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The term open-ended (non-linear or freeform can also be used) refers to dynamic situations or scenarios (specifically in computer and video games) that allow the individual to determine the outcome, rather than result in a predetermined one.
Conventions Open-ended games generally follow several recurring conventions and styles. They include: Early open-ended games Before the 32/64-bit era of computer and video games true open-ended games were rare due to the physical limitations of late 20th century technology. However, in the late 1990s open-ended CRPGs and strategy games began to become fiercely popular amongst the gaming community because of the sense of freedom and hours of replayability they often awarded the player. These earlier open-ended games allowed players to make limited decisions on how they played the game, but were still restrictive in certain aspects. Many were confined to particular storylines or suffered from lingering sequencing (where a player is forced to complete a task in order to continue anything else in the game) by the developers. As was mentioned previously, this was mostly due to the amount of memory true open-ended games required, and the technological limitations of the time. Contemporary open-ended games Today, more and more genres are integrating the open-ended style of gameplay. Because of the increase in memory capacity on many storage mediums (CDs, DVDs), developers are opening many new avenues in open-ended gaming, in some cases removing all instances of linearity. Some contemporary and future open-ended games include: See also | ||||||||
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