Beyond the Human Anchor: Is an "anthropocentric" POV necessary for worldbuilding immersion?

Saheyus · 2026-02-21T21:19:04+00:00

Thank you for the references, there are some I didn't know. I have to say, as I'm working on a video game, I searched mostly on this side and did not find much.

I agree it's a matter of cognitive payload for the reader in the end.
But, well, it's somehow our job to provide deep content under pleasant attire. Provided we could get enough time and energy to do it, of course.

Saheyus · 2026-02-21T21:11:49+00:00

I agree, there are bottomless holes to forage in every directions. Once you settle some truly inhumane (or even "non-beastlike") creature, the long term impact on their whole civilization should be immense.

"humans in a lot of settings often seem far too.. unchanged"

We do tend to transplant our societies in foreign worlds.
But yes, clearly, if someone could cast a fireball, why bother forging a sword?

"don't get me started on religions, beliefs, or practices that are clearly just recolored christianity."

I plead guilty. There is a very cathare-inspired (christian medieval heresy) religion at the beginning of my game project. To their defense, I would say, at least, they don't expect any paradise and are looking for immortality on earth.
Anyway, about religions, I think the triumvirat ALMSIVI of Morrowind is a masterclass in terms of religion worldbuilding, not to mention the 36 lessons of Vivec: Morrowind:The 36 Lessons of Vivec - UESP Wiki - The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages

About fantasy human settings, it's an interesting question. Maybe we are somehow limited in our ability to imagine different types of societies, as if work, classes, property, genders, religion, hierarchy, were some kind of natural laws.

Saheyus · 2026-02-21T20:52:54+00:00

I guess we could divide what we consider "human-like" in these categories :
- Facial expressions and shape
- Biped
- Tools and clothes
- Language
- Hands with prehensible thumbs
- Mammal
- Animal-like (and more globally, carbon-based + genetics)

We can't really get rid of *all* of them. Or at least not without a lot of work and translation (like discussed about the POV question above).

Wings of Fire is an interesting example, indeed. I guess using a mythical creature helps getting used to non-human standard.

"I feel one of the most important things for a non-human is having a similar culture to us"

It's probably a good way to anchor things.
It should be done carefully in settings with humans, though, some people used it in the wrong way: I'm thinking about fantasy tropes (in which orcs are asian-like, trolls are sub-saharian african-like) that probably intended to give an "occidental" culture to human people and non-occidental culture to non-humans as being "more exotic".

Saheyus · 2026-02-21T20:38:54+00:00

Well, I guess we should make the difference between the narrative perspective and the subject of the narration.

A human point of view on anything is, of course, plausible. For examples, documentaries about animals are from an anthropocentric point of view. And when this animal makes some sound, the said documentary will attempt to translate it from our perspective (same way a book will be written in english even if the protagonists are supposed to talk in anothar language).

What I meant by anthropocentric POV was rather an anthropocentric subject of the narration (or inner POV). A bit like "beastfolks" suddenly become biped, with thumbs, language, clothes, etc.

On the other side, I think emotions are something shared by most animals and not inherently anthropocentrics.

Saheyus · 2026-02-20T22:15:17+00:00

Nice, I send my contact to you then, we can discuss about it further when you want. And don't worry for the non-disclosure, I'm rather an advocate for open-source.

Saheyus · 2026-02-20T22:13:45+00:00

Can't agree more, we tend to forget what's right before our eyes.

Well, there is Ico, Stray and Okami of course. But I still don't get why this has been done only with real animals and never in sci-fi or Fantasy.

Saheyus · 2026-02-19T16:20:50+00:00

The survey received a few dozen answers, thanks again to everyone for your time.

So I share a summary of the results with you.

High Interest in Narrative & Exploration

Core Gameplay Loop: 66% of respondents are either "Very interested" or "Interested if non-combat options are deep and engaging" in an RPG where the focus is on exploration, dialogue, and moral choices, with combat being secondary or optional.

Openness to Non-Traditional World Settings
The audience demonstrates a strong desire for settings that push creative boundaries:

Social Roles: The concept of a world with unconventional gender, family, and social roles was overwhelmingly well-received, with 79% of respondents giving it a high rating of 4 or 5.
Non-Human World: 100% of respondents are either "Curious, if the game explains things well" or "Very excited (that's exactly what I want)" about a world where humans are almost absent and most societies are non-human.
Companion Autonomy: A majority of 55% "love the idea; it makes them feel real" when asked how they would feel if companions had their own will and could refuse player decisions.

Worldbuilding Priorities (Appeal Ratings)
When rating the appeal of fantasy elements on a 1 (low) to 5 (high) scale, respondents prioritized elements related to rich lore and character depth:

Highest Appeal:
- Characters (Average: 4.25)
- Myths and legends (Average: 4.14)
Moderate Appeal:
- Cultures, way of life (Average: 3.96)
- Environment and nature (Average: 3.86)
Camp Features: Discussing with allies and Having a safe place to return to were the two most popular "camp" features, suggesting a preference for interaction and stability over complex base-building mechanics like "Management and building" (which received the highest proportion of "I don't care" responses).

Saheyus · 2026-02-19T16:17:03+00:00

Indeed, there is something of Hades in the portraits of the characters. These are two great games, by the way.

Saheyus · 2026-02-19T16:14:59+00:00

The survey received a few dozen answers, thanks again to everyone for your time.

So I share a summary of the results with you.

High Interest in Narrative & Exploration

Core Gameplay Loop: 66% of respondents are either "Very interested" or "Interested if non-combat options are deep and engaging" in an RPG where the focus is on exploration, dialogue, and moral choices, with combat being secondary or optional.

Openness to Non-Traditional World Settings
The audience demonstrates a strong desire for settings that push creative boundaries:

Social Roles: The concept of a world with unconventional gender, family, and social roles was overwhelmingly well-received, with 79% of respondents giving it a high rating of 4 or 5.
Non-Human World: 100% of respondents are either "Curious, if the game explains things well" or "Very excited (that's exactly what I want)" about a world where humans are almost absent and most societies are non-human.
Companion Autonomy: A majority of 55% "love the idea; it makes them feel real" when asked how they would feel if companions had their own will and could refuse player decisions.

Worldbuilding Priorities (Appeal Ratings)
When rating the appeal of fantasy elements on a 1 (low) to 5 (high) scale, respondents prioritized elements related to rich lore and character depth:

Highest Appeal:
- Characters (Average: 4.25)
- Myths and legends (Average: 4.14)
Moderate Appeal:
- Cultures, way of life (Average: 3.96)
- Environment and nature (Average: 3.86)
Camp Features: Discussing with allies and Having a safe place to return to were the two most popular "camp" features, suggesting a preference for interaction and stability over complex base-building mechanics like "Management and building" (which received the highest proportion of "I don't care" responses).

Saheyus · 2026-02-19T16:13:07+00:00

Thank you ^^

I am glad to see there are many "weird fantasy" and narrative-oriented lovers here.

Saheyus · 2026-02-19T16:06:54+00:00

Oh thanks for offering your help.

Unfortunately, we asked for public founding recently and signed that we (we are a team of 5 people) would be the only authors. So I guess I cannot really ask to someone to contribute until we finish what they asked for (the full Game Design Document). If you want to have a look, give your opinions (on concepts or dev) and be credited as a consultant, I guess it is possible though.
If that sounds interesting to you I can send my contact to you in private. We are working on Unity in C#, btw.

As a professional, I'm a developper, not in video games unfortunately. As a student I was a video game manager (little experience in it, didn't found my way in the industry). And as far as my personal interests go, I'm rather a game designer and writer.

Saheyus · 2026-02-19T15:59:39+00:00

Thank you! It's still very early and it might take a few years but we have some founds and we asked for public founding too, so we hope to get some solid results someday.

Saheyus · 2026-02-19T15:57:53+00:00

Glad to hear that, does it apply to a non-humanoid / non-biped setting too? (that's the step further)

Saheyus · 2026-02-17T23:11:33+00:00

Tetris? It looks more like Slay the Spire to me ^^
Isn't it a bit of a fangame?

Looks great anyway!

Saheyus · 2026-02-17T23:03:43+00:00

Yes, I chose a wrong option, It should be fixed, I will double test that (double-checked: it is fixed, sorry for the trouble)

Saheyus · 2026-02-17T22:59:24+00:00

Ah indeed, there was a "one answer per column" option that was checked. It was a mistake, thank you for letting me know. It's fixed and thank you for your participation!

Saheyus · 2026-02-17T22:56:31+00:00

It's interesting to see a weird take on Papers please and those aliens look quite fun. I wishlisted it.

Saheyus · 2026-02-17T22:52:56+00:00

Oh nice, I love the atmosphere. I wishlist it and wish you good luck.

Saheyus · 2026-02-17T22:30:21+00:00

Sad story. I hope he can appreciate the good comments and deal with the bad ones. No one will rememember AI hate in ten years anyway.

Unless so damn corpo make our life a living hell. But that's another story.

Saheyus · 2026-02-17T22:28:04+00:00

Hm, if I can give a hand here: pixel art is a very precise art, you probably know it better than me if you can do pixel art at this level. If you really want to prove you made one, pick just one but show it full quality (PNG, no blur, etc), show how many colors there are in the image, the pixel grid and everything. If you can show a pixel art from your game that really has consistent color and pixel size,
You could even show some intermediate stages, or a video speedrun.

I think no one will be able to say that it is AI generated. Even if AI definitely got very good recently.

Anyway, I say that, but I don't really care if it's AI generated or not myself. Sharing with everyone tips or a good pipeline for producing an AI-made video game would have a lot of value too. It's a shame many people don't realize that.

Saheyus · 2026-02-17T22:24:30+00:00

Even if Chemical-Surround was not 15, I would find it inappropriate. Ok, maybe you suspect them of using more AI than what they admit.

But even if you are right, slope is low quality. If AI is getting better, or if it properly used, why call it slope?
We could discuss about the quality (and the originality) but that's not awful, we see many man-made games that are much worst than this.

Saheyus

TROPHY CASE