and plausible characters. Thus it was able to deal with weighty and serious themes in a
more resonant fashion than if the game had taken place in some demonic netherworld.
A potential downside to having a realistic world is that, since the game mimics a
reality players are familiar with, players will expect certain game-world elements to
work in certain ways and will be very quick to notice when something fails to do so. For
example, many of the early first-person shooters, such asDoomandMarathon, did not
allow the player character to jump. The worlds of these first-person shooters were
more “realistic” than those game players were accustomed to finding in computer
games, so real that players’ expectations were raised and many were quick to complain
that they could not jump over even waist-high obstacles. So the next generation of FPS
titles added the ability to jump, then to crouch, then look up and down, and so on and so
forth, making the games still more complicated with each element of reality added.
Now, as the worlds possible with RT3D engines look more real than ever, players are
constantly asking questions such as “Why can’t I lie flat on the ground? I can do that in
real life; why not in the game?” Indeed, many of the more complex first-person shoot-
ers have added this very feature. Some would say that, certainly for novice players,
these FPS games have grown too complex as a result of their attempt to model reality.
Bringing in a certain level of reality raises players’ expectations in a way that the totally
abstract world of aCentipedeorTetrisnever does. Players never question their capabili-
ties in these worlds because the boundaries were completely arbitrary in the first place.
At the same time, players are particular about the type of reality-based improve-
ments they want in their games. For example, if FPS games added a more realistic
modeling of player movement, players would be irate. If suddenly you were able to trip
over low-lying obstacles or always fall down to your knees whenever falling from more
than five feet, the experience of running around the game-world would be considerably
more aggravating. These are the tedious parts of real-world movement, and therefore
can and should be ignored. In the end, most players only want more realism if it means
they get to do more interesting and fun things, not if it makes their game experience
more frustrating.
126 Chapter 7: The Elements of Gameplay
Having a believable and
recognizable environ-
ment was a big part of
The Suffering’s appeal.