Rules of Context and Code

Rules of context and rules of code determine whether immersion is achieved when a player plays a video game. Technically, all rules of context are determined by the rules of code, since the rules of code are everything that defines the video game, but let us refer to the rules of context as the aesthetic and narrative traits a game possesses.

These different types of rules must first be defined. Rules laid down by the context can be broken, and as such are “soft” rules. For example, in Gears of War, the cover based mechanic is a rule that says if you are in cover, you have an advantageous position to one that is not in cover. However, one can play through the campaign mode completely ignoring cover and still succeed, albeit with a slightly harder experience than if one were to use cover. Another example is the ability of player characters to jump on command as seen in cutscenes in Resident Evil 5 (this ability is not actually allowed in the game, breaking the immersion, as stated below). Rules of context most commonly involve mechanics of games, but they also include some rules created when the narrative allows.

Rules created by the code cannot be broken. These rules include boundaries, weapon damage, run speed, and any other calculation-based axiom that the game must subscribe to. Only through programming oversight can these rules be broken, and even then, the rules are not actually being “broken”, but manipulated in a way to cause circumstances unusual to the game’s context.

A conflict of design and code become apparent when the player tries to “break” rules laid down by code when believing that he is following rules set by the design. A common example of this conflict is the invisible wall, in which the player believes that he or she is capable of passing through an area restricted by code. The reason for this conflict is created by the context of the world the player inhabits. If the designer has created a context that makes an action seem legal, the player will always attempt to perform such an action.

The problem with expanding the scope of a game’s context is that when a designer expands the scope of a game, he or she allows more actions that can be performed through the rules laid down by design. In Grand Theft Auto, a seemingly realistic city that is inhabited by many occupants allows the player to enter buildings. Thus, a rule that the player is allowed to enter buildings is laid down by the design. However, the game does not allow all buildings to be entered, as rendering and coding the number of buildings present in that game would take much more time. This also happens with Resident Evil 5, as player characters are portrayed as very athletically fit and able. When the player desires to jump over an object he cannot get past, though, he finds that he is unable to, even though the cutscene witnessed previously shows the player character jumping many times (using instanced jumping “areas” does not count as the ability to jump).

A player is immersed in the world he is playing in the video game if these rules of design and code agree with each other. When these two sets of rules agree, the player will no longer feel compelled to break any rules from both sets, because the context gives him no reason not think he can break rules created by the code, and the code is constructed in such a manner as to prevent a circumstance that results in the breaking of a context rule. When a rule of context gives the player the impression that he can do something that is prohibited by a rule of code (or vice versa), immersion is broken.