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I’ve noticed that when I play open world games I can have wildly different emotional reactions to exploration. Like, a new quest hub opens up and sometimes I go “Oh nice, there’s so much to do” and sometimes I go “oh no, there’s so much to do”. Why does this happen and what design choices make the difference?

Ask a Game Dev

In cognitive psychology, theres this concept calledCognitive Load. For an open world game like you mention, this means careful placement of quest givers and quest goals relative to each other in the world. Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr Frequent Questions: The FAQ

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Solo dev Almar works on debut game Repunk “I’ve had some darker moments”

PreMortem.Games

Yet, for indie dev Almar, it offered an escape from the corporate rat race he felt trapped in. I usually start with a location or concept from which I build a ‘mind map’. An open-world social simulation of a whole human civilization on Mars. This concept grew organically from a single idea. It was a disaster!

Dev 160
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Fly around on a broom in cozy adventure Mika and the Witch’s Mountain by Chibig

PreMortem.Games

Indie developer Chibig started in 2017 as a one-dev studio in Valencia, Spain. Combining the looks of a Ghibli movie with the condensed open world of that game, gave birth to the idea of an apprentice witch delivering packages. So, finally, we decided to stick to the original plan and create a short adventure.

Mechanics 104
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I’ve noticed that when I play open world games I can have wildly different emotional reactions to exploration. Like, a new quest hub opens up and sometimes I go “Oh nice, there’s so much to do” and sometimes I go “oh no, there’s so much to do”. Why does this happen and what design choices make the difference?

Ask a Game Dev

In cognitive psychology, there’s this concept called “Cognitive Load”. For an open world game like you mention, this means careful placement of quest givers and quest goals relative to each other in the world. It refers to the maximum number of things a person can easily remember and recall at once.

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How to Create Video Game Atmosphere

Game Designing

Though it is easily overlooked, especially for newer devs focused more on the nitty-gritty of game development, the atmosphere is a crucial component for any successful release. Both are open-world action-adventure games with fantasy elements and similar mechanics. Compare two games Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring.

Games 136
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Sandbox vs themepark

Raph Koster

If you follow that link, you’ll see open world events occurring as the quest proceeds, done without zone or quest locking, etc. We used the term actively on MUD-Dev back in the day, making the distinction between simulation and “stagecraft.” It famously only added any crafting because the dev team saw it in UO during beta.

Sandbox 59
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On Backtracking in Roguelikes

Grid Sage Games

Here we’re primarily talking about the player revisiting earlier floors on their journey, rather than backtracking within a single map (though I’ll cover that topic a bit separately at the end), and our discussion focuses on roguelikes of the dungeon delving variety, since open world games generally allow backtracking by default.