An analysis of game environments as measured by fractal
complexity
Daniel Della-Bosca Dr Dale Patterson
Griffith University Parklands Drive Griffith University Parklands Drive
Southport QLD 4222 Southport QLD 4222
61 7 555 29302 61 7 555 28111
d.della-bosca@griffith.edu.au d.patterson@griffith.edu.au
ABSTRACT
The aesthetics of the games environment can sometimes be of
secondary consideration to gameplay. This research is concerned
with the reception of the ‘pictorial space’ by the viewer and how
the viewer’s experience may be modified either positively or
negatively, by variance in the level of complexity within the
scene. Previous participant studies by the authors and others, point
to preference ranges of two dimensional images by viewers. This
paper draws from those conclusions to analyze existing game
artwork using proprietary box counting methods to reveal levels
of complexity as measured by fractal dimension. The outcomes of
the modest research and analysis presented are potentially
valuable in confirming the importance of careful attention to the
crafting of game environments and a healthy balance between
content creation and procedural generation. The research also
posits that fractal analysis can be a valuable tool in early stage
testing for experience and interaction design and ultimately help
in contributing to a meaningful experience for the game player.
CCS Concepts
Human-centered computing ➝ Interaction design➝
Interaction design theory, concepts and paradigms.
Applied computing ➝ Computing in other domains➝
Computer games.
Keywords
Fractal; games; complexity; aesthetics; pictorial space; landscape
Introduction; the Game and Landscape
The idea of the game has for a long time been evolving beyond
mere entertainment to be a meaningful platform for aesthetic
experience, and the responsibilities of aesthetic engagement with
the intended audience requires game developers and content
designers to be considerate and mindful of the viewers experience.
The computer generated games environment in various mediums
has the potential to be not just entertaining but can significantly
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3014812.3014877.
Scott Roberts
Griffith University Parklands Drive
Southport QLD 4222
61 7 555 28190
s.roberts@griffith.edu.au
contribute to the well-being of the participant if carefully
constructed. The reverse is also true, if arbitrary and irresponsible
decisions are made in respect to compositional structure, design
elements and principles, pace and sound, the participant may be
negatively affected by some aspects of the game.
The human and the realm external to the human, the place to
which we belong to, or dream of, Landscape concerns an
emotional, intellectual and spiritual connection to a realm either
physical or imagined.
John Ruskin in 1856, wrote of the transformative powers of the
pictorial scene, and though in the first volume wrote of the
accuracy of depiction or representation, he embraced abstraction
and symbolism in later volumes. Ruskin asks, what is the effect of
the pleasure of taking in landscape and interestingly for
contemporary viewers of landscape, whether it is a ‘safe or a
seductive pleasure.’ he continues
“May we wisely boast (of this pleasure), and unhesitatingly
indulge in it? Or is it rather a sentiment to be despised when it is
slight, and condemned when it is intense [1]”.
The environmental renderings of Joan Fontcuberta offer a true
contemporary critique of landscape. As published in the book
‘Landscapes without Memory’, Fontcuberta shows the process of
terrain generation using ‘Terragen’ software, as he describes, the
software is forced into creating terrain not from maps but from
other landscapes [2] Fontcuberta in his manipulations of image
and terrain delves deep into the philosophies of landscape and in
particular the cognitive dissonance in perceiving the unexpected.
Fontcubertas landscapes without memory offer crucial reflection
for the creators of environment for computer games. Arbitrary
decisions permitted by unleashing procedural generation perhaps
trap us, as the viewing audience, in a realm where our aesthetic
experience is stifled. It can here be argued that the necessity for
image creation is to involve skilled and experienced artistry
informed by design elements and principles.
The opportunity this permits as a consequence is the critique of
procedural generation itself and the aesthetic dialogue invoked in
the correlation of individual/ personal artistic attention and
algorithmic procedure. Fontcuberta reveals that his images are of
a class that lie “between the virtual and the real, perhaps
prompting us to understand not only that every image is a trap, but
also that only fiction is now possible, and that we live embedded
inside it [3]”.
The idea of landscape has changed radically from Ruskin’s time
to now, but Fontcuberta offers us the same message as Ruskin and
that is, the images of landscape are never truly passive and require
critique.
Pictorial Space
A selection of in-game screenshots of environments were
analysed for this study. In total a set of 45 images were chosen
and seven variants of fractal analysis were used for each image.
Immersive games of the adventure puzzle genre were chosen
mostly for this study along with some environments from arcade
and MMORPG to seek potential differences between genres.
The majority of the games chosen for inclusion in this study
represent exemplars of immersive experience particularly the
series of Myst games from the original to Myst Five; End of Ages.
The rationale of choosing games that represent immersive
experience was to particularly separate the environment or
background from more active gameplay and involvement of
characters [4], the adventure or adventure puzzle genre of games
from their inception demonstrate the capacity of extended
engagement of the participant with environment or landscape.
Hsu and Chen reference Stephen Boyd Davis by dictating what
game elements are active or passive and also details nomenclature
for game elements [5]. The term ‘pictorial interface’ is used to
describe the spatial environment of the game during gameplay.
Boyd Davis very eloquently locates the pictorial space within the
game environment by its correlations to the history of art and film
in precise ways and he offers us the tools to critique the pictorial
interface through perceptual theory of diegetic space [6].
The notion of diegetic space is crucial to the discussion
concerning the seemingly passive nature of the game
environment/ landscape / pictorial space. Boyd Davis speaks of
the diegetic space in film as that which the characters of the film
interact with. Similarly he states in games, there is a ‘diegetic
world occupied by the scenery and characters [7]. Importantly for
this study, the games that are analysed for their environments or
pictorial space are of the immersive type and have been carefully
chosen to begin to shed light on newly emerging possibilities for
immersive games developed for virtual frameworks. The
adventure puzzle genre of games with Myst as one of the earliest
examples, to Obduction and No Mans Sky as the newest
proponents of this level of immersion all strongly question the
participants role in diegetic space. As the history of art has always
challenged our perception of environment by questioning our
relationship of re-presented space; so does the game, by placing
the participant in that environment. The games of the adventure
puzzle genre not only exhibit the capacity to immerse us in a rich
and captivating pictorial space, but those same spaces possess the
capacity to be playable. The scene/ environment/ pictorial space
can also operate as extra diegetic space which can be interacted
with.
E H Gombrich spoke of the divide between pictographic and
photographic space [8], whilst Boyd Davis writes of the
enmeshing of configurational and pictorial space. Games in
general can simultaneously exhibit the characteristics of both
configurational and pictorial space, whilst the adventure puzzle
game in particular seeks to challenge the passivity of pictorial
space by opening the potential for interactivity with the scene
itself.
An essential feature of adventure puzzle games in particular is the
immersion in environment. The concept of presence however
requires careful address, as immersion for immersions sake is not
the sole requirement for pleasurable or meaningful navigation of
the games environment [9][10]. Theresa Ditton and Matthew
Lombard clearly identified distinct conceptualizations of presence
within games, including of course immersion and realism, but also
relational to this study, presence as transportation [11]. Ditton and
Lombard refer to the first mode of presence as transportation by
describing it simply as ‘you are there [12]’. The idea of this
modality is as ancient as all human narrative and is summed up in
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s, notion of the willing suspension of
disbelief [13]. This term has served literature, film and now the
experience of computer games very well, particularly as the
cornerstone of interaction within the adventure puzzle genre.
Boyd Davis concludes his paper on the pictorial imperative by
stating ‘there are signs in several media of a tendency towards a
spatially integrated pictorial diegesis [14]’. The adventure puzzle
genre demonstrates this tendency. It stands as a benchmark for
interactive experience particularly pointing at emerging virtual
reality and augmented reality frameworks. These games and
experiences by their structure and composition permit the
development of presence in many forms.
For these reasons of negotiating and understanding the
philosophical qualities of presence, a range of adventure puzzle
games, and others, were chosen from past exemplars to emerging
benchmarks of experience. The question engendered by this
exercise though, is how to assess this experience. The modest task
of this research is simply to begin a form of analysis of the
environment/ scene/ pictorial space of the game that can reveal
levels of complexity that may impact on the participant’s
experience. Static images have been used for this research and
that does have an impact on the level of immersion assessed.
Immersive qualities such as flow [15] should be addressed over
time as that is the experience of the participant. The analysis of
scene is but one method of determining the participant’s level of
engagement with the game overall.
Fractal Analysis
Several research studies, including those of the authors, have
measured the aesthetic preferences of participants with regard to
images with varying levels of fractal complexity, indicating an
average aesthetic preference for a fractal complexity level in the
range of 1.3 to 1.5 [16][17][18]. The repeated findings of Deborah
Aks, Julien Sprott, Branka Spehar , Ben Newell and Richard
Taylor, along with many more served as a foundation to the
determination of aesthetic preference of the two dimensional
image.
This particular study, and the papers referred to, have utilised
various forms of box counting methods to determine the fractal
dimension of an image. The fractal dimension is identified using
software that seeks structures, shapes, lines and edges at varying
scales. The software used for this study includes Image J and Frac
Lac [19][20].
Within the two dimensional plane there exists a range of possible
levels of fractal complexity. For example the 2D fractal dimension
(D value) ranges anywhere between 1.0 and 2.0. A pattern or
image that fills the plane in very simplistic terms (a low order of
roughness/irregularity) has a D value close to 1, and a pattern that
fills the plane with detailed and intricate structure will have a D
value close to 2. The algorithm is called, the "box counting"
method. In the simplest terms, the routine counts the number of
boxes of a given size needed to cover a one pixel wide, binary
(black on white) border. The procedure is repeated for boxes that
are 2 to 64 pixels wide. The output consists of two columns
labeled "size" and "count". A plot is generated with the log of size
on the x-axis and the log of count on the y-axis and the data is
fitted with a straight line. The slope (S) of the line is the negative
of the fractal dimension, i.e. D=-S [21].

Figure 3 No Mans Sky; Outline, 1.3793D

Figure 1. Log Log Plot ( No Mans Sky)
The analysis of game images for this study used a variety of
techniques for calculating fractal dimension inclusive of; standard
box counts using 9 scaled sizes of boxes, average sampling of
dimensional value, change of grid size, creation of one pixel width
outline, image sharpening and finally a differential grey box
count. The variations in technique sought to account for
stylistically differing production and rendering techniques from
game to game. Some games were rendered with softer edges
which changed the d value to a certain extent whilst some games
were rendered with a smaller tonal grade than others. The
differing techniques of analysis sought to examine shifts obtained
in dimensional value and why.
The study began with the assumption that a variance in
complexity within game environments or pictorial space may
account for variations in preference in respect to the participant’s
response. Initially it was assumed that an extended immersive
experience could have some correlation to a fractal dimension as
perceived to be aesthetically pleasing. The initial analysis of game
images followed the protocols recommended by developers and
by users particularly within the scientific community. In Game
screen shots were processed as bitmap images and then the
contours were extracted for analysis.
One of the first series of images to be analysed were from the long
awaited, No Mans Sky [22]. This game was chosen as it
demonstrates a high use of procedurally generated content and as
such the fractal algorithms underpinning the game itself were
presumed to be revealed in fractal analysis.
The standard box counting method did show a reasonable fractal
dimension as the above image analysed at a dimensional value of
1.3793. This points to an image of this nature presenting a fractal
dimension that sits within a preference range of 1.3 to 1.5D.
However, using the FracLac plug in and analyzing the original
image converted to greyscale we are surprised to see a much
higher dimensional value of 1.5336. The grayscale analysis
method was used on quite a few images when it became necessary
to ascertain what constituted a potential shift in degree of
complexity. Recent Games were mostly chosen for the analysis as
it was assumed that the degree of procedural generation is quite
high and the screen resolution, high dynamic range and processing
power afforded to contemporary games allow for environments
and rendered images to show a high degree of complexity.
Figure 4 No Mans Sky; Differential Grey, 1.5336D

It became an imperative of this study to look at some historical

exemplars that demonstrate early efforts at procedural generation.
Again it was assumed that a scene or pictorial interface created
with fractal algorithms should score fairly well in respect to
analysis. Loren Carpenter’s landmark short film Vol Libre
produced in 1980 [23]. Carpenter outlined the procedure in his
paper presented at SIGGRAPH in that year [24]. Interestingly and
presumably because of the complete level of procedural
generation the standard box count of outline for screenshots from
the film show a remarkably high dimensional value. The image
shown in figure 5 analysed at 1.9867D. It is this procedural terrain
Figure 2 No Mans Sky; Bitmap
the Loren Carpenter developed that is now prevalent in games
such as No Mans Sky and many more.
Figure 5 Vol Libre; Outline, 1.9867D
In order to ascertain what could constitute difference in fractal
analysis of games environments, early exemplars were chosen for
analysis and expected to produce low dimensional values. The
classic arcade Space Invaders [25], was one of those games
analysed. Because of the limited screen resolution available at the
time of space invaders release, little detail and nuance had the
potential to be included. Surprisingly the analysis of screenshots
of space invaders was not as low as was expected. Even though
space invaders used minimal information with minimal tonal
value in a diagrammatic space, the image shown in figure 6
exhibited a fractal dimension of 1.2378D.
A careful unraveling of the structures and shapes within space
invaders however reveal that there is a good measure of scaling
and self-similar structure, the basic tenet of fractality. At 1.2378D
the space invaders image analysed falls just below the expected
preference range for images, but nevertheless shows some degree
of complexity.
Figure 6 Space Invaders; Outline, 1.2378D
The highest score for fractal dimension analysed for this study is
for the quite iconic environment from the game Myst Exile [26].
The Myst series was crucial to this study as the series represented
a significant milestone in games design, procedural generation
and general advancement and experimentation with immersive
principles. The Myst Exile screen shot analysed for outline box
count scored 1.9957 for fractal dimension.
Figure 7 Myst Exile; Outline, 1.9957D
In contrast to the fractal dimension measured from the Myst Exile
image, low measures, by comparison were evidenced from images
taken from the last game in the Myst series, End of Ages [27].
The fractal dimension measured from a set of images averaged at
1.5271D. And measured lower again on a differential grey
analysis which gave a result of 1.4759D.
It seems that the attention to detail in environments textures and
overall aesthetic appeal lowered as the Myst series wound to a
conclusion in Myst 5 End of Ages. The game Uru [28], which was
also a difficult chapter in the Myst franchise attempted to do
much, in being as immersive as a game could possibly be at the
time. In defense of the game developers, Uru continued the same
desired narrative structures as were built in previous games and
utilised a good balance it seemed, of configurational and pictorial
organization. Unfortunately games like Uru and End of Ages
lacked the degree of compositional richness which perhaps
evidenced the success of prior series chapters. This is an entirely
subjective conclusion however and in no way should be construed
as potential markers of success or failure.
Rand and Robyn Miller of Cyan Worlds may well have paid heed
to past mistakes, because the latest game offering may just
showcase a high level of complexity in its pictorial space. The
newly developed game, Obduction [29] may well be successful in
its level of immersive and transportive capacity if the fractal
analysis is a measure of that. Differential Greyscale analysis of
screenshots released to media show a fractal dimension ranging
from 1.6266D to 17499D. This study does not propose that a
certain measure of complexity be relied upon as a measure of
commercial success, however a certain dimensional range may
well signal a participant’s preference for extended engagement
with the game. There is no rule for what degree of fractal
dimension is preferable to all, particularly within the game
environment but fractal analysis may offer clues as to the capacity
for engagement, the degree of experience whether pleasurable or
uncomfortable and alongside many other interactive and aesthetic
principles the potential discoveries surrounding the concept of
presence.

Figure 8 Obduction; Differential Grey, 1.7499D
Different game genres offer differing experiences for the
participant. It was stated that this study looked largely at the
adventure puzzle genre, but in order to gauge another game type,
MMORPG’s offer an instructive way to view fractal analysis for
different purpose. It is presumed that the environments within
MMORPG’s are of lesser consequence than game play. However
as role playing games offer extended immersion for the
participant, the pictorial space or game environment could for
instance be carefully constructed so as to offer repose. Eight
images from the World of Warcraft [30] series were analysed for
this study from version 1 to version 6. The findings are firstly that
over the series there was a sustained but slow increase in fractal
dimension, that is the environments showed an average degree of
change in fractal complexity from 1.3241D to 1.3954D as
measured by the standard box count within ImageJ using outlines.
An increase of fractal dimension was however measured in
screenshots showing game information, i.e. the extra-diegetic
space. Analysis of these images revealed fractal dimensional
values of up to 1.4968D.
Figure 9 World of Warcraft, Version 5.3, Outline 1.3954D
Figure 10 World of Warcraft Version 6.1. 1.4968D
Perhaps a role playing game such as World of Warcraft requires a
change in dimensional value from passive to active states. If the
level of complexity is always high for example, the game may just
become too tiring and player focus will wander.
Conclusions
Fractal analysis offers a great toolset for the interaction designer,
games developer, landscape artist and much more. It potentially
can be an effective early stage development tool as well as offer
methods to critique completed works.
It is not proposed that fractal analysis is the one tool to measure
all it simply is just another technique to test aesthetic intent,
technical development and refinement that may impact on
phenomenal experience.
From the time that Coleridge wrote of the willing suspension of
disbelief, countless studies have attempted to unravel the secrets
of human experience and interaction with story. Coleridge’s quote
however is often cut short as he reveals his role as author is ‘to
transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance
of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that
willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes
poetic faith [31]’.
The study of immersive environments requires the dialogue of
poetics as well as the formalism of narrative structure, especially
when two dimensional games will soon be three dimensional vr
experiences where the sensorial interplay is crucial to participant
experience. Box counting tools and their resultant analysis of
fractal dimension can be seen to assist in formalising what is a
difficult, complex and interrelated set of interactions.
The findings of this study point to the necessity of adopting new
methodologies of interpretation, analysis and critique as newly
emerging mediated technologies pose new problems in terms of
understanding a virtually mediated phenomenal experience.
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