowers, he understands that he can use the shrink mechanics, find the hidden passage and get a reward (purple platforms are visible only when Alice is shrinking).
Diegetic mechanics
Sometimes the developer needs to directly indicate to the player which objects can or should be interacted with. But even in this case, it is not necessary to make pointers that take away from the gameplay. It is enough to fit into the setting a device or ability that will perform this task. An example is Aloy’s visor in Horizon Zero Dawn.
This way, the player will have the feeling that he has learned to use the setting element, and did not follow the developer’s direction.
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Selecting a point of interest
A whole set of techniques came to game design from fine art. When designing levels, the level designer and game designer create views for the player that highlight the point of interest the developer needs. This happens at the development stage, when the level is a construction of simple shapes without art. Designers use methods from the theory of color, light and composition.
Contrast
Contrast is used to highlight a point of interest. This could be contrasting light or a contrasting palette.
So, on the way the player may see a light area in a dark cave or a dark nook in a light space. It attracts attention and makes you want to explore the place.
A more complex contrast is color. You can act according to the principle of temperature: the point of interest is made in a cold color, when the rest of the space is in warm colors, or vice versa. Or, a detail that is important for the player’s attention can be highlighted simply in a color opposite to the rest of the color scheme. The point of interest should look atypical for its surroundings and thereby attract attention.
In color theory, there are different types of palettes. One of them is polar. From it you can take opposite colors that contrast well.
Selection by form
Forms can be used to awaken the player’s intuition. Don’t directly tell him what he needs to do on that hill, but lay out the objects so that they look like a ladder or an area along which he needs to jump. Thus, the player will intuitively understand what needs to be done on this part of the path and will think that he himself made this decision.
Composition
The composition of the species also plays an important role. Using a cutscene or a customized path path, make sure the player sees the desired frame. There should be an implicit clue in this frame that catches the player’s eye.
To draw the player’s attention to an object, you need to make it the compositional center. But that doesn’t mean it has to be in the middle. There are several ways to highlight the compositional center:
To size. The object is the smallest or largest in the composition by shape. The object differs from the others in silhouette, meaning and direction. The objects around seem to point to the object or lead to it (for example, lines on the road are reduced to the compositional center) Generalization and detail. The desired object is detailed, the rest are shown more blurry. Net. This point relates more to the basics of photography. The most important objects are located at the intersection points of the grid below.
These techniques can be used individually or together.
For example, in Horizon Zero Dawn there is a view in which the mountains compositionally form a tunnel, highlighting a long building of an unusual shape. This composition uses the principle of highlighting by direction and shape.
In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild there is an example of highlighting a point of interest by silhouette:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
In God of War you can find an example of highlighting by size and level of detail:
Stray guides the player through the direction of flashing lights.
Conclusion
In order to properly build a hidden navigation system in the open world, you need to choose one or more techniques that are suitable specifically for your game. You can create a mental model of the space in the player’s head that works on associations and repeating structures. Navigation tools can come to the rescue and complement the research process. Or you can use the broad and versatile technique of creating a point of interest using color, light, shape or composition.
It is important to use these elements so that the information is not too implicit or too obvious. This is the only way to turn the game into an exciting process during which the player will feel like an independent researcher.
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