Tuesday 16th October- Game Spaces

A short History of Digital Gamespace

by Dariusz Jacob Boron 

Text Based or Imaginary Gamespace

The world takes place in your imagination, for example 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'. 

Contained 2D Space

Your movement is limited or confined by the screen, for example 'Space Invaders' in which the screen is portrait. 

Wraparound Space 

A literal representation of infinity in which you never reach the end or the edge. 'Pac Man' is a good example of this as if you go to the edge of the border you come out through the corresponding side. 

Spaces that scroll along two axes 

We know and can choose which direction we move in, a game called Gauntlet uses this type of game space. 

Adjacent Spaces one room at a time 

Simple tools are used to make us believe that we're in a room (moving from one to another), like lines to define the outline of a room. 

Scrolling with multiple background layers 

The closest layer of the background moves at the same speed of the character and the further back the layers are the slower they move. 

Limited 3D space: perspective in the scene 

Turns a flat space into a 3D space by using one point perspective. Such as Night Driver in which the actual car remains static and the player controls the position of the markers on the road. 

Isometric 3D space

You look down on a world, like in the game 'Paperboy' 

Window to the outdoors 

Like looking through a window 

Two spaces on one screen 

Otherwise known as a split screen, where there are 2 screens in one 

Video Capture

Mapped Space

Pre rendered panoramas 

Early 3D space

One horizontal plane. The illusion of space above us, this is technique is used in the game 'Doom'. 

Full 3D space

The player is given the ability to move both horizontally and vertically. 

After discussing all of the game spaces which exist we formed groups of up to 4 people, then each group was given a game space and given the task to create an original game using the space to our advantage. We looked at examples of popular games which use the space sufficiently and discussed ideas. These are some of the gameplay videos which we viewed: 

• Terraria 
• Sonic 
• Worms 
• Megaman

Castle Crashers 

Lemmings

                     

Limbo