FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION
Functions of the Core Mechanics in Operation
During play, the core mechanics (as implemented by the game engine) operate behind the scenes to create and manage gameplay for the player, keep track of everything that happens in the game world, and work with the storytelling engine to help tell the story. The following list details what core mechanics do:
■ Operate the internal economy of the game. The core mechanics specify how the game or the player creates, distributes, and uses up the goods on which the game bases its economy. This function is the most important role of the core mechanics. The later section "The Internal Economy" addresses this in detail.
■ Present active challenges to the player via the user interface, as the level design specifies. Active challenges are those governed by mechanics. Passive challenges, such as a chasm that the avatar must jump over, don't have mechanics of their own. The later section "Challenges and the Core Mechanics" discusses the distinction between active and passive challenges.
■ Accept player actions from the user interface and implement their effects upon the game world and other players.
■ Detect victory or loss, and the termination conditions of the game. More generally, the mechanics detect success or failure in all challenges in the game, and apply whatever consequences the rules call for.
■ Operate the artificial intelligence of nonplayer characters and artificial opponents.
■ Switch the game from mode to mode. The core mechanics keep track of the current gameplay mode and, whenever a mode change occurs (either because the nature of the game requires it or the player requests it), the core mechanics switch modes and signal the user interface to update the UI accordingly.
■ Transmit triggers to the storytelling engine when game events or player actions that influence the plot occur.
