I have been considering navigation systems recently after beating Fable 2 (yes, I know, late to the game). As someone who tends to get lost in levels, or at least wander off the beaten path far enough to get confused as to which direction was the exit and which was the way I came. Navigation systems are a tricky issue, especially when you have games that especially emphasize searching an area and finding the hidden chests as Fable 2 does. If you aren’t aware, Fable 2 has a glowing trail that always points towards your next quest objective.
When I began the game I thought I would hate the glowing trail. I remembered a previous experience in Bioshock where I’d learned to hate the constant navigation reminder (in Bioshock’s case, a compass was constantly displayed pointing the way). Both could be turned off in the menu, true, and I did make a point of turning down the glowing trail to minimum brightness at the onset. These were games of exploration, whether a fantasy universe of bandits and sorcerers or a dystopian underground filled with plasmid zombies, I was there to experience these worlds not get lead from one point to another, ignoring the world crafted around me. In Bioshock I would constantly turn off the compass when I entered an area and only turn it back on when I knew I had explored that region to my satisfaction. And I tend to dislike having to constantly go into menus in games, so I was concerned that Fable 2’s trail would lead me to the same conclusions.
However, as I continued to play I learned to appreciate the glowing trail. Unlike Bioshock, where I found the compass distracting from my exploration, the glowing trail was more of a gentle reminder. Being integrated into the game rather than part of the on-screen navigation helped more than I would have imagined. Instead of something obscuring the world around me, it just fit in with the rest. I even ended up turning back up the brightness, so that when I wanted to follow I could easily pick it out.
My favorite navigation game mechanic is still Deadspace’s line. In Deadspace you press in the right joystick and it creates a blue line across the ground showing you briefly which way to go. The option of being able to turn it on with the push of a button instead of on/off in a menu was a godsend. I came to use it obsessively, though probably not how the game developers intended. Every time I would reach a turn I would press in the joystick and then take the path not highlighted, the road less traveled as it were. I wanted to make sure I explored the area properly before going to the next plot objective, so having something that would point out the last path I should take was especially helpful as I explored the dead space station.
I eventually reached the conclusion that as much as I loved the mechanic (and hope it is taken as an example for future games), it didn’t ultimately help with the mood deadspace was attempting to set. I found once I learned to rely on the navigation line, I calmed down quite a bit while exploring areas that were supposed to keep me on edge. I also started to easily pick up on when I was going to hit a trigger point in the game. When I’d explored an area down multiple corridors and all lines pointed to the one door, I knew there was something wicked waiting for me on the other side. The navigation line became my helpful companion with the blueprints, and instead of scared and lost in a space station, I had become the player controlling the environment to my character’s benefit.
This raises the old questions of ease-of-use game mechanics versus limiting the player in order to set a certain tone or difficulty to the game. In deadspace’s case it already pretty flawlessly transitions from a survival horror game to an action game, so I don’t feel like they made the wrong choice including the navigation system. Finding that line between giving the player that exploratory feeling and having the player become frustrated lost is one of those issues all game designers, especially those of open world games, are going to keep exploring, and I’m curious to see what systems get developed going forward.