Why Nathan Drake Doesn't Need a Compass | Game Maker's Toolkit

Hi, this is Mark Brown with Game Maker's Toolkit,
a series on video game design.

Near the beginning of Uncharted 3, there's
this awesome section where you're playing

as a young Nathan Drake and you're being chased
across the rooftops of Colombia. It's awesome,

specifically, because in most other games
it would simply be a cutscene.

That's because most game developers would
struggle to make sure the player is always

going the right way and making the right jumps
- and not repeatedly falling off the roof

or getting caught by baddies.

In fact, most developers struggle to let you
move through a static environment, let alone

an intense chase scene, without some clunky
navigational tool - be it a waypoint, a compass,

a floating arrow, some kind of supernatural
survivor's vision, or an ethereal space snake thing.

So how does Naughty Dog do it? How does this
developer let you make your way through the

whole of Uncharted, and The Last of Us, without
a map, when other equally linear games tell

you where to go, at every step of the way?

MONKEY: We're not in the clear yet. There's the way
out.

The secret is that Naughty Dog, and other
developers like Valve and That Game Company,

is telling you exactly where to go, but using
subconscious clues that are hidden in the

level design itself.

They use tricks to grab your attention and
guide your eye, which are borrowed from artistic

composition. And they use in-world navigational
aids, which are lifted from Disneyworld.

"It’s very much a game in psychology," says
Emilia Schatz, game designer at Naughty Dog.

"You need to figure out what your environment is telling the player"

"And figure out how you can give the player as much information as possible"

So let's look at that Uncharted chase scene
again, and see if we can figure out what the

environment is telling the player here.

The first eye-catching technique is light,
which is streaming in through this open window.

Light is the most common and arguably effective
way of guiding the player, because we flock

to it like moths to a flame. Provided the
surrounding area is dark enough, light sources

like lamps, car headlights, flames, and sunlight
will always catch the player's attention.

Here, visual composition tricks are used.
The pillars and wall create a frame - which

is like a portal that draws that player's
eye to whatever is inside. And in the middle

is this line which runs down the centre of
the roof.

Guiding lines are often used in painting and
photography to lead the viewer's eye or focus

their vision on a specific point. That's harder
for level designers to use as there's no fixed

viewpoint, but similar techniques can be used
to suggest a path for a player.

In a 2010 GDC talk, Naughty Dog art director
Erick Pangilinan says "defining a clear path

is really important and is something we look
at all the time," and he says "When you're

in a busy schedule it's really easy to create
noisy, confusing environments".

So he talks about clearly separating the ground
and the boundaries of the level, and says

"putting shapes in the middle of the path
creates a stepping stone effect that can lead

the eye through".

When Drake leaps over the barrier, these birds
fly off. This gives us motion which, in a

mostly static scene, really grabs your attention.
Things like sparks, flashing lights, and banging

doors are hard to ignore, and encourage the
player to draw in closer.

The birds in Uncharted not only do that, but
they fly off in the direction of where Drake

needs to go next, subtly guiding you to the
right when the more obvious route is to continue

along the roof.

Of course, the enemy here will force you to
the right if you weren't already going that

way. Rules and mechanics can push and pull
the player very effectively - as you'll run

away from enemies you can't attack, but will
chase down collectibles like they're a trail

of bread crumbs.

Down here, we see an example of affordance
in level design. A ramp is there to be jumped

off, and the player will dutifully play along.

You can't discount the camera during this
entire section, of course. It swings around,

keeping your next destination in the centre
of the frame. But you're always free to wiggle

it about and look wherever you please - the
game rarely takes control away from you entirely.

Now the guiding lines point up, except for
these windowsills. The contrast in directionality

makes them stand out - not to mention their
colour. This is another common trick in level

design - as long as the colours in the rest
of the stage are carefully considered, a bright

and contrasting colour can really grab your
attention.

Mirror's Edge famously uses red, but The Last
of Us and Uncharted do the exact same thing

with yellow. And Tomb Raider paints all its
important elements in white.

All of these tricks are used to subtly nudge
you through the section and keep you on the

carefully scripted path that Naughty Dog has
laid out. But it doesn't stop there, as similar

visual clues are littered throughout the entire
game.

There are other tricks, too. Like negative
space, which forms an attractive portal. And

audio can be used, too - everyone goes into
this room at the start of The Last of Us,

not just because of the alluring light but
because of the distant sound of the TV speakers.

SARAH: You in here?

And then there are weenies. That's right,
weenies. This is a technique from Walt Disney,

who plopped the giant castle in the centre
of Disneyland to lure visitors into the

centre as soon as they enter the gates, and
give them a navigational aid so they're always

be able to return to the middle of the park.

So, characters in Uncharted and The Last of
Us spend half the game pointing at far-off

landmarks which then loom over the skyline
and give you something to work towards and

a static position to aid navigation.

BILL: There's that truck.
ELENA: You see that tower up ahead?

TESS: There she is. That's our building.
HARRY: There's the tower.

JOEL: Alright, there's the bridge. That's our way
out of here.

The same applies to the Citadel in Half Life
2, buildings in Mirror's Edge, and the mountain

in Journey.

And then there are arrows. Sometimes hidden
in the game world as props or as markings,

and sometimes literal arrows, on signs and
painted on the ground that point you in the

right direction. Hey, that's what arrows are
there for, right?

You can use all of these examples in your
designs. Even if it's just using light and

colour to highlight places of interactivity.
You'll need to test that it all works by observing

random players as they move through your level,
but you can also borrow a clever trick from

Naughty Dog.

Back when it was making Crash Bandicoot it
would do something called the squint test,

where level designers would squint their eye
and see if the critical path through the level

was the most dominant thing in each scene.

You may be wondering why a game like Crash
Bandicoot or Uncharted needs to bother with

all this, when they're already so linear.
And it's true: if you're not going down the

critical path in these games, you'll often
find yourself at a dead end.

But that's kind of the point. The game provides
multiple paths for the player, and they feel

like they have the freedom to explore whichever
they choose. As they always seem to stumble

upon new content - not entirely aware that
they were subconsciously persuaded to take

that path or enter that door - it stands to
reason that all the other exits and doors

lead to new play spaces too.

It makes the world feel bigger and less linear
than it really is.

It also helps keep up the pace of the game.
Uncharted is supposed to be a rip-roaring

adventure, and that would fall apart if you
were struggling to find the next door in every room.

And, crucially, this stuff just works. And
you can test it for yourself: play Mirror's

Edge and turn off runner's vision and you'll
see how difficult it is to get through the

game without these visual clues. If you're
anything like me you'll get lost over and

over and over again.

And finally, knowing how to use these tricks
will help other aspects of your level design

too as they can be used for more than just
navigation. Picking the right colour for your

level doesn't just help you highlight platforms,
but also set the right tone. Motion can be

used to make sure the player is looking in
the right direction.

And frames in the level design ensure the player gets the best viewpoint for an important scene.

But maybe we'll come back to all that in another
video. Till then, thanks for watching.

Have you ever seen a game that does something
smart with navigation? Leave a comment below.

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