(3, 4, 0) Level Architect: Hyrule’s wilderness
exploring Zelda’s district design
It’s been long since my last article, but without further ado, let’s directly jump into it. This time I want to talk about something which is rather a culmination of my previous two articles. We talk about landmarks while discussing Outer Wilds and path identity while analyzing Hitman’s Mumbai level. But essentially, what we’re really focusing on in these two articles is the mental image. In the process of way-finding, environmental image proves to be a strategic link, the generalized mental picture of exterior physical world that is held by an individual.
For this article, we will be taking one of my most favorite games as an example. Having spent north of 50 hours into the game, I have learnt that a game like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (LoZ: BotW, from this point on referred to plainly as “Zelda”) is a demanding one. A systemic game like Zelda enables the player to take charge of his own progression. The game begins with a tutorial and ends when you defeat ‘Calamity Ganon’, the adventure encompassed in the middle is totally your own. Games like Outer Wilds, Hitman and Zelda give this freedom for every player to live out their own story. The quests you take on, the wilderness you explore and the people you meet along the way is completely driven by your own decisions. This is what makes it unique than the open world games with mission markers and waypoints. The most prominent tool to deliver this experience lies in the design of ‘the kingdom of Hyrule’.
Dropping into the game, we enter the tutorial area which we cannot escape without a paraglider and the game teaches us some of its basic mechanics and exploration techniques before setting us free into the wilderness. Equipped with a paraglider and maybe an extra wheel of stamina bar, we can now explore the entirety(well, almost) of Hyrule. With our own curiosity in the driving seat we set out to write our own adventure. Now we can climb towers, scout the area using binoculars and glide down in the vicinity of where we want to go. This system works due to it’s district design.
What are districts? Let’s forget it’s geographical meaning and focus on it’s meaning regarding an area’s urban image. Districts are the medium-to-large sections of the map, conceived of as having two-dimensional extent, which the observer mentally enters “inside of” and which are recognizable as having some common, identifying character. Breath of the Wild practices, as I call it, a district-to-district curiosity progression. These districts could be identified from within or also externally, if they possess the visible dominant elements on it’s borders/fringes. For some real life examples, we can look at pedestrian plazas of Chandigarh, Fort area in Mumbai and Fontainhas in Panjim city. Even in the context of an urban environment, most people structure the city based on it’s characteristically dominant district or a path. The same logic works in games. If the correct combinations of some components are used together, it can create a contrast between two neighboring areas on the game map, which in return creates a sense of curiosity about the the area adjacent to ours. Let’s now discuss these ‘some components’ in detail.
The physical characteristics that determine districts are thematic continuities which may consist of an endless variety of components:
texture: crowded areas are known to have dense texture whereas areas that are more spread out or open have a light texture. Texture is best experienced from a bird’s eye perspective. Or in Zelda terms, while gliding from a tower or a high altitude area.
space: the spaces created within a district are nothing but the open areas created within these paths that run through the inside and the extents of the district. Denser the texture, lesser the space and vice versa. Space is experienced from within.
form: texture and space mostly relates to the two dimensional attributes of a district, form on the other hand, deals with the three dimensional composition. The best example here would be the spiral island, hyrule castle or how the lost woods look from the outside.
detail: some areas are intended to be peculiar and hence are detailed in a certain way. Either architectural, vfx or sfx details have been added to areas of importance. For these areas, your curiosity only leads you to them, but the details tell you that you’re expected to stay and explore. In this example of Zora’s Domain, you will see the main structure separated from the mountains on all sides with a moat and a fish-shaped shrine catches your attention.
building type: type of construction, as in differentiating an area based upon the type of dominant architecture seen there.
use: the purpose for which the district is being used. For example, Gerudo town, market place, horse stable.
activity: activity relates more to how the player is supposed to use a particular district rather than how people living there(npc’s) use it.
inhabitants: use, activity and inhabitants are pretty much the sides of a similar die. Districts can also be distinguished on the basis of its inhabitants, their attire, body type, significant facial feature, food, mannerisms etc. For example, the people of Goron city.
Hateno village is a good example to demonstrate the four points mentioned above. It has peculiar building type, it is a village filled with farmers, cattleman and stockman and we can dye our clothes in the Kochi dye shop and visit the ancient lab. Ticking all the points mentioned above, Hateno village thus becomes a memorable and hence, a successful district.
degree of maintenance: this point is fairly straightforward.
topography: so is this. Anyone who has played Zelda remembers the ‘dueling peaks’ for it’s distinctive topography.
Materials, modelling, ornamentation, color and skyline are some more components which can be played around with to add more details. Like I said earlier, districts can be identified from within, which are the experiential factors and can be distinguished from outside of it, which is more of a visual factor. Texture, space, form and details contribute to the experiential factor whereas, the other components help create a visual contrast with the surroundings.
While playing Zelda, witnessing such frames with districts clearly distinguished amongst themselves is a common theme and Nintendo cleverly achieves this by creating thematic continuities and n number of combinations of the various physical components discussed above.
Usually, the typical features are imaged and recognized in a characteristic cluster. Yet, sometimes reinforcements are required to produce a strong image. This is where, water bodies, lava and shrine locations are used. Making use of other characteristics like an important path, a crucial node or the edges of the area like bridges, snow-clad cliffs can serve as a reinforcer for some uneventful districts.
I guess we can end this one here as I more and more intend to keep my articles short and crisp. Although I can talk about Zelda for hours so, please reach out to me to geek out about Breath of the wild. Lastly, on a personal note, today marks the end of my journey with Ubisoft. On to the next one!