ISIW 1 – Understand the concept of an imagined world in relation to the games, animation and vfx industry
When I think of the term world building, I think of it as more than just level or set design, I think of the ins and outs of the world such as the characters, the time of which the world is set as well as the history of the world. It is important when it comes to world building to have an indefinite scenario in which almost everything makes sense. As an example, you might not see medieval characters and art styles in a more futuristic setting, you could do that but it might not make any sense, and if something doesn’t make sense, the player or viewer might lose track or switch off from the product.
When it comes to world building, there is a story to tell. This story is told through the worlds art styles and characters so it is important to think about that when you are creating a world. You have a small village but what kind of characters live there, what kind of buildings can we see and why does the village have a low population? These are all in-depth questions that we can explore when it comes to building our world.
In our WarioWare game, the world our characters are in is an underground mine where the riches are scarce. The light is dim and the platforms are still operational, typically in an underground mine you would expect to see a minecart and rubble, well our world has all of that as well as elevator platforms that go both vertical and horizontal. The story is there to tell. Whilst there aren’t many riches in the underground mine, there is still enough to collect.
The world will feature both foreground and background elements such as pieces of rubble and rocks with gemstones sticking out of them. I feel this will help the player easily identify where about they are. If that doesn’t give it away then the character design definitely will as you player as a Miner, who wears a hardhat that features a light, giving away the idea of it being a dark environment.
As Mineshafts are classed as a thing of the past nowadays, I think it would be safe to assume that this is an abandoned mine and that the miners are in there searching for any leftover or unfound treasures. The way in seemed safe but on the flip side of that, the way out didn’t quite seem the same. Hot Steel is a game that is effectively a race for the riches but also a game of tag.
The 4 Dimensions of Setting
The 4 Dimensions of Setting consist of a period, a location, a level of conflict over a duration of time. In further detail, this relates to a time period of which the game is set, a location of where certain scenarios take place in the world. A level of conflict isn’t what it sounds like, it can be any level of conflict so if you are exploring through the woods, there might be minimal enemies but after certain events, the enemies might increase. An the duration is how long the world is in that current state.
The 4 dimensions of setting help us develop worlds because it allows us to break down or freely create a world categorically without determining the design of the said world. By design, this is in relation to if its a free world, a fixed world or a found world.
Free
- Blocking out core ideas.
- informed by research.
- Freedom to change and shape freely.
Fixed
- A world constrained by needs, as an example a game about saving something from a particular event.
- Asking questions about the state of the world such as the technology which is being used and the period of which it is set in.
Found
- An open world that players can freely interact with.
- Driven by player feedback.
- Building in sequels.
Its important to think about the world when designing it because this is what the players will be playing in. The player needs to have a look at the world and have a basic understanding of what is going on and where they are. It also alerts the player to any limitations that might be in place but also creates a backstory of why certain aspects of the game can’t be accessed.
Understanding the world design variables and whether something should be free, fixed or found will definitely help when it comes to creating games and worlds for our games. It will help us decide what kind of game we want to make and how the environments should look and be played through. If I was creating a platformer, I would go with a fixed worldbuilding style as this would allow me to easily create a set of objectives for the player, if I was making a live service MMO, I would probably go with a found worldbuilding style, this would help me with the evolution of the game over time, I think Destiny 2 is a great example of how this could be implemented.
JORDAN | GLITCH ARCADE 