Immersion is the state of mind in which the player is invested within the plot, no longer perceiving the environment around him (Veale, 2012).

Immersion in games is an important factor which must be considered when designing the core of the experience. I aim to justify the necessary elements needed in the process of design, to allow immersion to come as a by-product of the creation process.

This divides the scope of the paper in two. First, the paper analyses elements, which are essential to creating immersion within the gameworld. The second one is to suggest solutions, based on discussed elements, to immersion breaks described by Kathleen McClancy in her ‘Wasteland of the Real’ paper about Fallout as a piece of simulacra.

The Element of Research

A game is a complex item, formed of multiple layers. It means that interdisciplinarity can also be applied to game research, as focusing too much on a single perspective, might affect the different layers that form a game (Martin, 2018).

This means that it is necessary to understand all the elements that form a game, before starting research. The necessity of interdisciplinarity forces the game designer to think about all aspects of the game and how they will connect from the early stages of the research, leading to a smoother iteration of elements, especially in the later phases of a game.

The research should provide enough information which can feed in creating the game system, in terms of what gameplay is emergent from within the story, what characters are created for this world, what is the target audience which would find the story interesting, what is the age gap that this story would fit better in. All questions are valid and dependant on the research.

The Element of the Player

An element that is important to consider is the presence of the user, the person who buys or downloads that game and plays it. Therefore, it is necessary to consider what the player experiences during a gaming session.

The idea that the primary-player relates to a single character in a gameworld might be flawed. The player understands the game by relating to all that is found within the game world at the same time. By understanding the way that a player engages with on-screen characters during a session of playing a game it would be unnecessary to think about how a character looks and feels. This is applicable, as the older generation of gamers often played with blips of lights, signs or even text, yet the games were still good (Newman, 2002).

It should be agreed upon that a player often will be more engaged by the gameplay of what he is playing, the graphic existing just as a bonus to the activity.

A game can be classified in two states On-Line and Off-Line. On-Line is for playing sequences, whereas the Off-Line state can describe the moments when no registered input control is required from the player. Games which are often singleplayer, such as Tomb Raider will have non-engaging players, for which the game is hard to play, but take a role in watching, getting involved in map-reading or puzzle solving. As such a secondary player might be more involved than the engaging player, even within the Off-Line state. This Off-Line state justifies the usage of visuals in most modern games, as it helps in heightening the experience. For the On-Line player, or engaging player, the sense of being within the game world comes as an effect of the interface-level connection, rather than the viewpoint. During On-Line play, the players are engaging first-hand with the game, regardless of their presentation or content mediation. The limitations are insignificant for an actively engaged player, who is more interested in the gameworld experience, as opposed to the secondary player. For the On-Line user, the characters are just vehicles for the player to use within a gameworld to interact with it (Newman, 2002).

Striking a balance in terms of gameplay and visuals is important, as they need to be executed in a way that enforces the world, gives shape to the characters. This leaves enough control for the On-Line player, as well as mesmerizing the Off-Line player with graphics. Should the balance be done in adequate proportions, the immersion feeling is enforced, as the players involve themselves with the game as a response to what is presented.

The Element of the Game System

In the following section the importance of a game system that promotes immersion will be discussed. While the ideas apply on a general scale, for the argument a roleplaying game perspective will be used. The reasoning in using roleplaying games is the result of them being around for years and providing a perfect environment where players can lose themselves.

The roleplaying games can be delimited in four types: pen-and-paper, the classic play on table with a dice for chance; live action roleplay, with a big group of people gathering in locations for a day or two to re-enact a scenario from within the fictional world, while still maintaining gameplay rules. The third type is computer roleplaying, evolving from the pen-and-paper ones, they share the similarities, albeit all is done on a screen, where a player controls one or multiple characters within a simulated world. The last type is represented by massively multiplayer roleplaying games, the newest ones, which are played by many people connecting within a world via the internet (Dormans, 2006).

An important part as to why players enjoy roleplaying is that it allows them to lose themselves in another reality. Therefore, it gives the chance to the players to feel the emotions of the character they represent, a place where they can experience all kind of authentic feelings without real-life consequences (Dormans, 2006).

The roleplaying experience provides a ground for a basic level of immersion within the gameworld. Players assume a role chosen by them, and the choices given by the game system allows them to shape it as they see fit. Even if the immersion of the players is not complete, the play of roles is enough to keep them immersed within the gameworld they are using.

For a roleplaying game the actions that a player does and what option he/she has should contribute directly to agency. It should give the players the feeling that their actions affect the game world and that they exert control over their character fate. Agency requires the rules of a game to have a certain level of transparency. As such, having a game with a system capable of balancing strategies, helps towards promoting roleplaying by using its gameplay mechanics. A system should be carefully designed, as one with a single choice is devoid of meaning, whereas one with too many and all equal can feel arbitrary and frustrating (Dormans, 2006).

Agency is an important factor in a game system, as it allows the players to take choices which affect the gameworld that they are playing in, even if they are faked, by a proper implementation of a narrative. Immersion is to a certain degree dependant on agency, as it can be the factor which makes the player forget he is in a game. Stripping away that element from within the system would break the immersion, making the player understand that this is a game which already has a set-end.

In the end, a roleplaying game is formed of three factors: narrative, social and ludic. Their importance varies from player to player (Dormans, 2006).

The three mentioned factors are all part of the game system that plays an important role within the design of a game. While their mix may vary, it is important to have them, even to a small extent, as the absence of one of them might lead to the breaking of immersion, detracting from the whole gaming experience. For example, a racing game has more to gain if it has some semblance of story, as that is used as the background which motivates the player; the agency factor is in choosing the cars for the races; its social factor can be built upon different factions within the game, which the player can join or defeat; the ludic part is the whole experience of racing, of playing through the game.

Therefore, a well-balanced game system is an important piece within game design. Should it be properly implemented, it will aid the immersion of a player in the gameworld created, no matter the genre the game is part of.

The Element of Flow

The last important element within game design is the concept of flow.

The term of flow, which is known as the ‘optimal experience’, was coined by Csíkszentmihályi in 1990. He defined it as a state in which the person takes no more information from the outer world, being completely engrossed on the task he is doing, as the difficulty matches his ability. This leads to the respective person always being challenged yet is capable to succeed. This term came as an observation to the state in which painters and sculptors often found themselves into, and their pleasurable deep concentration gained while working. This state was observed in multiple instances, especially during hobbies, like music or videogames (Sites and Potter, 2018).

Considering the above, it is important to understand how flow might be achieved for games. A player which is immersed in a game has gotten himself in a state of flow, in which the play of the game becomes the task which keeps him focused.

In terms of gaming, there was a considerable number of research done as to what concerns flow in a game, however one of the known theories is that of GameFlow, developed by Sweetser and Wyeth in 2005, which expands on previous research done by Sherry in 2004. The GameFlow matches all the criteria of the original ‘flow’, however it does add the criteria that their flow needs to have a task that can be completed. In their theory, they have important concepts that are relevant to a flow. Those respective points are: concentration, which can be achieved by providing stimuli to the player, grabbing his attention; control, by giving a sense of agency to the player, showing him the impact which he has upon the game world. The other ones are represented by: feedback which is the response which the player is getting as a way of showing his progression through the game and the final element is immersion, which makes the player less aware of his surroundings, encouraging him to feel deeply involved in the game. Control and feedback need to be in a loop to make the player desire to finish the next stage of the game (Sites and Potter, 2018).

As it can be observed, the final element of flow builds upon the previously discussed ones. Flow is a result of a player becoming focused on his task, which can be achieved outside an immersive setting, such as the mentioned infinite runners.

On the other hand, if the experience within a game has been reached through the combinations of all elements creating the gameworld, from character, to gameplay, to narrative I would consider the player immersed, his lack of awareness to everything else being a direct result of the flow, but as soon as the flow stops, so does the immersion.

Fallout – A Short Case Study on Fixing Immersion

This section looks at certain immersion breakers within the Fallout series and suggests solutions for their solving.

The Pip-Boy is a mobile hand device which is used by the game to access the heavy menus of inventory, quests, maps, abilities in such a way that keeps the illusion of the world. There are some parts that cannot be covered however, as the menus for saving and settings are completely different and taken as they are, outside the simulated world, however the auto-save feature is a bonus which allows the player to not break the immersion, should he choose so (McClancy, 2018).

This part of the game breaks the immersion through the rules of its system. From my point of view, the Pip-Boy can be used to push the immersion even more. Saving wise, the game could make use of camping kits. Should a player choose to save, he would possess camping kits, which can be put down sleep a chosen number of hours, and then picked up again. This would get rid of the necessity of having a saving menu, reducing the break of immersion just to a death screen, with chose your save. All the other setting which are found within the menu can be modified in an out-of-the game settings box, before starting the game, as such the controls as well as the graphical options becoming obsolete within the game interface.

As immersive as the games are, the new crafting systems in the latest game Fallout 4, might seem as an immersion breaker to some degree, as it encourages the player to find all the things within the world useful, which expands the contact that the player has with the inventory system, which in time becomes more of a chore, in the detriment of keeping the simulacra alive (McClancy, 2018).

This is a problem of overcomplicating the rules of the system. To reduce the time spent in the crafting interface, the player should be able to tag the specific item that he wants to craft, thus highlighting within his HUD the necessary materials needed. This needs to be enforced by a reduced carry weight, obliging the player to be wise in what he chooses to carry around.

Another factor to the simulacra of the Fallout series is the karma and reputation systems. While the karma system is working as it should, the players will often find themselves to maintain a somewhat neutral character within the gameworld, to extend their benefits, by completing a quest up to a certain point, switching allegiances as to not alienate a different faction. At some point the karma system is reset, allowing the player to finish the uncompleted quest of a faction, possibly breaking the nature of the simulacra, as the design of the quests are made to be mutually exclusive (McClancy, 2018).

This being once more a problem of the system, it all breaks down to hard-locking the player to a certain quest line sooner, through characters from the opposite factions claiming to have spies which saw the player character working for the enemy. As such, using narrative to justify a rule, fixes the hole within the system, while maintaining immersion.

Conclusion

A game designer should take into consideration the discussed elements of research, player, system and flow when creating a game, as it would make immersion become a by-product of the elements. This would spare the extra time spent modifying the gameplay in later phases of the process, which might alter other elements already present in a finished stage. Therefore, thinking about immersion from the beginning allows the design of the game to be improved adding an extra layer, which should keep the player involved within the game for longer.