Ludoforming
Espen Aarseth · transcript Verlag eBooks · 2019
How are non-ludic geographies used in games?What happens in the process of changing a real or fictional space into a virtual arena for gameplay?Most ludic spaces are invented more or less from scratch, usually inspired from real, historical or fictional spaces but without any claim to absolute or approximate fidelity.Like Metropolis or Gotham City, they are not representing a particular place in our world, but generic ideas of the possible or the fictional.Adams (2003, 6) even makes the claim that "ludic architecture is disanalogous from real-world architecture."But sometimes, real, fictional or historic landscapes are found in games, and that situation is the focus here.What operations are performed in the ludification of a geography?This paper addresses the process and significance of ludoforming, that is, turning a contemporary, historical or fictional landscape into a gameworld.Ludic landscapes consist of two layers that are superimposed, but independent: The topographical, which is presented by the game engine to the player, and the topological, which is the actual room-for-movement through which the player's tokens navigate.This distinction is inspired by Andreas Gregersen's (2008, 182) doctoral dissertation where he distinguishes between the physical simulation of a game object and its graphical representation (fig.1a-b).Why we would want to make this distinction becomes clear when we consider familiar game situations where parts of bodies are seemingly impossibly overlapping with walls or f loors.