What do you call the segmented action sequences in video games? “Board” seems to be the least popular; I think I’ve only seen it in print once (and it might have been a newsgroup). But it’s was the only word people in my neighborhood used (god, what a dork you would have been if you used the word “level”. Cue wimpy, naieve, nasal voice: “Hey, you guys! What level are you on?” ::snicker::). “Stage” and “level” seem to be used interchangably throughout the industry, so I assume most people use those interchangably as well. Does anyone else go with “board” though, or at least stick with one and find the others weird?
It’s always been “level” for me and mine.
Another leveller here.
Not even close to an official dseignation but here goes:
Board is a holdover from the days when all the action took place on a single screen and advancing in the game actually changed the “board” you played on.
World is a section of a game that features a similar naming or design structure. For example: 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, and 4-4 in Super Mario Bros. are all part of World 4. Many modern action games use the more military sounding Mission for this.
Level and Stage are interchangeable and is each individual part of a world that has a beginning and an end. Using the above example, you would point to Level 4-1.
I don’t think I’ve ever run across “board” for action games. Usually “level,” because you can expect things to get more difficult as the game progresses - it’s a new level of difficulty.
How about “map”? I’ve mostly hear that term used to describe different battlegrounds in multiplayer combat games like Quake, but I’ve sometimes heard it used for single-player levels too. The console command to switch maps in the Quake series is “map ###” where ### is the name of the map, but the term was probably used before that.
I’m a board man myself.
Zone is another rare one. Or Mission, depending on the type of game.
I think it depends on what it’s called in the game documentation.
Well of course if the game itself gives it a special name that’s really convincing, we’ll go for that, but what about when they try and fail. I mean, who calls the levels in Sonic “Acts”?
board is if your playing a game with few screens with diffrent levels that are just rearangements. puzzle games mostly.
level is for if the whole game is just “level 1, level 2, level 3…level N” with no grouping
stage is when there is worlds and levels. stage 5-1 stage 5- stage 5-3 stage 5-1…ect
something like that…
Generally, I find that my use of the other terms depends on the mode of gameplay- if it’s a single-player level, I generally call it a “level” or “stage.” The exception is in large RPGs like Knights of the Old Republic, when “world” is the only word that truly fits. Multiplayer arenas I almost invariably call “maps,” especially in real-time strategy games.
I never use “board,” as I don’t associate the term with video games- on the few occasions that I hear someone say it, I find myself wondering how board games got involved in the conversation.
Are you calling old Bill a liar? Everyone knows that all the world’s a stage!
As a youth, I mostly called them “levels”, but occasionally “stage” or “map” depending on context (“map” mostly just when referring to the terrain layout, not the monsters or their habits). I wouldn’t call something a “board” unless it’s based on some sort of tabletop (i.e., non-computer) game. And “mission” is only used for military-style games (Doom and its grandchildren, most RTS, etc.), but in that context, I would say it’s one individual sequence, between debriefings, rather than a cluster of similar sequences. In a military game, a cluster of missions is a campaign.
Oh, and pizzabrat, my friends and I always call them “acts.” 