Have you ever heard of directional dyslexia?

[ZZZ]

I was researching some material to add to my level design site when I stumbled upon a curious condition. Some people are unable to memorize routes and get lost. While I was reading about level design I've accidentaly found about a condition that leaves a person unable to memorize a route. Level design has many sub-areas and one of them is giving the player directions. In some games the level design is poor and the player is lost with no clear indication of where to go. I've found out that the same can happen in real life and in some extreme cases it can be disorienting for a person to go to the bathroom in a school. They just can't memorize the route from class to bathroom and from bathroom to class.

In Shadow Warrior 2013 they made the mistake of putting strong lights in dead ends or in the background, missguiding the player. In Alan Wake it's the opposite, light is very well used and you can trust light to guide yourself. It seems that some people are unable to recognize clues to follow a path. That or they have memorie issues that prevent them from memorizing a map.

https://www.dyslexia-reading-well.com/directional-dyslexia.html

Edited September 23, 2021 by 0kelvin

[blackdog]

19 hours ago, 0kelvin said:

Some people are unable to memorize routes and get lost.

That’s not a condition, that’s how women naturally are

 

 

#sexistjokes aside, that’s really interesting. There’s all this bunch of interesting research and tangentially interests level designers, I remember @FMPONE (if I recall correctly) mentioning about right and left turns? (I think something from mall navigation?)

Edited September 24, 2021 by blackdog

[FMPONE]

I’m no expert on the literature, but tendencies of movement, I’m sure it’s one of those things that conforms to predictable patterns. 

[blackdog]

That’s a very interesting thing to see in testing. What game was the map for @zastels?

I imagine I would be tempted to do the same, given the right movement options… I guess going through the main door is too mundane and people play games to do what they normally can’t.