Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design

Special Design Considerations for Vehicle Simulations

Some design issues are particular to vehicle simulations and are described in the following sections.

Creating the Sense of Speed

In a flight simulation, there's little need for a sense of speed because simply flying fast is rarely the point. Most players either are trying to fly accurately and aerobatically or are engaging in aerial combat. Although speed is an important factor in the game, conveying that sense to the player isn't critical to the experience.

In driving simulations, however, the sense of speed is all-important. Here are some ways to create it:

• Give the player a speedometer. This is the most obvious way to inform a player of his speed, but it creates a purely logical awareness, ...