Labyrinth (genre)

Labyrinths differ both in the degree of presence of the “maze” in the game - for example, here you can compare the difficulties of the mazes Berzerk , Pac-Man and Doom . The labyrinths themselves can have a different look: top ( Pac-Man ), side ( Lode Runner ), first-person view ( Doom ), or be “hidden” ( Maze Craze ). In some cases, the player can change the maze - opening and closing passages ( Mouse Trap ), or gnawing holes and creating tunnels ( Lode Runner , Dig Dug ) ^[2] .

Some mazes are less focused on navigation, but more on what sequence of actions to get to certain places of the game world ( Lode Runner ). Often, the task of navigation and orientation occurs in conditions when the player is pursued by enemies, but this is not a prerequisite. There are games in which labyrinths are embedded in mini-games or part of a game. For example, Blue Labyrinth in the game Adventure or the underground labyrinth of Selenetic Age in the game Myst ^[2] .

Typical examples of games of the genre are Descent (combining flight simulator and shoot 'em up ), Dig Dug , Doom (shoot' em up), KC Munchkin , platformer Lode Runner , Maze Craze , Mouse Trap ; Pac ‐ Man ; Tunnel Runner ; Adventure game Tunnels of Doom , Ms. Pac-Man , Spy vs. Spy , Take the Money and Run ^[2] .

The first labyrinth games were not very complex. So, for adventure games, the size was about fifty locations . For some time, attempts were made to increase their number, but it soon became clear that this approach does not allow to bring anything particularly interesting into the game, and the volume of the game world of about a hundred locations has become common practice. Instead of increasing the size of the maze, other solutions began to be applied. For example, to allocate a group of locations in separate zones where the game world acquired its common properties. Locations in such a zone may differ graphically from other zones; this may be the same description in text games ^[4] .

The first labyrinth games were characterized by a view from above, when the world map was combined with the representation, and the labyrinth itself was entirely placed on the screen. Subsequently, game developers moved the main character to the center of the screen, and the terrain began to move around him by scrolling it . In the mid-1990s, a scheme became more popular in which the player saw part of the maze with his first-person gaze. At the same time, the described methods can be combined, for example, when the map and the field of view of the character are simultaneously displayed. At the same time, ways to combine a three-dimensional image of the character from above with moving the character in isometric projection appeared , and the character's movement is provided by scrolling the screen ( The Immortal , Dusk of the Gods , Veil of Darkness ) ^[5] .

Until the 1990s the player often had to navigate independently in the maze, but gradually automatic mapping became a standard element. At the same time, it showed not only the labyrinth itself (its map), but also those areas where the main character visited, as well as additional information, for example, inscriptions found ^[6] .

Features of the labyrinths of games are not strict. For example, in some role-playing games, the volume of the game world can be thousands and tens of thousands of locations. The space itself can be organized in different ways - not only as a rectangular grid of cells, but also, for example, a hexagonal map can be used. Heroes of the games can travel in the open air, in castles, caves and other options for setting , and the game space in them can be considered as a maze. Moreover, most often the labyrinths in enclosed spaces are more difficult to navigate ^[7] .

For roguelike games, the procedural generation of the maze for each new game is characteristic, which increases their replayability , but this leads to the fact that often it becomes difficult for players to win. For games of other genres, the fixed maze approach is more often used, in which diversity is ensured by the placement of enemies, the course of fights, randomly found objects, and in this case it becomes possible to design the game so as to ensure its passage ^[5] .

Various games can offer mazes with their own characteristics. So, Forgotten Realms and Wizardry are characterized by narrow interlayers between locations, and in Might and Magic and Eye of the Beholder solid square blocks appear as locations ^[8] .

• NetHack bagel game with various graphic designs, the labyrinth is characterized by the division into "rooms"
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  Text graphics

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  Two-dimensional graphics

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  Isometric graphics

The study of the maze in games is rarely an end in itself, and often deeply developed mathematical principles are useless, because as the gameplay improves, they have to be violated. At the same time, a full study of the maze is not always justified, since the player can skip important things embedded in it. To solve these problems, first of all, the user is presented with a map and appropriate navigation tools, since the orientation from memory can be difficult ^[9] .

To expand the maze, developers can apply various methods. It can be either locations with a specific purpose (complicating access to something valuable, a trap with a difficult exit, etc.), or larger volumes of the game world with some features. For example, it can be a long journey with some ultimate goal (“long road”, “bottomless pit”, ...), where the hero gets into a virtually one-dimensional coordinate grid with an exit from the other side. So, this technique was often used by the developers of Sierra Entertainment in their games - King's Quest V and others. To orient the user when entering this zone, the game can report the location of objects in it ( HeroQuest II indicates the distance to the target in the number of screens). To facilitate the hero’s travel, additional tricks can be used, for example, if a player has already passed some maze, the game provides an opportunity to move from its beginning to the end without spending time ^[10] .

A simple representation of the game world with an overview of the labyrinth from above (as a two-dimensional view in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis or isometric in Conquests of the Longbow ) ) Leads to the fact that the solution becomes simple, at the level of tasks from magazines for children type "find how the mouse can get to the cheese." To increase the playability of the labyrinth component during design, additional difficulties are introduced: a restriction on travel time, dangers, etc. ^[8] .

Some types of labyrinths are such that it is difficult for them to make a map, and this gives a peculiar challenge to the player. For example, if, after going from one screen to another, an attempt to return back leads to the player not being in the original location ( Fantastic Voyage ), or if the screens do not fit into a rectangular grid ( Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders , Goody ). Such labyrinths are sometimes called quasilabyrinths, and orientation in them requires peculiar approaches. The problem may be that such complexity can lead to the player deciding that he is lost, although the exit may be close. One solution might be to provide a compass that shows the direction for the exit ( The Secret of Monkey Island ) ^[8] .

One way to build a maze is to use floors and stairs. The former in this case act as separate levels or zones, and the latter are a transition between them. The game can be built in such a way that the player moves up or down all the time, and the game process is complicated from level to level. The levels themselves can be designed in separate zones, each of which has its own characteristics ^[5] .

• MJP Wolf. Genre and the video game . - University of Texas Press, 2002. - S. 113–136.
• George Evseev. Labyrinths in computer games (rus.) // PC Review: Journal. - 1994. - February 1 ( No. 2 ).