Why do old platformers typically scroll to the right?

The name of the pictureThe name of the pictureThe name of the pictureClash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP





.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;







up vote
3
down vote

favorite












Lots of old platformers are only left-to-right-ish and they don't allow you to move viewport left.



I'm interested was it just a game design choice or it's due to some limitations back then.



I have a lot of possible reasons in my head, but I'm interested in actual one, so please consider reply with citation.



Not sure I'm in correct community with this question, sorry in advance.






game-design platformer side-scroller







share|improve this question









New contributor




mingaleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.



















  • You are in the right place :)
    – user3797758
    47 mins ago










  • You might be in the wrong place if you're looking specifically for a citation or a verified reason, as opposed to a more speculative one.
    – Dukeling
    13 mins ago
















up vote
3
down vote

favorite












Lots of old platformers are only left-to-right-ish and they don't allow you to move viewport left.



I'm interested was it just a game design choice or it's due to some limitations back then.



I have a lot of possible reasons in my head, but I'm interested in actual one, so please consider reply with citation.



Not sure I'm in correct community with this question, sorry in advance.






game-design platformer side-scroller







share|improve this question









New contributor




mingaleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.



















  • You are in the right place :)
    – user3797758
    47 mins ago










  • You might be in the wrong place if you're looking specifically for a citation or a verified reason, as opposed to a more speculative one.
    – Dukeling
    13 mins ago












up vote
3
down vote

favorite









up vote
3
down vote

favorite











Lots of old platformers are only left-to-right-ish and they don't allow you to move viewport left.



I'm interested was it just a game design choice or it's due to some limitations back then.



I have a lot of possible reasons in my head, but I'm interested in actual one, so please consider reply with citation.



Not sure I'm in correct community with this question, sorry in advance.






game-design platformer side-scroller







share|improve this question









New contributor




mingaleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











Lots of old platformers are only left-to-right-ish and they don't allow you to move viewport left.



I'm interested was it just a game design choice or it's due to some limitations back then.



I have a lot of possible reasons in my head, but I'm interested in actual one, so please consider reply with citation.



Not sure I'm in correct community with this question, sorry in advance.






game-design platformer side-scroller




game-design platformer side-scroller






share|improve this question









New contributor




mingaleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question









New contributor




mingaleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 47 mins ago









user3797758

2,52711035




2,52711035






New contributor




mingaleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









asked 6 hours ago









mingaleg

1162




1162




New contributor




mingaleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





mingaleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






mingaleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











  • You are in the right place :)
    – user3797758
    47 mins ago










  • You might be in the wrong place if you're looking specifically for a citation or a verified reason, as opposed to a more speculative one.
    – Dukeling
    13 mins ago
















  • You are in the right place :)
    – user3797758
    47 mins ago










  • You might be in the wrong place if you're looking specifically for a citation or a verified reason, as opposed to a more speculative one.
    – Dukeling
    13 mins ago















You are in the right place :)
– user3797758
47 mins ago




You are in the right place :)
– user3797758
47 mins ago












You might be in the wrong place if you're looking specifically for a citation or a verified reason, as opposed to a more speculative one.
– Dukeling
13 mins ago




You might be in the wrong place if you're looking specifically for a citation or a verified reason, as opposed to a more speculative one.
– Dukeling
13 mins ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
2
down vote













The answer to this is a synergy of a number of factors. Most people are right handed. Most languages are written from left to right. When placing objects, people typically start to the left and work to the right.



Programmatically, if a game Map was represented using a two dimensional array, logical traversion of said map would require moving to the right.



There are a number of very old (late 70s, early 80s) games that permit both left and right exploration but depending on the title and it’s complexity, memory constraints might play a role.






share|improve this answer






















  • Hi, thank you for your interest. I suppose I didn't wrote my question clean enough.
    – mingaleg
    3 hours ago










  • If you play for example Super Mario Bros, then you will see, what as far as you move forward, the "camera" (viewport) is traveling right to, but then you go left, you stuck in the border.
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • So I'm looking for some citation which would clarify, was that a game design solution in first place or is that forced by computers limitations
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • I could totally understand, why and how you can became forced to prohibit to go left then you have long level with lots of enemies, but I want some historical evidences
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










Your Answer




StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function ()
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix)
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["\$", "\$"]]);
);
);
, "mathjax-editing");

StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function ()
StackExchange.using("snippets", function ()
StackExchange.snippets.init();
);
);
, "code-snippets");

StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "53"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);

else
createEditor();

);

function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: false,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);



);






mingaleg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









 

draft saved


draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fgamedev.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f164693%2fwhy-do-old-platformers-typically-scroll-to-the-right%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest

















1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
2
down vote













The answer to this is a synergy of a number of factors. Most people are right handed. Most languages are written from left to right. When placing objects, people typically start to the left and work to the right.



Programmatically, if a game Map was represented using a two dimensional array, logical traversion of said map would require moving to the right.



There are a number of very old (late 70s, early 80s) games that permit both left and right exploration but depending on the title and it’s complexity, memory constraints might play a role.






share|improve this answer






















  • Hi, thank you for your interest. I suppose I didn't wrote my question clean enough.
    – mingaleg
    3 hours ago










  • If you play for example Super Mario Bros, then you will see, what as far as you move forward, the "camera" (viewport) is traveling right to, but then you go left, you stuck in the border.
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • So I'm looking for some citation which would clarify, was that a game design solution in first place or is that forced by computers limitations
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • I could totally understand, why and how you can became forced to prohibit to go left then you have long level with lots of enemies, but I want some historical evidences
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago














up vote
2
down vote













The answer to this is a synergy of a number of factors. Most people are right handed. Most languages are written from left to right. When placing objects, people typically start to the left and work to the right.



Programmatically, if a game Map was represented using a two dimensional array, logical traversion of said map would require moving to the right.



There are a number of very old (late 70s, early 80s) games that permit both left and right exploration but depending on the title and it’s complexity, memory constraints might play a role.






share|improve this answer






















  • Hi, thank you for your interest. I suppose I didn't wrote my question clean enough.
    – mingaleg
    3 hours ago










  • If you play for example Super Mario Bros, then you will see, what as far as you move forward, the "camera" (viewport) is traveling right to, but then you go left, you stuck in the border.
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • So I'm looking for some citation which would clarify, was that a game design solution in first place or is that forced by computers limitations
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • I could totally understand, why and how you can became forced to prohibit to go left then you have long level with lots of enemies, but I want some historical evidences
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago












up vote
2
down vote










up vote
2
down vote









The answer to this is a synergy of a number of factors. Most people are right handed. Most languages are written from left to right. When placing objects, people typically start to the left and work to the right.



Programmatically, if a game Map was represented using a two dimensional array, logical traversion of said map would require moving to the right.



There are a number of very old (late 70s, early 80s) games that permit both left and right exploration but depending on the title and it’s complexity, memory constraints might play a role.






share|improve this answer














The answer to this is a synergy of a number of factors. Most people are right handed. Most languages are written from left to right. When placing objects, people typically start to the left and work to the right.



Programmatically, if a game Map was represented using a two dimensional array, logical traversion of said map would require moving to the right.



There are a number of very old (late 70s, early 80s) games that permit both left and right exploration but depending on the title and it’s complexity, memory constraints might play a role.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 4 hours ago

























answered 4 hours ago









ROGRat

215




215











  • Hi, thank you for your interest. I suppose I didn't wrote my question clean enough.
    – mingaleg
    3 hours ago










  • If you play for example Super Mario Bros, then you will see, what as far as you move forward, the "camera" (viewport) is traveling right to, but then you go left, you stuck in the border.
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • So I'm looking for some citation which would clarify, was that a game design solution in first place or is that forced by computers limitations
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • I could totally understand, why and how you can became forced to prohibit to go left then you have long level with lots of enemies, but I want some historical evidences
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago
















  • Hi, thank you for your interest. I suppose I didn't wrote my question clean enough.
    – mingaleg
    3 hours ago










  • If you play for example Super Mario Bros, then you will see, what as far as you move forward, the "camera" (viewport) is traveling right to, but then you go left, you stuck in the border.
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • So I'm looking for some citation which would clarify, was that a game design solution in first place or is that forced by computers limitations
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago










  • I could totally understand, why and how you can became forced to prohibit to go left then you have long level with lots of enemies, but I want some historical evidences
    – mingaleg
    2 hours ago















Hi, thank you for your interest. I suppose I didn't wrote my question clean enough.
– mingaleg
3 hours ago




Hi, thank you for your interest. I suppose I didn't wrote my question clean enough.
– mingaleg
3 hours ago












If you play for example Super Mario Bros, then you will see, what as far as you move forward, the "camera" (viewport) is traveling right to, but then you go left, you stuck in the border.
– mingaleg
2 hours ago




If you play for example Super Mario Bros, then you will see, what as far as you move forward, the "camera" (viewport) is traveling right to, but then you go left, you stuck in the border.
– mingaleg
2 hours ago












So I'm looking for some citation which would clarify, was that a game design solution in first place or is that forced by computers limitations
– mingaleg
2 hours ago




So I'm looking for some citation which would clarify, was that a game design solution in first place or is that forced by computers limitations
– mingaleg
2 hours ago












I could totally understand, why and how you can became forced to prohibit to go left then you have long level with lots of enemies, but I want some historical evidences
– mingaleg
2 hours ago




I could totally understand, why and how you can became forced to prohibit to go left then you have long level with lots of enemies, but I want some historical evidences
– mingaleg
2 hours ago










mingaleg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









 

draft saved


draft discarded


















mingaleg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.












mingaleg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.











mingaleg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.













 


draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fgamedev.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f164693%2fwhy-do-old-platformers-typically-scroll-to-the-right%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest
































































Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What does second last employer means? [closed]

Image
Clash Royale CLAN TAG #URR8PPP .everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0; up vote -3 down vote favorite Say, for example I have worked in the following companies, Company A => 2010 - 2011 Company B => 2011 - 2012 Company C => 2012 - Till Date Company D => Have offer Now assume Company D is asking to submit documents from my second last employer. So from the list of companies given, which company would be qualified as second last employer? software-industry employer share | improve this question asked Aug 10 '14 at 5:16 Rajaprabhu Aravindasamy 559 1 6 13 closed as off-topic by Jim G., jmort253 ♦ Aug 11 '14 at 1:58 This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason: "Questions seeking advice on company-specific regulations, agreements, or policies should be directed to your manager or HR department. Questions that address...
Read more

List of Gilmore Girls characters

Image
The season three cast—(Back row): Lane, Michel, Paris, Emily, Richard, Sookie, Miss Patty, Kirk; Front row: Jess, Luke, Lorelai, Rory, Dean This is a list of characters for the comedy-drama television series Gilmore Girls . Contents 1 Main characters 1.1 Lorelai Gilmore 1.2 Rory Gilmore 1.3 Sookie St. James 1.4 Lane Kim 1.5 Michel Gerard 1.6 Luke Danes 1.7 Emily Gilmore 1.8 Richard Gilmore 1.9 Paris Geller 1.10 Dean Forester 1.11 Jess Mariano 1.12 Kirk Gleason 1.13 Jason Stiles 1.14 Logan Huntzberger 2 Major recurring characters 2.1 Christopher Hayden 2.2 Jackson Belleville 2.3 Mrs. Kim 2.4 Tristin DuGray 2.5 Max Medina 2.6 Taylor Doose 2.7 Dave Rygalski 2.8 Marty 3 Recurring characters 3.1 Stars Hollow 3.2 Chilton 3.3 Yale 3.4 Other 4 Notable guest stars 5 Unseen characters 6 Notes 7 References Main characters Actor Character Appearances Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7 A Year in the Life Lauren Graham Lorelai Gilmore...
Read more

Confectionery

Image
Prepared foods made with a lot of sugar or other cabohydrates "Sweetmeat" redirects here. For the racehorse, see Sweetmeat (horse). Not to be confused with Sweetbread. This Kransekake is a traditional Scandinavian baker's confection. Confectionery is the art of making confections , which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. [1] In general, though, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories, bakers' confections and sugar confections. [2] Bakers' confectionery, also called flour confections , includes principally sweet pastries, cakes, and similar baked goods. Sugar confectionery includes candies ( sweets in British English), candied nuts, chocolates, chewing gum, bubble gum, pastillage, and other confections that are made primarily of sugar. In some cases, chocolate confections (confections made of chocolate) are treated as a separate category, as are sugar-free versions of ...
Read more