Id Software refers to the term entering the "fun zone" as that environment where the player is completely dominating the situation.
DOOM Eternal has not only been a success for national and international critics, but also in sales. The new installment of the popular id Software and Bethesda saga continues to speak on forums and social networks for its quality, a design that has been perfected with respect to the work published in 2016. Hugo Martin, creative director of the game, explained what that he considers the "fun zone" of the experience.
The term "being in the zone" or "flow", as English speakers call it, is something rooted in video games when we are in a moment of immersion and mastery of the situation such that we let ourselves go; a kind of mental connection to the game in which we can chain hits to a level above normal. At id Software they are aware that this “zone” exists in DOOM Eternal, that is why they designed the game so that the players could feel inside that “fun zone”, which makes both first premises emerge with fun.
Doom Eternal | id Software
When you absolutely master the game: the concept of "fun zone"
For Martin, balancing the moments of maximum tension and mastery of the game in DOOM Eternal with fun was essential; as well as not generating frustration or fatigue with the passing of the hours. "We want you to be tactically aggressive," he begins, saying in a meeting with Polygon. “It is not about being aggressive all the time because that can lead to repetitive individual action. Knowing when to be aggressive and exactly how to be aggressive is going to lead to the most addictive experience possible. And that commitment is the key to the fun zone, ”he explains.
Nicholas Matthews, a researcher at The Ohio State University, explains that this sensation is a cognitive state that resides in the brain. “It emerges under a series of specific circumstances. It is a pattern of neural firing or cognitive processes that only occurs when we have that link between how difficult the action is and your skill level. ”
DOOM Eternal is out now on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia. Later it will be released on Nintendo Switch.
Track | Polygon
