Real Time Strategy Acts of Configuration

Galloway categorizes anything to do with acts of configuration without actually interacting with the game world as nondiegetic operator acts.  He specifically places Real Time Strategy (RTS) games in this category as the entirety of playing an RTS is interacting with the menus around the screen.  In a game like Starcraft, the mere act of placing unit production buildings in reasonable positions, or technological buildings in places that they will not be easily found or destroyed is perhaps, even, a majority of the gameplay.  This video is a beginner’s guide to Starcraft II in which the importance of building placement is emphasized and demonstrated.  Building placement is literally choosing where to build each building and is an act of configuration accomplished through the menu constantly on-screen.

SC2 Noob School