So, I've been reading up a bit on Spectors "immersive sim" theory, and quite often, I'd stumble up on "system-based design", something that I'd had trouble grasping at first, but I think i finally got what the hell those strange people seem to be talking about - a consistent set of abilities and interactions, that allow the player experimentation and freedom of expression, through its consistence.
How do you get the "system-based design", do you think its a good thing, any notorious examples, etc. And, most importantly, how do you design the levels, so you can fully reap the benefits of having a good system-based design.
Discuss.
System based design is my favorite considering I grew up with games that used it a lot. Like Deus Ex (most famous), Thief, System Shock, Dark Messiah, Dishonored, Prey 2017 etc.
In my opinion, you design a level depending on what systems you want to simulate.
For example, in Thief you had rope and vine arrows, which allowed you to climb over obstacles. Rope arrows would work on anything made of wood so you needed tall buildings, balconies, trees or other placements made out of wood in order to allow you to enter or exit a location using the rope arrows. Vine arrows stuck to metallic vents so you need those as well. You account for this in the design of your level thus introducing verticality.
This is one example.
In Dark Mesiah you had a dedicated kick button which allowed to kick (and kill) enemies close to ledges, close to spikes, fires etc. You had an enemy running at you and you could make a small patch of ice in front of him in order to slip and fall allowing you a clean kill, or slip off ledges or down the stairs. Electrocute the water, grab objects with telekinesis and use them as weapons, full adrenaline TK allows for grabbing of living entities for maximum lols, charm enemies making them fight their allies, drop objects on their heads etc.
If you want a more recent example, it would be Prey 2017, a phenomenal immersive sim. Very open ended, lots of tools, my favorite being the gloo gun, stun gun, crossbow. The abilities, approaches, options and arsenal combinations you can make are amazing.
Examples: floating enemies can be glooed and fall and take damage or sometimes die, you can use gloo to make staircases, shooting them diagonally at a wall. Stun gun deals massive damage to enemies weak to electricity, can use to disrupt electronic equipment and stun enemies.
The crossbow that fires foam bolts can be used to distract enemies to sneak by them, or interact with various computer screens and buttons allowing you to open doors remotely.
Abilities like leverage (lift heavy objects), mimic (shapeshift into an object), remote manipulation (remote interaction with objects and enemies), phantom genisis (creating allies that fight for you), lift (creates a vortex under an enemy to keep him in the air for 15 sec), hacking, repairing and others open up a lot of possibilities.
The DLC Mooncrash adds new things and systems to the mix, expanding what is already in the base game. Too much to talk about.
Best you watch some videos about it on YouTube. Compilations or tips and tricks or elaborate uses and combinations so you can get a better idea about this whole thing.
Edit: forgot to mention Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain which has a ton of interaction between systems.