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Mode[0] or view switching in video games was common for a long time, primarily as a solution to technical or pacing problems. The overworld travel mode in Zelda 2 was useful so players could travel further, faster. Those overworld maps were pretty common, Ultimas 1-5 used them, and the sixth one finally presented a single unified interface [1]. The platformer Mario games also used overworlds to allow players to select levels from Super Mario Bros 3 until Super Mario 64. Super Mario Bros 1 had warp pipes presented without a perspective change, but by SMB3, the developers had more complicated gameplay ideas about what level selection looked like. What the author presents here is not a change in view or mode,
but a refinement of scope. Gameplay doesn't change, but the level at which the player interacts is more granular. A video game example that comes to mind is strategy games, such as Crusader Kings 2. In that game, players will dictate their armies' movement, and, when that movement causes conflict, the game will bring the battle to the player's attention. Players can then zoom in and pick specific tactics within the battle to enhance their odds, directing the flanks. If the game allowed players to further zoom in, down to the level of individual soldiers and their actions, that'd be an even more granular presentation. Mode switching is less common today, since it causes a disjointed player experience and requires assets be created to represent content in different modes. 0: (in the sense Larry Tesler would mean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Tesler) 1: http://www.filfre.net/2017/04/ultima-vi/ |