Immersive Design in Arcade Games: Star Wars Battle Pod
So my friends and I went to Dave and Buster's a few days ago as we wanted to get together and do something despite the rainy weather. I actually had not been to Dave and Buster’s for many, many years, so I was reluctant to go at first, thinking the games there would be the same carnival-style ticket games and mediocre racing games that I remembered. Oh how wrong I was.
Upon entering the game floor, I noticed the Star Wars Battle Pod. Intrigued by what this was, I walked over and was completely blown away. It was a single-player closed booth game with a dome screen that filled your entire vision. Naturally the line for this game was quite long so I decided to do a quick walk around to see what else was around, and to my surprise there were quite a few attractive booth style games such as: Walking Dead Arcade, Luigi’s Mansion Arcade, Dark Escape 4D, Dream Raiders, and the classic Jurassic Park Arcade that I so fondly remembered from my childhood.
After a fun-filled day of playing these various games, I was completely hooked. The immersive design of these games reminded me of a lot of the research I read about immersion in video games (which I am still working on getting published...), and therefore felt the urge to write this article. As such, I will do a series of small breakdowns of some of the games I played and highlight the various aspects within them that I believe lead to a higher sense of immersion and enjoyment, or lack thereof. So let’s jump right in.
The Interior of the Booth
Upon entering the game floor, I noticed the Star Wars Battle Pod. Intrigued by what this was, I walked over and was completely blown away. It was a single-player closed booth game with a dome screen that filled your entire vision. Naturally the line for this game was quite long so I decided to do a quick walk around to see what else was around, and to my surprise there were quite a few attractive booth style games such as: Walking Dead Arcade, Luigi’s Mansion Arcade, Dark Escape 4D, Dream Raiders, and the classic Jurassic Park Arcade that I so fondly remembered from my childhood.
After a fun-filled day of playing these various games, I was completely hooked. The immersive design of these games reminded me of a lot of the research I read about immersion in video games (which I am still working on getting published...), and therefore felt the urge to write this article. As such, I will do a series of small breakdowns of some of the games I played and highlight the various aspects within them that I believe lead to a higher sense of immersion and enjoyment, or lack thereof. So let’s jump right in.
Star Wars Battle Pod
Star Wars Battle Pod, my favorite game that I played, allows you to select one of six missions: Yavin, Takodana, Hoth, Endor, Death Star II, and Vader’s Revenge. In each of these missions you are put into the first-person perspective of the vehicle paired with that mission (X-Wing for Yavin, Snowspeeder for Hoth, etc.). Each mission is an “on-rails” shooter in which you must fire at enemy ships before “the timer” runs out, which will cause you to take hull damage, or even lead to a mission fail.The Interior of the Booth
Sitting down inside the booth presents you with a 74" dome screen that covers the majority of your field of vision. The game includes 5.1 surround sound (with two speakers on either side of the headrest), controller vibration, seat vibration, and an air fan.
The game is controlled via throttle handle which you can push or pull to change speed, and a joystick with a trigger to shoot, and top button to fire missiles. There is also a “Change View” button which toggles the “realistic view” that you would see from the seat of the vehicle if you were actually in it (like the metal casing holding the window panes of the X-Wing). I usually leave this turned on as I think it helps you feel more immersed).
HUD Elements
The in-game HUD is comprised of an aiming reticle denoted by a large circle, a score tracker, and health meter. The reticle, which is smartly designed, contains an image of your ship, a health meter below, as well as curved segmented weapon power gauge on either side indicating weapon power. This power gauge decreases from shooting, and when it reaches about 25% power left, a red blinking warning indicator saying “LOW POWER” appears below the health meter as well as the inner circle of the reticle turns red.
Additionally, throughout gameplay text pop-ups showing dialogue text, score bonuses, and combo scores appear inside the reticle. Your total score is also displayed in the top left of the screen.
At the end each of mission, your total score is converted into "stars" showing you how well you did, which can serve as motivation to try and do better next time. Check out this link to see a video from Team VVV playing through all the missions (except Takodana) to get a better idea of how the game plays.
The core gameplay consists of moving the joystick (which has inverted controls) to aim at enemy planes and firing at them until they are destroyed. If you do not destroy enemies fast enough, they will perform a counterattack and deal damage to you. You can receive score bonuses and combos for things like achieving quick kills, or having good accuracy. Destroying enemies “resets” the reticle (blooms out and then contracts) and provides the player with text showing you the number of points gained from the kill.
Throughout the mission, on-screen tutorials teach the player the controls of the game (such as pushing throttle to speed up, pressing the button on the joystick to fire missiles, and moving your joystick towards the highlighted arrows to find enemy ships).
Overall ‘Immersiveness’
The inclusion of a dome 74” screen, along with the closed space you sit in, is by far the biggest contributor to experiencing immersion in Star Wars Battle Pod. As the screen is so large, nearly all of your vision is encompassed by the game, and due to the nature of the booth, you are secluded from the outside, greatly reducing the likelihood to become distracted from extraneous stimuli. While the graphics and screen resolution aren’t the most visually impressive I’ve ever seen, this is somewhat irrelevant as concentrating on fast paced action on such a large screen distracts the player from “nitpicking” things like graphic or audio quality, provided that they are subconsciously deemed ‘good enough’ by the player; this is actually known as ‘Tactical Immersion’ (Adams, 2004).
Jamie Madigan’s notion of “multiple channels of sensory information” (which is derived from Wirth et al., 2007’s Spatial Situation Model) is directly relevant in these kinds of games as the more senses that are activated within the player, the better they work together, and the more immersed they will feel (2010).
For example, taking damage from an enemy causes a visual effect on screen showing the laser hitting your ship, which are accompanied by sound effects, which then triggers the seat and joystick to vibrate.
What’s also super cool is that the “Home Version” of Star Wars Battle Pod includes an enhanced seat which moves/reacts to the gameplay, likely increasing the feeling of immersion during gameplay (if only I had $13,000 to blow on it).
From my research of immersion in video games, I’ve noticed that sometimes the ‘little things’ can have the biggest impact on one’s sense of immersion. For example, the inclusion of an air fan is an amazing minor feature that goes a long way into enhancing the player’s sense of immersion. The fan increases in speed when you increase the throttle of your ship, which then plays louder “flying audio”, and subsequently increases the intensity of visual “air streaks” coming off the sides of your ship, really making you feel like you are flying at high speed.
Although the game does a great job and making you feel like you are actually piloting a ship, the number of on-screen elements (i.e. press the joystick button to fire missiles, and arrow indicators showing you the location of the next enemy) can detract from the overall experience and remind players that they are actually playing a video game, decreasing their immersion. However, as stated before, since this is such a fast-paced game, players might not process this information enough to “break” or “reduce” their level of immersion as they are focused on the rapid succession of tasks.
Additionally, maintaining an “unbroken presentation of the game world”, (also derived from Wirth et al. 2007’s Spatial Situation Model) or reducing the number of “breaks” in gameplay (like the fadeout that occurs here) can increase the level of immersion a player experiences in a game (Madigan, 2010). In the example I listed above, the game world suddenly disappears and you are presented with a new screen with large text indicating your new objective. I believe this may have been included as a way to give players a short rest during the mission, however, I would have preferred it if the alert was simply a pop-up overlaid on the HUD.
While Star Wars Battle Pod is not as immersive as it could be, it is important to remember that the most immersive game is not necessarily always the “best” game to play. Since the screen can often be cluttered with images and other enemy ships, HUD elements like arrow indicators showing you where the enemy is, or when to fire a missile are crucial to enhancing user experience. However, there are clever ways to include important information to the player through “realistic” HUD elements. A good example of this is when the player is low on weapon power or how much health they have left on their ship.
I’d imagine there was much debate during development between reducing the amount of information on the screen to remain “as immersive as possible” and a sentiment to be “as fun, accessible to all, and easy to play as possible”. Based on the end product, it is pretty clear to see “who won”, because at the end of the day, Star Wars Battle Pod is meant to be played in public settings and garner as much revenue as it possibly can. If the game is too difficult or not fun for players, then no one will play it, which won’t make the arcade any money, and will reduce the likelihood for that arcade to buy a new game from the same developer. With these constraints, I think Star Wars Battle Pod does the best job that it possibly can at making you “feel” like you are piloting one of these vehicles without harming the player’s experience.
I do wish they would have included some battles from the prequels though; it would’ve been awesome to fly alongside Anakin and Obi-Wan and blow up some Vulture droids.
Soaring through the air as you perform barrel rolls, dodge structures, and weave through the legs of AT-ATs taking down enemy TIE fighters is just pure awesomeness. I really can’t recommend playing this game enough, so go try it out because...
Adams, E. (2014). Fundamentals of game design (3rd ed.). Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
Madigan, J. (2010, July 27). The Psychology of Immersion in Video Games. Retrieved June 6, 2017, from http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2010/07/the-psychology-of-immersion-in-video-games/
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| Here is an image of the Battle Pod. |
Controls
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| What the controller looks like. |
HUD Elements
The in-game HUD is comprised of an aiming reticle denoted by a large circle, a score tracker, and health meter. The reticle, which is smartly designed, contains an image of your ship, a health meter below, as well as curved segmented weapon power gauge on either side indicating weapon power. This power gauge decreases from shooting, and when it reaches about 25% power left, a red blinking warning indicator saying “LOW POWER” appears below the health meter as well as the inner circle of the reticle turns red.
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| A screenshot of the game HUD. You can see the power gauge along the sides of the circle as well as the total score and points gained from a recent kill. |
Additionally, throughout gameplay text pop-ups showing dialogue text, score bonuses, and combo scores appear inside the reticle. Your total score is also displayed in the top left of the screen.
At the end each of mission, your total score is converted into "stars" showing you how well you did, which can serve as motivation to try and do better next time. Check out this link to see a video from Team VVV playing through all the missions (except Takodana) to get a better idea of how the game plays.
Gameplay
The core gameplay consists of moving the joystick (which has inverted controls) to aim at enemy planes and firing at them until they are destroyed. If you do not destroy enemies fast enough, they will perform a counterattack and deal damage to you. You can receive score bonuses and combos for things like achieving quick kills, or having good accuracy. Destroying enemies “resets” the reticle (blooms out and then contracts) and provides the player with text showing you the number of points gained from the kill.
Throughout the mission, on-screen tutorials teach the player the controls of the game (such as pushing throttle to speed up, pressing the button on the joystick to fire missiles, and moving your joystick towards the highlighted arrows to find enemy ships).
Overall ‘Immersiveness’
The inclusion of a dome 74” screen, along with the closed space you sit in, is by far the biggest contributor to experiencing immersion in Star Wars Battle Pod. As the screen is so large, nearly all of your vision is encompassed by the game, and due to the nature of the booth, you are secluded from the outside, greatly reducing the likelihood to become distracted from extraneous stimuli. While the graphics and screen resolution aren’t the most visually impressive I’ve ever seen, this is somewhat irrelevant as concentrating on fast paced action on such a large screen distracts the player from “nitpicking” things like graphic or audio quality, provided that they are subconsciously deemed ‘good enough’ by the player; this is actually known as ‘Tactical Immersion’ (Adams, 2004).
 |
| Here you can see the visual "air streaks" outside the cockpit of your fighter. |
For example, taking damage from an enemy causes a visual effect on screen showing the laser hitting your ship, which are accompanied by sound effects, which then triggers the seat and joystick to vibrate.
What’s also super cool is that the “Home Version” of Star Wars Battle Pod includes an enhanced seat which moves/reacts to the gameplay, likely increasing the feeling of immersion during gameplay (if only I had $13,000 to blow on it).
From my research of immersion in video games, I’ve noticed that sometimes the ‘little things’ can have the biggest impact on one’s sense of immersion. For example, the inclusion of an air fan is an amazing minor feature that goes a long way into enhancing the player’s sense of immersion. The fan increases in speed when you increase the throttle of your ship, which then plays louder “flying audio”, and subsequently increases the intensity of visual “air streaks” coming off the sides of your ship, really making you feel like you are flying at high speed.
Although the game does a great job and making you feel like you are actually piloting a ship, the number of on-screen elements (i.e. press the joystick button to fire missiles, and arrow indicators showing you the location of the next enemy) can detract from the overall experience and remind players that they are actually playing a video game, decreasing their immersion. However, as stated before, since this is such a fast-paced game, players might not process this information enough to “break” or “reduce” their level of immersion as they are focused on the rapid succession of tasks.
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| My favorite sequence in the Hoth mission. You fly sideways alongside a cliff while you fly between AT-ATs. So badass |
Additionally, maintaining an “unbroken presentation of the game world”, (also derived from Wirth et al. 2007’s Spatial Situation Model) or reducing the number of “breaks” in gameplay (like the fadeout that occurs here) can increase the level of immersion a player experiences in a game (Madigan, 2010). In the example I listed above, the game world suddenly disappears and you are presented with a new screen with large text indicating your new objective. I believe this may have been included as a way to give players a short rest during the mission, however, I would have preferred it if the alert was simply a pop-up overlaid on the HUD.
While Star Wars Battle Pod is not as immersive as it could be, it is important to remember that the most immersive game is not necessarily always the “best” game to play. Since the screen can often be cluttered with images and other enemy ships, HUD elements like arrow indicators showing you where the enemy is, or when to fire a missile are crucial to enhancing user experience. However, there are clever ways to include important information to the player through “realistic” HUD elements. A good example of this is when the player is low on weapon power or how much health they have left on their ship.
I’d imagine there was much debate during development between reducing the amount of information on the screen to remain “as immersive as possible” and a sentiment to be “as fun, accessible to all, and easy to play as possible”. Based on the end product, it is pretty clear to see “who won”, because at the end of the day, Star Wars Battle Pod is meant to be played in public settings and garner as much revenue as it possibly can. If the game is too difficult or not fun for players, then no one will play it, which won’t make the arcade any money, and will reduce the likelihood for that arcade to buy a new game from the same developer. With these constraints, I think Star Wars Battle Pod does the best job that it possibly can at making you “feel” like you are piloting one of these vehicles without harming the player’s experience.
I do wish they would have included some battles from the prequels though; it would’ve been awesome to fly alongside Anakin and Obi-Wan and blow up some Vulture droids.
Soaring through the air as you perform barrel rolls, dodge structures, and weave through the legs of AT-ATs taking down enemy TIE fighters is just pure awesomeness. I really can’t recommend playing this game enough, so go try it out because...
The prequels are better than the sequels (I hate Jar Jar though).
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Citations
Madigan, J. (2010, July 27). The Psychology of Immersion in Video Games. Retrieved June 6, 2017, from http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2010/07/the-psychology-of-immersion-in-video-games/
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