What secrets lie within the textures of our games? Are games capable of introducing symbolic messages to the degree as great novelists, painters and, er, gardeners?
Over on Terra Nova, Nate Combs asks for readers to fess up about hidden messages they've uncovered in the landscapes of computer games. It's a lovely idea: that designers plant symbolic representations into games that many will blindly strafe past, while others will recognise their meanings. Based on a Time Team special (Secrets of the Stately Garden, aired on Channel 4 in late August) in which the inimitable Tony Robinson seeks out the saucy hidden messages planted by gardeners in the landscapes, he comments:
I am trying to think if there is any comparable example in virtual worlds where messages are puzzled into the backdrop after the backdrop has been cast. To scope this a bit:
- I don't mean "easter-eggs" where a developer (traditionally) or a user (user-created content) creates a narrow portal into some otherness;
- I also don't mean "sloganeering" - e.g. corpse graffiti, arranging consumables or cans (as in UO or Eve Online, respectively) to spell words, etc.
- User-created content (e.g. Second Life) presents an interesting challenge - i.e. should a virtualized political campaign be considered on par with a politicized English garden?
I'll leave (3.) to the Second Lifers (et al) to decide, but I am hoping for examples of where messages and symbols have become integrated within the fabric of that world. Think organic and gardens. If you can think of an example, let me then ask, has the message then improved or distracted your journey?
Thoughts? Are there any subtle symbolic messages in levels you have seen?
