Why Care about Virtual Landscapes? Immersive open world gaming related to positive health

Abstract

For some reason many people enjoy, spend long hours and pay for being out on virtual fields, playing an avatar that needs to hunt, prey, hide, survive and interact with all kinds of programmed entities and online players. Surely the designers and programmers deserve praise for their efforts and achievements in yearly progress on more detailed and increasingly immersive virtual experiences. But does that suffice to care about virtual landscapes other than classifying them as artificial places for fun and diversion? In this paper I will make a first attempt to relate virtual landscape experiences to accumulated insights in environmental psychology and theories on landscape aesthetics. My aim is to argue convincingly that open world gaming in virtual landscapes contribute to positive health, additionally to and perhaps even equal to real outdoor alternatives. I will also present a descriptive framework to describe the designerly elements present in one specific example of a recent open world game: Red Dead Redemption II (Rockstar 2018). Figure 1: Artwork Red Dead Redemption II, Rockstar Games A TASTE OF GAME EXPERIENCE Still in my pyjama’s, with fresh coffee made, I boot the system to engage with another episode of my Red Dead Redemption II experience. Headphones ready, just a short while now, before the familiar set of loading screens fluently render into an opening scene. My outlaw character appears, leaning against a bolder, sometimes squatting near to a ridge, patiently enjoying the view. As soon as I caress my finger against the controller, Arthur Morgan responds, stretches and grunts. Depending on the location I last left this causes a dust upheaval, stirs a bypassing character to politely greet, or makes my faithful horse neigh. It may be that the sun is rising, it may be raining or it may be that wild animals are grazing close by, not yet noticing me. As soon as I gain full control, the environment is responsive and I am visually and auditory captivated; such richness of sounds, subtle movements of vegetation and in the sky. My aim for now? I could finish unfinished business or scout the map for highlighted locations. I could just roam around freely.