An open world is a video game level where players can freely roam a virtual world.[1] Open world gameplay is sometimes described interchangeably with sandbox and free-roaming gameplay.[2][3] Terms such as open world and free-roaming allude to the absence of artificial barriers,[4] in contrast to the invisible walls and "loading..." screens that are common in more linear level designs. However, many open world games still have such restrictions at some point in the game environment, either due to absolute game design limitations or temporary limitations imposed by the game's linearity.
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Gameplay
An open world is a level designed as a nonlinear, vast open area with many ways to reach an objective.[5] Some games are designed with both traditional and open world levels.[6] An open world facilitates greater exploration than a series of smaller levels,[4] or a level with more linear challenges.[7] Reviewers have judged the quality of an open world based on whether there are interesting ways for the player to interact with the broader level when they ignore their main objective.[7] Some games actually use real settings to model an open world, such as New York City.[8]
A major design challenge is to balance the freedom of an open world with the structure of a dramatic storyline.[9] Since players may perform actions that the game designer did not expect,[10] the game's writers must find creative ways to impose a storyline on the player without interfering with their freedom.[11] As such, games with open worlds will sometimes break the game's story into a series of missions, or have a much simpler storyline altogether.[12] Other games instead offer side-missions to the player that do not disrupt the main storyline.[13] Most open world games make the character a blank slate that players can project their own thoughts onto, although several games such as Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole offer more character development and dialog.[4]
Games with open worlds typically give players infinite lives or continues, although games like Blaster Master force the player to start from the beginning should they die too many times.[4] However, there is a risk that players may get lost as they explore an open world. Thus designers sometimes try to break the open world into manageable sections.[14]
History
Origins
Elite is often credited with pioneering the open world game concept in 1984,[1][15][16] and other early 2D games also featured nonlinear level design.[4] However, the games that had the most impact on popular consciousness were the Grand Theft Auto series.[3]
Critics sometimes treat the release of Grand Theft Auto III as a revolutionary event in the history of video games, much like the release of Doom nearly a decade earlier.[17] Still, Grand Theft Auto III is often seen as having merely combined elements from previous games (the game has been likened to The Legend of Zelda and Metroid[4]) and fused them together into an entirely new and immersive experience. For instance, radio stations had been implemented earlier in games such as SimCopter (1996), and missions based on operating a taxi cab were the basis for Crazy Taxi (1999).
Furthermore, there were several games before Grand Theft Auto III that offered players the ability to explore an open world while driving a variety of ground vehicles. Turbo Esprit provided a 3D free-roaming city environment in 1986 and has been cited as a major influence on Grand Theft Auto.[18] Hunter (1991) has been described as the first sandbox game featuring full 3D, third-person graphics, thus making it an important precursor to the Grand Theft Auto series as well.[19] Other examples include the DMA Design (later renamed Rockstar North) game Body Harvest (1998) and the Angel Studios (later renamed Rockstar San Diego) games Midtown Madness (1999) and Midnight Club: Street Racing (2000).
After the release of Grand Theft Auto III in 2001, many games which employed a 3D open world were labeled, often derogatorily, as Grand Theft Auto clones, much as how many early first-person shooters were called "Doom clones"[20]. Ironically, some reviewers extended this label to the entire Driver series, even though this series began years before the release of Grand Theft Auto III.[21]
See also
Category:Open world video games
Notes
- ^ a b Sefton, Jamie (July 11, 2007). "The roots of open-world games". GamesRadar. http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-roots-of-open-world-games/a-200807111086555044. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ^ Logan Booker (2008-07-14). "Pandemic Working On New 'Open World / Sandbox' IP". Kotaku. http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2008/07/pandemic_working_on_new_open_world_sandbox_ip.html. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ^ a b "The complete history of open-world games (part 2)". Computer and Video Games. May 25, 2008. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=189599. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ^ a b c d e f Harris, John (September 26, 2007). "Game Design Essentials: 20 Open World Games". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1902/game_design_essentials_20_open_.php. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ^ Chris Kohler (2008-01-04). "Assassin's Creed And The Future Of Sandbox Games". Wired. http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/01/assassins-creed.html. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- ^ Harris, John (September 26, 2007). "Game Design Essentials: 20 Open World Games - Air Fortress". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1902/game_design_essentials_20_open_.php. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ a b Chris Kohler (2007-11-23). "Review: Why Assassin's Creed Fails". Wired. http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/11/review-why-assa.html.
- ^ James Ransom-Wiley (2007-08-10). "Sierra unveils Prototype, not the first sandbox adventure". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/10/sierra-unveils-prototype-not-the-first-sandbox-adventure/. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- ^ Steven Poole (2000). Trigger Happy. Arcade Publishing. p. 101.
- ^ Bishop, Stuart (March 5, 2003). "Interview: Freelancer" (HTML). ComputerAndVideoGames.com. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=88288. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
- ^ Chris Remo and Brandon Sheffield. "Redefining Game Narrative: Ubisoft's Patrick Redding On Far Cry 2". GamaSutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3727/redefining_game_narrative_.php. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ Chris Plante (2008-05-12). "Opinion: 'All The World's A Sandbox'". GamaSutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=18545. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- ^ "Freelancer (PC)" (HTML). CNET (GameSpot). March 4, 2003. http://reviews.cnet.com/pc-games/freelancer-pc/4505-9696_7-30984277.html. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
- ^ Patrick O'Luanaigh (2006). Game Design Complete. Paraglyph Press. p. 203, 218.
- ^ Whitehead, Dan (February 4, 2008). "Born Free: the History of the Openworld Game". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=91968. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ^ "The complete history of open-world games (part 1)". Computer and Video Games. May 24, 2008. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=189591. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ^ Game Informer Issue 138 p.73
- ^ Retrorevival: Turbo Esprit, Retro Gamer issue 20, page 48. Imagine Publishing, 2006.
- ^ Fahs, Travis (2008-03-24). The Leif Ericson Awards, IGN, Retrieved on 2009-07-16
- ^ Doom, Encyclopædia Britannica, Accessed Feb 25, 2009
- ^ Jeff Gerstmann (2006-03-14). "Driver: Parallel Lines Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/driving/driver4/review.html. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
External links
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