Modules by Sirous Namazi
Article courtesy of THE GAMEology
THE GAME (G.3) constantly changes and grows so it is helpful if as many of the components within G.3 and its derivatives maintain a degree of familiarity for its observers and more importantly its participants. Using modules may not be the most purely innovative route to creating Games, but it can get large parts of a Game up and running quickly while creating a sense of familiarity fans and participants may desire.
When creating a Game, a module can consist of any number of established nodes (in whole or in part) that have already been blended or linked together (nodes that have already been created, documented and are “familiar” to an established fanbase) and can be pieced together with other nodes or modules. Although certain aspects of a Game, specifically the new parts of a Game (in the zones, the virtual and physical spaces between nodes) that link the existing nodes or modules together, may be completely new and unfamiliar, using modules helps ensure that recurrent or familiar aspects of a Game are in place; making the blends, transitions or linkages between nodes or modules easy to visualize and follow (for fans and participants).
For example, when linking the nodes of water polo and association football, one can select modules consisting of individual players, a group of players, an entire side in or on the field of play or a specific rule from either node and then link these desired modules together through the actions of W players in the transitional zones—where multiple nodes intersect with each other. In this example, a W player near the edge of a football pitch wearing a hybrid uniform in the colors and design of his affiliated football side and water polo team would, according to G.3 rules, be allowed to move freely in a zone between the pitch and the pool; transitioning in and out of football and water polo as the flow of the two independently, but parallel running games would require. By utilizing this example of a system of linking nodes through W players, one can preserve the basic structure of the existing nodes, while deriving new and interesting extensions and at the same time create new connections to other nodes.
