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I am a gamer, I have been for a long time and hopefully will continue to play games for a lot longer. My dad has always been a bit interested in games and technology etc and he was likely to be the person who got me hooked on games. I have seen a lot of games, some fantastic games and a lot of great ones. All this got me thinking.
I was thinking about car and racing games at first, the lack of damage and the damage effecting the way the car behaves and ultimately having no effect on your performance in the race.
Take GT3 for example, others also out now are the same. You race supercars around tracks, they look and act and behave just like the cars they are based on, the "Ultimate driving simulation" as they are known. But the lack of damage to me is a mayor issue that goes totally un-noticed. You can race at high speeds to catch up with the race leader, slam the car into a wall and still overtake the leader with no effects that damage your car or your performance. To me that isn't really the "Ultimate driving simulation" as they say. I know myself that if I slam a top performance sports car or even a run of the mill car into a wall at a high speed I would be lucky to walk away and even more lucky if the car still had enough bits to make it move. So why don't racing games become that little more realistic to allow us to make these mistakes and pay the price for it?
Hope for this is not totally gone though, GTA3 may not be a racing game but it shows that you pay for wreckless driving. Toca Race Driver also showed this, as well as containing a story which puts you in the shoes of a toca race driver, it makes you drive to succeed and choose teams, accept and refuse offers just like any professional driver. But the thing that makes it a little different to most is the fact that the cars can be damaged and they do affect your performance, I am not sure if they affect it enough and in a way they would in real life but hopefully it is a step that others will look at and learn from.
I don't know the full ins and outs of the development of games like GT3, but there is a possibility that the people who allow their cars to be used in games won't allow them to be smashed to bits for the fun and realism of the game. To me though this does seem a bit of a poor excuse but it may well be the reason. Another reason may be down to the developer, including the damage and physics and visuals required to make the crashes and damaged cars would reduce the overall performance, look and feel of the game which is something they would rather have than include damges effects, the lack of damage effects could well be why GT3 is always picked as being the best of the bunch, perhaps including damage could take some of the magic away and also cause a reduction in the visuals and gameplay. Which is something not a lot would like to see.
To me it just dosn't seem right, it isn't realistic enough anymore, the cars look, sound and drive like they should but crash them straight on into a wall at 90 mph and there isn't a scratch on them. Seems weird to me that we have the ability and the technology to do it but so many leave it out or make it so basic.
So is damage effects just the next step we will see the developer using to make this genre of game even more popular and realistic? Guess like everything else we will just need to wait and see. Maybe there are other faults in some games that seem so obvious to be included but are commonly left out.
It isn't just driving games though, all genres of games have certain downsides which cause us to think that maybe the developers should listen to what gamers want.
The idea is simple. Get more feedback on games from the gamers.
At the moment most information developers get from games is from sales (I could be wrong), they know what does well and what doesn't. With all the new ideas they have it is really the only way of making games that seem similar to others different. For example why make GTA vice city unless you can have different mission, weapons etc.
For every game that comes out there will always be a way to make it better, this all depends on the gamer as we all have different tastes. With an industry so big obviously it is the majority who would rule, upset the large amount of gamers and the game isn't going to sell well. So if you were making a football game you would be mad to turn down using premiership teams and replacing them with Conference teams as it wouldn't sell as well. These are easy decisions for the developers. Use ideas that will make the game sell, combined with great visuals, sound and gameplay the game could be huge. Apart from one thing, the developers can't possibly come up with every idea that could make the game great, but maybe asking the millions who play games what kind of things they would like to see would increase the ideas and options the developers have and ultimately increase what us gamers get to do and see in games.
Every developer/publisher of all the big selling and even the smaller selling games have a website so at this moment in time it is easy to set up a way of allowing gamers to get their points across. Internet access is so common in the developed world that in most houses, schools, libraries etc you will find a way of getting on-line. In the future consoles will go on-line and there will be possibilities to directly send information and views directly to the developer perhaps from in game menus etc. So there is no point saying the technology for this isn't already available or could be introduced in the near future.
This kind of idea would benefit both developers and gamers. As the standard of games would rise making more people buy the game, this means the developer makes more money and us gamers get higher quality games.
Being honest I am surprised that this hasn't been around for the past few years. To me it just seems like the best way of developers improving, especially with the number of sequels we see again and again being released.
I know that in some cases, very few, developers get views from beta testers but this is usually just concerning bugs in the code and areas where faults occur. Not on where it could be improved or replaced with something better.
My first thought of this idea was after playing Americas Army (The free downloadable game that Mr Happy suggested to us). The developers worked closely to the american army and this can be seen in the game as it closly ressembles the army way of things from the training, weapons, missions etc.
I also read a Playstation 2 magazine which ran a competition - Give us the things you want to see in GTA-Vice city and we will send them to the developers.
Recently they printed the best, and as promised sent them off and it seems a few of them will be included in the game. Sadly I doubt the people with the ideas will be given a mention but in the future they could be.
I for one would like to see this. Obviously like most on-line things people will abuse their rights, send SPAM and crap ideas but from those who do take it serious we could see some excellent ideas being introduced to our favourite genres and games. The only problem I see for the developer is someone has to look through the ideas and decide which are good, which are possible to include (ie can it be coded into the game) and which are not good enough or not right for the game. Also adding more will mean it takes longer to produce and a longer wait for the gamers, but I think it is better to wait a little longer for a better game.
Following on from this maybe we could even see developers using peoples own game ideas and turning these into games (Obviously making their own ideas and suggestions to the original idea along the way) which would be a good thing for all those out there who have the dreams and talent to write the ideas for games but just not having someone willing to take time and effort looking through the idea and deciding what to do with it.
There are so many games out there, all fall into various genres. Many of them are sequels or copies of previous ideas, this could be the next best way of getting unique ideas, a good thing that I am sure many gamers would like to see.
I was thinking about car and racing games at first, the lack of damage and the damage effecting the way the car behaves and ultimately having no effect on your performance in the race.
Take GT3 for example, others also out now are the same. You race supercars around tracks, they look and act and behave just like the cars they are based on, the "Ultimate driving simulation" as they are known. But the lack of damage to me is a mayor issue that goes totally un-noticed. You can race at high speeds to catch up with the race leader, slam the car into a wall and still overtake the leader with no effects that damage your car or your performance. To me that isn't really the "Ultimate driving simulation" as they say. I know myself that if I slam a top performance sports car or even a run of the mill car into a wall at a high speed I would be lucky to walk away and even more lucky if the car still had enough bits to make it move. So why don't racing games become that little more realistic to allow us to make these mistakes and pay the price for it?
Hope for this is not totally gone though, GTA3 may not be a racing game but it shows that you pay for wreckless driving. Toca Race Driver also showed this, as well as containing a story which puts you in the shoes of a toca race driver, it makes you drive to succeed and choose teams, accept and refuse offers just like any professional driver. But the thing that makes it a little different to most is the fact that the cars can be damaged and they do affect your performance, I am not sure if they affect it enough and in a way they would in real life but hopefully it is a step that others will look at and learn from.
I don't know the full ins and outs of the development of games like GT3, but there is a possibility that the people who allow their cars to be used in games won't allow them to be smashed to bits for the fun and realism of the game. To me though this does seem a bit of a poor excuse but it may well be the reason. Another reason may be down to the developer, including the damage and physics and visuals required to make the crashes and damaged cars would reduce the overall performance, look and feel of the game which is something they would rather have than include damges effects, the lack of damage effects could well be why GT3 is always picked as being the best of the bunch, perhaps including damage could take some of the magic away and also cause a reduction in the visuals and gameplay. Which is something not a lot would like to see.
To me it just dosn't seem right, it isn't realistic enough anymore, the cars look, sound and drive like they should but crash them straight on into a wall at 90 mph and there isn't a scratch on them. Seems weird to me that we have the ability and the technology to do it but so many leave it out or make it so basic.
So is damage effects just the next step we will see the developer using to make this genre of game even more popular and realistic? Guess like everything else we will just need to wait and see. Maybe there are other faults in some games that seem so obvious to be included but are commonly left out.
It isn't just driving games though, all genres of games have certain downsides which cause us to think that maybe the developers should listen to what gamers want.
The idea is simple. Get more feedback on games from the gamers.
At the moment most information developers get from games is from sales (I could be wrong), they know what does well and what doesn't. With all the new ideas they have it is really the only way of making games that seem similar to others different. For example why make GTA vice city unless you can have different mission, weapons etc.
For every game that comes out there will always be a way to make it better, this all depends on the gamer as we all have different tastes. With an industry so big obviously it is the majority who would rule, upset the large amount of gamers and the game isn't going to sell well. So if you were making a football game you would be mad to turn down using premiership teams and replacing them with Conference teams as it wouldn't sell as well. These are easy decisions for the developers. Use ideas that will make the game sell, combined with great visuals, sound and gameplay the game could be huge. Apart from one thing, the developers can't possibly come up with every idea that could make the game great, but maybe asking the millions who play games what kind of things they would like to see would increase the ideas and options the developers have and ultimately increase what us gamers get to do and see in games.
Every developer/publisher of all the big selling and even the smaller selling games have a website so at this moment in time it is easy to set up a way of allowing gamers to get their points across. Internet access is so common in the developed world that in most houses, schools, libraries etc you will find a way of getting on-line. In the future consoles will go on-line and there will be possibilities to directly send information and views directly to the developer perhaps from in game menus etc. So there is no point saying the technology for this isn't already available or could be introduced in the near future.
This kind of idea would benefit both developers and gamers. As the standard of games would rise making more people buy the game, this means the developer makes more money and us gamers get higher quality games.
Being honest I am surprised that this hasn't been around for the past few years. To me it just seems like the best way of developers improving, especially with the number of sequels we see again and again being released.
I know that in some cases, very few, developers get views from beta testers but this is usually just concerning bugs in the code and areas where faults occur. Not on where it could be improved or replaced with something better.
My first thought of this idea was after playing Americas Army (The free downloadable game that Mr Happy suggested to us). The developers worked closely to the american army and this can be seen in the game as it closly ressembles the army way of things from the training, weapons, missions etc.
I also read a Playstation 2 magazine which ran a competition - Give us the things you want to see in GTA-Vice city and we will send them to the developers.
Recently they printed the best, and as promised sent them off and it seems a few of them will be included in the game. Sadly I doubt the people with the ideas will be given a mention but in the future they could be.
I for one would like to see this. Obviously like most on-line things people will abuse their rights, send SPAM and crap ideas but from those who do take it serious we could see some excellent ideas being introduced to our favourite genres and games. The only problem I see for the developer is someone has to look through the ideas and decide which are good, which are possible to include (ie can it be coded into the game) and which are not good enough or not right for the game. Also adding more will mean it takes longer to produce and a longer wait for the gamers, but I think it is better to wait a little longer for a better game.
Following on from this maybe we could even see developers using peoples own game ideas and turning these into games (Obviously making their own ideas and suggestions to the original idea along the way) which would be a good thing for all those out there who have the dreams and talent to write the ideas for games but just not having someone willing to take time and effort looking through the idea and deciding what to do with it.
There are so many games out there, all fall into various genres. Many of them are sequels or copies of previous ideas, this could be the next best way of getting unique ideas, a good thing that I am sure many gamers would like to see.
i know what you mean mate, GTA3 is closest thing to cars being damaged, and even that not all that.
Take MSR for example, you can take over the leader just like you said but if i smashed into the wall, the car is perfectley fine and i am still playing.
there is definatley something wrong...
Take MSR for example, you can take over the leader just like you said but if i smashed into the wall, the car is perfectley fine and i am still playing.
there is definatley something wrong...
I am a gamer, I have been for a long time and hopefully will continue to play games for a lot longer. My dad has always been a bit interested in games and technology etc and he was likely to be the person who got me hooked on games. I have seen a lot of games, some fantastic games and a lot of great ones. All this got me thinking.
I was thinking about car and racing games at first, the lack of damage and the damage effecting the way the car behaves and ultimately having no effect on your performance in the race.
Take GT3 for example, others also out now are the same. You race supercars around tracks, they look and act and behave just like the cars they are based on, the "Ultimate driving simulation" as they are known. But the lack of damage to me is a mayor issue that goes totally un-noticed. You can race at high speeds to catch up with the race leader, slam the car into a wall and still overtake the leader with no effects that damage your car or your performance. To me that isn't really the "Ultimate driving simulation" as they say. I know myself that if I slam a top performance sports car or even a run of the mill car into a wall at a high speed I would be lucky to walk away and even more lucky if the car still had enough bits to make it move. So why don't racing games become that little more realistic to allow us to make these mistakes and pay the price for it?
Hope for this is not totally gone though, GTA3 may not be a racing game but it shows that you pay for wreckless driving. Toca Race Driver also showed this, as well as containing a story which puts you in the shoes of a toca race driver, it makes you drive to succeed and choose teams, accept and refuse offers just like any professional driver. But the thing that makes it a little different to most is the fact that the cars can be damaged and they do affect your performance, I am not sure if they affect it enough and in a way they would in real life but hopefully it is a step that others will look at and learn from.
I don't know the full ins and outs of the development of games like GT3, but there is a possibility that the people who allow their cars to be used in games won't allow them to be smashed to bits for the fun and realism of the game. To me though this does seem a bit of a poor excuse but it may well be the reason. Another reason may be down to the developer, including the damage and physics and visuals required to make the crashes and damaged cars would reduce the overall performance, look and feel of the game which is something they would rather have than include damges effects, the lack of damage effects could well be why GT3 is always picked as being the best of the bunch, perhaps including damage could take some of the magic away and also cause a reduction in the visuals and gameplay. Which is something not a lot would like to see.
To me it just dosn't seem right, it isn't realistic enough anymore, the cars look, sound and drive like they should but crash them straight on into a wall at 90 mph and there isn't a scratch on them. Seems weird to me that we have the ability and the technology to do it but so many leave it out or make it so basic.
So is damage effects just the next step we will see the developer using to make this genre of game even more popular and realistic? Guess like everything else we will just need to wait and see. Maybe there are other faults in some games that seem so obvious to be included but are commonly left out.
It isn't just driving games though, all genres of games have certain downsides which cause us to think that maybe the developers should listen to what gamers want.
The idea is simple. Get more feedback on games from the gamers.
At the moment most information developers get from games is from sales (I could be wrong), they know what does well and what doesn't. With all the new ideas they have it is really the only way of making games that seem similar to others different. For example why make GTA vice city unless you can have different mission, weapons etc.
For every game that comes out there will always be a way to make it better, this all depends on the gamer as we all have different tastes. With an industry so big obviously it is the majority who would rule, upset the large amount of gamers and the game isn't going to sell well. So if you were making a football game you would be mad to turn down using premiership teams and replacing them with Conference teams as it wouldn't sell as well. These are easy decisions for the developers. Use ideas that will make the game sell, combined with great visuals, sound and gameplay the game could be huge. Apart from one thing, the developers can't possibly come up with every idea that could make the game great, but maybe asking the millions who play games what kind of things they would like to see would increase the ideas and options the developers have and ultimately increase what us gamers get to do and see in games.
Every developer/publisher of all the big selling and even the smaller selling games have a website so at this moment in time it is easy to set up a way of allowing gamers to get their points across. Internet access is so common in the developed world that in most houses, schools, libraries etc you will find a way of getting on-line. In the future consoles will go on-line and there will be possibilities to directly send information and views directly to the developer perhaps from in game menus etc. So there is no point saying the technology for this isn't already available or could be introduced in the near future.
This kind of idea would benefit both developers and gamers. As the standard of games would rise making more people buy the game, this means the developer makes more money and us gamers get higher quality games.
Being honest I am surprised that this hasn't been around for the past few years. To me it just seems like the best way of developers improving, especially with the number of sequels we see again and again being released.
I know that in some cases, very few, developers get views from beta testers but this is usually just concerning bugs in the code and areas where faults occur. Not on where it could be improved or replaced with something better.
My first thought of this idea was after playing Americas Army (The free downloadable game that Mr Happy suggested to us). The developers worked closely to the american army and this can be seen in the game as it closly ressembles the army way of things from the training, weapons, missions etc.
I also read a Playstation 2 magazine which ran a competition - Give us the things you want to see in GTA-Vice city and we will send them to the developers.
Recently they printed the best, and as promised sent them off and it seems a few of them will be included in the game. Sadly I doubt the people with the ideas will be given a mention but in the future they could be.
I for one would like to see this. Obviously like most on-line things people will abuse their rights, send SPAM and crap ideas but from those who do take it serious we could see some excellent ideas being introduced to our favourite genres and games. The only problem I see for the developer is someone has to look through the ideas and decide which are good, which are possible to include (ie can it be coded into the game) and which are not good enough or not right for the game. Also adding more will mean it takes longer to produce and a longer wait for the gamers, but I think it is better to wait a little longer for a better game.
Following on from this maybe we could even see developers using peoples own game ideas and turning these into games (Obviously making their own ideas and suggestions to the original idea along the way) which would be a good thing for all those out there who have the dreams and talent to write the ideas for games but just not having someone willing to take time and effort looking through the idea and deciding what to do with it.
There are so many games out there, all fall into various genres. Many of them are sequels or copies of previous ideas, this could be the next best way of getting unique ideas, a good thing that I am sure many gamers would like to see.
I was thinking about car and racing games at first, the lack of damage and the damage effecting the way the car behaves and ultimately having no effect on your performance in the race.
Take GT3 for example, others also out now are the same. You race supercars around tracks, they look and act and behave just like the cars they are based on, the "Ultimate driving simulation" as they are known. But the lack of damage to me is a mayor issue that goes totally un-noticed. You can race at high speeds to catch up with the race leader, slam the car into a wall and still overtake the leader with no effects that damage your car or your performance. To me that isn't really the "Ultimate driving simulation" as they say. I know myself that if I slam a top performance sports car or even a run of the mill car into a wall at a high speed I would be lucky to walk away and even more lucky if the car still had enough bits to make it move. So why don't racing games become that little more realistic to allow us to make these mistakes and pay the price for it?
Hope for this is not totally gone though, GTA3 may not be a racing game but it shows that you pay for wreckless driving. Toca Race Driver also showed this, as well as containing a story which puts you in the shoes of a toca race driver, it makes you drive to succeed and choose teams, accept and refuse offers just like any professional driver. But the thing that makes it a little different to most is the fact that the cars can be damaged and they do affect your performance, I am not sure if they affect it enough and in a way they would in real life but hopefully it is a step that others will look at and learn from.
I don't know the full ins and outs of the development of games like GT3, but there is a possibility that the people who allow their cars to be used in games won't allow them to be smashed to bits for the fun and realism of the game. To me though this does seem a bit of a poor excuse but it may well be the reason. Another reason may be down to the developer, including the damage and physics and visuals required to make the crashes and damaged cars would reduce the overall performance, look and feel of the game which is something they would rather have than include damges effects, the lack of damage effects could well be why GT3 is always picked as being the best of the bunch, perhaps including damage could take some of the magic away and also cause a reduction in the visuals and gameplay. Which is something not a lot would like to see.
To me it just dosn't seem right, it isn't realistic enough anymore, the cars look, sound and drive like they should but crash them straight on into a wall at 90 mph and there isn't a scratch on them. Seems weird to me that we have the ability and the technology to do it but so many leave it out or make it so basic.
So is damage effects just the next step we will see the developer using to make this genre of game even more popular and realistic? Guess like everything else we will just need to wait and see. Maybe there are other faults in some games that seem so obvious to be included but are commonly left out.
It isn't just driving games though, all genres of games have certain downsides which cause us to think that maybe the developers should listen to what gamers want.
The idea is simple. Get more feedback on games from the gamers.
At the moment most information developers get from games is from sales (I could be wrong), they know what does well and what doesn't. With all the new ideas they have it is really the only way of making games that seem similar to others different. For example why make GTA vice city unless you can have different mission, weapons etc.
For every game that comes out there will always be a way to make it better, this all depends on the gamer as we all have different tastes. With an industry so big obviously it is the majority who would rule, upset the large amount of gamers and the game isn't going to sell well. So if you were making a football game you would be mad to turn down using premiership teams and replacing them with Conference teams as it wouldn't sell as well. These are easy decisions for the developers. Use ideas that will make the game sell, combined with great visuals, sound and gameplay the game could be huge. Apart from one thing, the developers can't possibly come up with every idea that could make the game great, but maybe asking the millions who play games what kind of things they would like to see would increase the ideas and options the developers have and ultimately increase what us gamers get to do and see in games.
Every developer/publisher of all the big selling and even the smaller selling games have a website so at this moment in time it is easy to set up a way of allowing gamers to get their points across. Internet access is so common in the developed world that in most houses, schools, libraries etc you will find a way of getting on-line. In the future consoles will go on-line and there will be possibilities to directly send information and views directly to the developer perhaps from in game menus etc. So there is no point saying the technology for this isn't already available or could be introduced in the near future.
This kind of idea would benefit both developers and gamers. As the standard of games would rise making more people buy the game, this means the developer makes more money and us gamers get higher quality games.
Being honest I am surprised that this hasn't been around for the past few years. To me it just seems like the best way of developers improving, especially with the number of sequels we see again and again being released.
I know that in some cases, very few, developers get views from beta testers but this is usually just concerning bugs in the code and areas where faults occur. Not on where it could be improved or replaced with something better.
My first thought of this idea was after playing Americas Army (The free downloadable game that Mr Happy suggested to us). The developers worked closely to the american army and this can be seen in the game as it closly ressembles the army way of things from the training, weapons, missions etc.
I also read a Playstation 2 magazine which ran a competition - Give us the things you want to see in GTA-Vice city and we will send them to the developers.
Recently they printed the best, and as promised sent them off and it seems a few of them will be included in the game. Sadly I doubt the people with the ideas will be given a mention but in the future they could be.
I for one would like to see this. Obviously like most on-line things people will abuse their rights, send SPAM and crap ideas but from those who do take it serious we could see some excellent ideas being introduced to our favourite genres and games. The only problem I see for the developer is someone has to look through the ideas and decide which are good, which are possible to include (ie can it be coded into the game) and which are not good enough or not right for the game. Also adding more will mean it takes longer to produce and a longer wait for the gamers, but I think it is better to wait a little longer for a better game.
Following on from this maybe we could even see developers using peoples own game ideas and turning these into games (Obviously making their own ideas and suggestions to the original idea along the way) which would be a good thing for all those out there who have the dreams and talent to write the ideas for games but just not having someone willing to take time and effort looking through the idea and deciding what to do with it.
There are so many games out there, all fall into various genres. Many of them are sequels or copies of previous ideas, this could be the next best way of getting unique ideas, a good thing that I am sure many gamers would like to see.