Worlds Contain Spaces
The playing field/arena has a function in the context of the game mechanics, but there is a separate function it performs as the setting of a game, much like the setting of a story.
Organizing Space
The way space in a game is organized generally derives from its practical function in game mechanics:
- Linear - A straight-line progression as the player progresses through the game. This is common in board games (such as Life), but also in certain video games (Mario Brothers)
- Grid - The game's space is divided into squares, each of which is a confined space that can be moved into (checkers) or acted upon (SIM City) by the player.
- Web - Separate spaces exist that the player can move into or out of at will, though there are limited connections (think of a house - each room contains doors to other rooms. To get from the front door to the bedroom, you must move through living room, then hall, then bedroom)
- Points in Space - There are various spaces in the game into which the player may move, but their physical proximity to one another is of no consequence.
I think he leaves much out, but the fundamental concept is clear: that a game may have a number of distinct "spaces" and the connections between them may be restricted to varying degrees.
A stray note: things such as maps and landmarks are important in games in which the entire game cannot be seen at a glance. A landmark tells the player where he is, and a map tells him how the space he currently occupies relates to other spaces in the game.
Christopher Alexander
There's a section that goes into a lot of detail about Christopher Alexander, an architect who wrote a number of books on the design of spaces. I have the sense there's a lot more meat to it, and the author is sort of skimming the surface.
His discussion seems disorganized here - will skip taking notes on it, except to remark that it might be worth digging into the original source if you need to know more about environmental design.
Virtual Architecture
The architecture of spaces in video games is much different than real-world architecture. A key example is restrooms: there don't seem to be any on spaceships - and even when they are presented, they are often far fewer and in very odd places in relation to the rest of the space. That's because they may be an essential element of areal architecture, but are entirely unimportant to the action in a game.
However, some things should be carried over. Some common problems in virtual architecture are:
- Objects seem too big or too small in relation to one another, or to the character rather than scaled to "realistic" dimensions.
- The "eye height" of the game camera is too high or too low
- The lighting is wrong (especially, when shadows point in the wrong directions)
- Crowding - Especially when depicting indoor scenes, items seem "crowded" and overlapping.