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"At "last"... (very in-depth!)"

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Fri 31/01/03 at 22:08
Regular
Posts: 787
...someone has finally thought the same thing I have been thinking for a while now about games that could last forever! Well in fact, it's more somepeople than someone, as a group of American scientists are trying to develop the idea of a never-ending game. Looking at SR's upwire article of this amazing story, a sudden shiver of hope creeped up my spine at the prospect of this, making me wonder how the hell this can be possible?

The article mentions about how programmers won't have to script events in games anymore, and how certain decisions in the game may have a long-lasting effect, but it still doesn't explain in true detail how this can be possible. I'm sure many developers before have tried this before(except for the greedy ones that just like churning out sequels to make money), but how is it that it's now 'Scientists' that had to figure this out. I thought science was all about nature and the human organisms and stuff, not gaming!

I'm still trying to think of what this technology would be like. Would it be an input device for only one game or would it be some kind of chip instead, that will allow all games to be never ending. Now there's an idea!

If this is the same technology used for robot navigation like in those expensive dog robot toys that adapt to their surroundings and express different emotions and things, then why not create a chip so all games could share in this revolutionary discovery? Well, it is after all a revolution, just like when games could go online and consoles maintained much more realistic graphics, but only this is REALLY something big...that's if it works out, which I thoroughly hope it does.

So, back to this idea of a chip being made rather than a programme, which can only be used in one game. If these scientists do make a chip for their programme, they would be confronted with many beneficial options. Either sell it to the highest bidder (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo), who could then place it inside their console, duplicate this chip and sell it for all consoles/PCs or they could just simply leave it as a program in which only a couple games could use.

I know it sounds a bit unlikely, but surely something like the chip could be made to enhance this technology, but those scientists just don't know it yet...or maybe they do. It would be hard though if it was made because there are certain genres that wouldn't be able to comply with the chip, like beat'em ups and soccer sims. The whole idea from the scientists was built upon the basis of a world being existent, which is good news for adventure and RPG fans, but not for those Bond(FPS) and Max Payne kind of people. With action titles like Splinter Cell, you find that you can’t really avoid the linear plot otherwise the game wouldn’t be as good and involving, but for RPGs like Phantasy Star online and Final Fantasy, this program would be perfect for them.

This just goes to show that not every game can last for as long as you would like, that is until something greater is discovered. This development by scientists is only designed for games that contain a specific world, which means it's more based upon sci-fi and fantasy titles. They always contain objects and things to be destroyed, so the program could allow a long-lasting effect, but for games that make you constantly dispose of enemies it wouldn't work. This shows that some games are best left the way they are. The ability to progress and accomplish in games is a good one, and I just can't see that happening with the use of this program. I mean, what would it allow us to do? Will it still let us progress very gradually, or will it just continue to spit new things out at us? If it does, that would be great! But I'mnot sure everybody would like it.

The funny thing is, it feels brilliant once you've completed a game, but once the feeling of accomplishment settles down, the side-effects start to kick in and you suddenly feel like you want or deserve more from the game. This has happened to me countless times, so I think the solution would really be if a game could have many different storylines and routes, so repetition wouldn't be a factor. This would obviously be a mountain to climb for developers, and it would also mean that we wouldn't receive our games as frequently as we do, but if some developers make such a game like every five years, it could work and we'll be assured to see more landmark titles for our pleasure. It would still mean that sport titles would not be involved, but at least this time racing and beat'em ups would. The thing with fighting games that restricts them from being everlasting is the limited amount of moves, characters arenas and storylines for fighters (some don't even have storylines). With this, I think that a program similar to the one just discovered that remembers past moves and develops new ones, would be good, but what about the arenas and storylines? Well, it would have to be a really powerful program that could think for itself, creating its own surroundings, but it still doesn't solve the situation with witnessing the same storylines for the same characters. This is where faults would set in with the software because it cannot develop its own storyline, it can only avoid linear ones. This would be where my previous idea for landmark titles would work, having a huge range of storyline for each character.

Racing games would also miss out on this new technology because they too have repetitive gameplay and limited abilities with race tracks and so on. But games like TOCA Race Driver have shown that racing games with a plot are a good partnership. Only, once again, unless the plot is ridiculously long, you're bound to soon reach the end and from then on you have to depend on what extras the game has to offer. Like the above, such racing titles could be made ever so often with many different storylines, characters or whatever. And if the developers are kind enough, they could even throw in different vehicles and locations in each different plot, so the game really repels the feeling of repetition. But where these scientists technology could come in is with the different race tracks. If it could monitor how many times you've used the same track it could then build on this to create new things on the same track like more or less traffic, changing from day to night (or vice versa) and even showing people doing their everyday jobs on the sidewalk, with the addition of spontanious reactions to the hi-octane action going on, on the streets.

So really, it won't just be action/adventure/RPG titles that can benefit from this program, but also the unexpected beat'em up and racers. With the added light of thorough development for more storylines and things, it really could work.

If only GTA3 and Vice City were made after this discovery then I'm sure we would have been able to witness the true potential of this program. What both titles did was give an incredible amount of aims to be completed, but it still remained limited, whereas this technology would have allowed it to be never ending. Like robbing certain shopkeepers or killing certain gang members could result to acts of revenge maybe. Something like that. Even Mario Sunshine as well. This is a game based in a world of many creatures and things, so this program could also have made it never ending, adding new things never seen in the game.

I don't know about you, but I've really been taken in by this newfound technology, even if science played a part. Still, it does have its bad points because really, although some may never admit it, finishing a game is a very good feeling. However, I do like the idea of suspence and unexpectancy, not knowing what's going to happen next. And if such a good experience goes on forever, who can really complain?!

I'm waiting in anticipation for these scientists' next move with their program. I just hope they don't doddle about and keep me waiting too long! I want to be part of this never ending experience.


Thanks for your time
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
Fri 31/01/03 at 22:08
Regular
"Being Ignorant"
Posts: 2,574
...someone has finally thought the same thing I have been thinking for a while now about games that could last forever! Well in fact, it's more somepeople than someone, as a group of American scientists are trying to develop the idea of a never-ending game. Looking at SR's upwire article of this amazing story, a sudden shiver of hope creeped up my spine at the prospect of this, making me wonder how the hell this can be possible?

The article mentions about how programmers won't have to script events in games anymore, and how certain decisions in the game may have a long-lasting effect, but it still doesn't explain in true detail how this can be possible. I'm sure many developers before have tried this before(except for the greedy ones that just like churning out sequels to make money), but how is it that it's now 'Scientists' that had to figure this out. I thought science was all about nature and the human organisms and stuff, not gaming!

I'm still trying to think of what this technology would be like. Would it be an input device for only one game or would it be some kind of chip instead, that will allow all games to be never ending. Now there's an idea!

If this is the same technology used for robot navigation like in those expensive dog robot toys that adapt to their surroundings and express different emotions and things, then why not create a chip so all games could share in this revolutionary discovery? Well, it is after all a revolution, just like when games could go online and consoles maintained much more realistic graphics, but only this is REALLY something big...that's if it works out, which I thoroughly hope it does.

So, back to this idea of a chip being made rather than a programme, which can only be used in one game. If these scientists do make a chip for their programme, they would be confronted with many beneficial options. Either sell it to the highest bidder (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo), who could then place it inside their console, duplicate this chip and sell it for all consoles/PCs or they could just simply leave it as a program in which only a couple games could use.

I know it sounds a bit unlikely, but surely something like the chip could be made to enhance this technology, but those scientists just don't know it yet...or maybe they do. It would be hard though if it was made because there are certain genres that wouldn't be able to comply with the chip, like beat'em ups and soccer sims. The whole idea from the scientists was built upon the basis of a world being existent, which is good news for adventure and RPG fans, but not for those Bond(FPS) and Max Payne kind of people. With action titles like Splinter Cell, you find that you can’t really avoid the linear plot otherwise the game wouldn’t be as good and involving, but for RPGs like Phantasy Star online and Final Fantasy, this program would be perfect for them.

This just goes to show that not every game can last for as long as you would like, that is until something greater is discovered. This development by scientists is only designed for games that contain a specific world, which means it's more based upon sci-fi and fantasy titles. They always contain objects and things to be destroyed, so the program could allow a long-lasting effect, but for games that make you constantly dispose of enemies it wouldn't work. This shows that some games are best left the way they are. The ability to progress and accomplish in games is a good one, and I just can't see that happening with the use of this program. I mean, what would it allow us to do? Will it still let us progress very gradually, or will it just continue to spit new things out at us? If it does, that would be great! But I'mnot sure everybody would like it.

The funny thing is, it feels brilliant once you've completed a game, but once the feeling of accomplishment settles down, the side-effects start to kick in and you suddenly feel like you want or deserve more from the game. This has happened to me countless times, so I think the solution would really be if a game could have many different storylines and routes, so repetition wouldn't be a factor. This would obviously be a mountain to climb for developers, and it would also mean that we wouldn't receive our games as frequently as we do, but if some developers make such a game like every five years, it could work and we'll be assured to see more landmark titles for our pleasure. It would still mean that sport titles would not be involved, but at least this time racing and beat'em ups would. The thing with fighting games that restricts them from being everlasting is the limited amount of moves, characters arenas and storylines for fighters (some don't even have storylines). With this, I think that a program similar to the one just discovered that remembers past moves and develops new ones, would be good, but what about the arenas and storylines? Well, it would have to be a really powerful program that could think for itself, creating its own surroundings, but it still doesn't solve the situation with witnessing the same storylines for the same characters. This is where faults would set in with the software because it cannot develop its own storyline, it can only avoid linear ones. This would be where my previous idea for landmark titles would work, having a huge range of storyline for each character.

Racing games would also miss out on this new technology because they too have repetitive gameplay and limited abilities with race tracks and so on. But games like TOCA Race Driver have shown that racing games with a plot are a good partnership. Only, once again, unless the plot is ridiculously long, you're bound to soon reach the end and from then on you have to depend on what extras the game has to offer. Like the above, such racing titles could be made ever so often with many different storylines, characters or whatever. And if the developers are kind enough, they could even throw in different vehicles and locations in each different plot, so the game really repels the feeling of repetition. But where these scientists technology could come in is with the different race tracks. If it could monitor how many times you've used the same track it could then build on this to create new things on the same track like more or less traffic, changing from day to night (or vice versa) and even showing people doing their everyday jobs on the sidewalk, with the addition of spontanious reactions to the hi-octane action going on, on the streets.

So really, it won't just be action/adventure/RPG titles that can benefit from this program, but also the unexpected beat'em up and racers. With the added light of thorough development for more storylines and things, it really could work.

If only GTA3 and Vice City were made after this discovery then I'm sure we would have been able to witness the true potential of this program. What both titles did was give an incredible amount of aims to be completed, but it still remained limited, whereas this technology would have allowed it to be never ending. Like robbing certain shopkeepers or killing certain gang members could result to acts of revenge maybe. Something like that. Even Mario Sunshine as well. This is a game based in a world of many creatures and things, so this program could also have made it never ending, adding new things never seen in the game.

I don't know about you, but I've really been taken in by this newfound technology, even if science played a part. Still, it does have its bad points because really, although some may never admit it, finishing a game is a very good feeling. However, I do like the idea of suspence and unexpectancy, not knowing what's going to happen next. And if such a good experience goes on forever, who can really complain?!

I'm waiting in anticipation for these scientists' next move with their program. I just hope they don't doddle about and keep me waiting too long! I want to be part of this never ending experience.


Thanks for your time

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