Iconic elements of the immersive sim

ThePhotoshop on 5/7/2012 at 03:59

Hey TTLG,

Our magazine is running a feature on Warren Spector, Harvey Smith, Looking Glass and the immersive sim as a design philosophy. I'm coming up with ways to illustrate this article (for print) that utilise something a bit more interesting than screenshots of key games.

So what do you feel are the defining, iconic elements of all of the above? Looking at the Thief manual, the silhouette of Garrett sliding down a rope arrow on the side of the page is the kind of thing I'm after. Or, a picture of the Statue of Liberty, minus her head.

But what else could be done?

demagogue on 5/7/2012 at 04:25

One of these photos from LGS's final day might be good --
1. (http://www.digital-eel.com/mc/008.htm)
2. (http://www.digital-eel.com/mc/025.htm)
3. (http://www.digital-eel.com/mc/078.htm)
4. (http://www.digital-eel.com/mc/040.htm)
5. (http://www.digital-eel.com/mc/072.htm)

Out of those, I'd probably say the trophy case of all their awards for their games (#3) is one way to get across the message of what these games represented. These were groundbreaking games.

Edit: or you could find one yourself. Here's the first page of those photos: (http://www.digital-eel.com/mc/fdays.htm)

Edit2: If you want something really iconic from an actual game, the first game in the LGS line that really set the standard and concept of the immersive sim was Ultima Underworld, so some image of that would be good. Maybe an image of the big cloth map that came with the game would be an iconic image for it? -- (http://www.uo.com/archive/ftp/maps/uw1/abyss.gif) (I mean this was still back in the paradigm total immersion days where they'd put things from the world literally in the box.) Or this shot: (http://www.ultimaaiera.com/wp-content/gallery/news-images/ultima-underworld.png)

henke on 5/7/2012 at 08:28

You're making a print version of Sneaky Bastards? Cool. :D

Quote Posted by demagogue

2. (http://www.digital-eel.com/mc/025.htm)

I love this one. Captures how much dedication and work went into it, and at the same time it's kinda sad since it's been taken down because they're packing up and closing the studio.

Vivian on 5/7/2012 at 09:01

Tricky. How about a picture of a door? I mean, in a standard game, doors are literally just things that stop you getting somewhere, or stop something else from getting in. In (at least) Thief and Deus Ex, your relationship with doors is somewhat more involving. Doors are things you hide behind. They block sound and they block vision, meaning you stand a much better chance of being undetected by the AIs. Doors give you more than just safety, they give you privacy. Somewhere to check your gear, look at a map, listen until everyone else has gone away. To me, a lot of the immersive sim experience can be defined by this more flexible sense of gamespace, of hiding and being actually hunted for, and I think the actual simulation of doors (as distinct from just the modelling of them) is a large part of that. On the other hand, a picture of a door isn't particularly interesting to look at.

jay pettitt on 5/7/2012 at 09:21

Of those, the pic of a desk full of good 'ol PCs buried in clutter is the closest thing to an iconic image for me...

Muzman on 5/7/2012 at 10:34

These games are all about emergence and the interplay of a great deal of factors, to me anyway. When I think of what they have in common, aside from first person and high interactivity, it's player agency and the large web of factors/nodes/junctions that go into every unique moment.
How you translate that into design I don't know. Network diagram for the sci-fi stuff, actual webs for Thief maybe? Or pipes.
Dunno really (I've known for some time I would be shit at design)

N'Al on 5/7/2012 at 11:33

What Muz said.

+

Rabid fanbase that is unable to accept any deviation from the gameplay template set by games now 15 years old. ;)

thrawn_121 on 5/7/2012 at 12:04

Quote Posted by henke

You're making a print version of Sneaky Bastards? Cool. :D

ThePhotoshop is also (deputy?) editor of PCPowerplay, an Australian PC gaming mag.
On topic, Muzman's network diagram is good I think. Or if you're looking for iconic images from any of the games, I'd suggest one of those light tower things from TDP or TMA, if you know what I mean? They were something unique to Thief in my eyes, something that drew together the steampunk and magic of the setting into one object.

demagogue on 5/7/2012 at 13:57

That reminds me, somebody was making a visual plot diagram to help them outline their fan mission, and it ended up being this total spider web looking thing with boxes and lines going everywhere because it was so non-linear. And I was thinking, if you could find a plot diagram image like that for a Thief or Deus Ex level, that would be a really cool way to see what's special about their design philosophy.

Edit: A google search gives the third image on this page: (http://rooc.offtopicproductions.com/blog/2007/11/13/nonlinearity-in-level-design/)

Or diagram on this page: (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/constellations/shoot_strafe_soliloquy/6)

Koki on 6/7/2012 at 05:30

How do you design immersion?