The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
As gaming technology has advanced to the point where seamless, realistic environments are not only possible but rapidly becoming commonplace, are we reaching the point where we could produce the "ultimate game"? IMHO, there are certain elements that it would have to include - realistic environments with no loading screens, a choice of 1st and 3rd person viewpoints, non-linear but not in an annoying "what am I suposed to do now?" context, flexibility over the development of your character, a constantly-evolving, interesting and original plot, and also preferably on-line prospects.
The ultimate game can't exist, because of the ammount of detail that would be needed. Add to that an improvisation engine, and of course, mine would be different from anyone else's, but it should be possible to get close. What I'm most interested in is AI, espescially in strategy games. The problem is, you can always tell that the way units pathfind, select targets etc. is being done by a computer: e.g, they ALWAYS spot the enemy, or (if it has particularly bad AI) never spot the enemy - there is no middle ground. As such, my 'Ultimate Game' would have to have human-like AI.
Each individual nook and cranny of the game would need to be "perfect" - eg. the driving side of the game would have to contain the best car physics ever created. Likewise, if you could hack, it would have to be the best simulation of hacking possible. Deus Ex felt freeform - but was it? Deus Ex had alot of "things" to do: hack computers, optional missions etc, but it's still a very linear game. A freeform Deus Ex that never ended would be my ultimate game! The title "Ultimate Game" would also imply that everyone would want to play the game - but it depends on the game's theme, atmosphere, music etc. Some will argue that it couldn't be the Ultimate Game unless it was free, and unless everyone had an excellent, fast and free internet connection. I can't see that happening anytime soon. I think the answer is having several different "worlds" for each major theme etc.
Ah, but these things will happen over time. A lot of my mates have got Blueyonder Broadband Internet (512Kb/s), and while it's fast, it's not the fastest. It won't be long until everyone is connected to some sort of high-speed internet connection, though that would cost money to the company that constructs that network architecture. Free? Ah, well, that depends on the developers! But I suppose they need some method of upkeeping the servers :) I think part of the point of the ultimate game would be that it would be configurable to play however you wanted - either in the form of menu options at the start, or as a more sophisticated form of the Max Payne auto-difficulty - the game watching for the way YOU habitually approach situations and then adjusting the AI, scripting and set-pieces in order to make it more challenging and interesting for YOU. A linear plot will just not work in the Ultimate Game.
It would probably be a first person game, with an amazing story-line that gives you plenty of freedom to do things and you can really interact with the characters and the enviroment. It would also be pretty cool if the enemies reacted differently in different situations. In Half-Life, the human soldiers might be fighting aliens, then you come along, they see you and they try to kill you. I thought that was a bit weird - it would have been cool to fight with the soldiers against the aliens, that would be how it is in real life. Anyone else smell another Half Life add-on? ;)
Anyone got any more ideas about what the Ultimate Game should contain?
Thanks for reading,
Shaun.
The ultimate game can't exist, because of the ammount of detail that would be needed. Add to that an improvisation engine, and of course, mine would be different from anyone else's, but it should be possible to get close. What I'm most interested in is AI, espescially in strategy games. The problem is, you can always tell that the way units pathfind, select targets etc. is being done by a computer: e.g, they ALWAYS spot the enemy, or (if it has particularly bad AI) never spot the enemy - there is no middle ground. As such, my 'Ultimate Game' would have to have human-like AI.
Each individual nook and cranny of the game would need to be "perfect" - eg. the driving side of the game would have to contain the best car physics ever created. Likewise, if you could hack, it would have to be the best simulation of hacking possible. Deus Ex felt freeform - but was it? Deus Ex had alot of "things" to do: hack computers, optional missions etc, but it's still a very linear game. A freeform Deus Ex that never ended would be my ultimate game! The title "Ultimate Game" would also imply that everyone would want to play the game - but it depends on the game's theme, atmosphere, music etc. Some will argue that it couldn't be the Ultimate Game unless it was free, and unless everyone had an excellent, fast and free internet connection. I can't see that happening anytime soon. I think the answer is having several different "worlds" for each major theme etc.
Ah, but these things will happen over time. A lot of my mates have got Blueyonder Broadband Internet (512Kb/s), and while it's fast, it's not the fastest. It won't be long until everyone is connected to some sort of high-speed internet connection, though that would cost money to the company that constructs that network architecture. Free? Ah, well, that depends on the developers! But I suppose they need some method of upkeeping the servers :) I think part of the point of the ultimate game would be that it would be configurable to play however you wanted - either in the form of menu options at the start, or as a more sophisticated form of the Max Payne auto-difficulty - the game watching for the way YOU habitually approach situations and then adjusting the AI, scripting and set-pieces in order to make it more challenging and interesting for YOU. A linear plot will just not work in the Ultimate Game.
It would probably be a first person game, with an amazing story-line that gives you plenty of freedom to do things and you can really interact with the characters and the enviroment. It would also be pretty cool if the enemies reacted differently in different situations. In Half-Life, the human soldiers might be fighting aliens, then you come along, they see you and they try to kill you. I thought that was a bit weird - it would have been cool to fight with the soldiers against the aliens, that would be how it is in real life. Anyone else smell another Half Life add-on? ;)
Anyone got any more ideas about what the Ultimate Game should contain?
Thanks for reading,
Shaun.
Page:
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
As gaming technology has advanced to the point where seamless, realistic environments are not only possible but rapidly becoming commonplace, are we reaching the point where we could produce the "ultimate game"? IMHO, there are certain elements that it would have to include - realistic environments with no loading screens, a choice of 1st and 3rd person viewpoints, non-linear but not in an annoying "what am I suposed to do now?" context, flexibility over the development of your character, a constantly-evolving, interesting and original plot, and also preferably on-line prospects.
The ultimate game can't exist, because of the ammount of detail that would be needed. Add to that an improvisation engine, and of course, mine would be different from anyone else's, but it should be possible to get close. What I'm most interested in is AI, espescially in strategy games. The problem is, you can always tell that the way units pathfind, select targets etc. is being done by a computer: e.g, they ALWAYS spot the enemy, or (if it has particularly bad AI) never spot the enemy - there is no middle ground. As such, my 'Ultimate Game' would have to have human-like AI.
Each individual nook and cranny of the game would need to be "perfect" - eg. the driving side of the game would have to contain the best car physics ever created. Likewise, if you could hack, it would have to be the best simulation of hacking possible. Deus Ex felt freeform - but was it? Deus Ex had alot of "things" to do: hack computers, optional missions etc, but it's still a very linear game. A freeform Deus Ex that never ended would be my ultimate game! The title "Ultimate Game" would also imply that everyone would want to play the game - but it depends on the game's theme, atmosphere, music etc. Some will argue that it couldn't be the Ultimate Game unless it was free, and unless everyone had an excellent, fast and free internet connection. I can't see that happening anytime soon. I think the answer is having several different "worlds" for each major theme etc.
Ah, but these things will happen over time. A lot of my mates have got Blueyonder Broadband Internet (512Kb/s), and while it's fast, it's not the fastest. It won't be long until everyone is connected to some sort of high-speed internet connection, though that would cost money to the company that constructs that network architecture. Free? Ah, well, that depends on the developers! But I suppose they need some method of upkeeping the servers :) I think part of the point of the ultimate game would be that it would be configurable to play however you wanted - either in the form of menu options at the start, or as a more sophisticated form of the Max Payne auto-difficulty - the game watching for the way YOU habitually approach situations and then adjusting the AI, scripting and set-pieces in order to make it more challenging and interesting for YOU. A linear plot will just not work in the Ultimate Game.
It would probably be a first person game, with an amazing story-line that gives you plenty of freedom to do things and you can really interact with the characters and the enviroment. It would also be pretty cool if the enemies reacted differently in different situations. In Half-Life, the human soldiers might be fighting aliens, then you come along, they see you and they try to kill you. I thought that was a bit weird - it would have been cool to fight with the soldiers against the aliens, that would be how it is in real life. Anyone else smell another Half Life add-on? ;)
Anyone got any more ideas about what the Ultimate Game should contain?
Thanks for reading,
Shaun.
The ultimate game can't exist, because of the ammount of detail that would be needed. Add to that an improvisation engine, and of course, mine would be different from anyone else's, but it should be possible to get close. What I'm most interested in is AI, espescially in strategy games. The problem is, you can always tell that the way units pathfind, select targets etc. is being done by a computer: e.g, they ALWAYS spot the enemy, or (if it has particularly bad AI) never spot the enemy - there is no middle ground. As such, my 'Ultimate Game' would have to have human-like AI.
Each individual nook and cranny of the game would need to be "perfect" - eg. the driving side of the game would have to contain the best car physics ever created. Likewise, if you could hack, it would have to be the best simulation of hacking possible. Deus Ex felt freeform - but was it? Deus Ex had alot of "things" to do: hack computers, optional missions etc, but it's still a very linear game. A freeform Deus Ex that never ended would be my ultimate game! The title "Ultimate Game" would also imply that everyone would want to play the game - but it depends on the game's theme, atmosphere, music etc. Some will argue that it couldn't be the Ultimate Game unless it was free, and unless everyone had an excellent, fast and free internet connection. I can't see that happening anytime soon. I think the answer is having several different "worlds" for each major theme etc.
Ah, but these things will happen over time. A lot of my mates have got Blueyonder Broadband Internet (512Kb/s), and while it's fast, it's not the fastest. It won't be long until everyone is connected to some sort of high-speed internet connection, though that would cost money to the company that constructs that network architecture. Free? Ah, well, that depends on the developers! But I suppose they need some method of upkeeping the servers :) I think part of the point of the ultimate game would be that it would be configurable to play however you wanted - either in the form of menu options at the start, or as a more sophisticated form of the Max Payne auto-difficulty - the game watching for the way YOU habitually approach situations and then adjusting the AI, scripting and set-pieces in order to make it more challenging and interesting for YOU. A linear plot will just not work in the Ultimate Game.
It would probably be a first person game, with an amazing story-line that gives you plenty of freedom to do things and you can really interact with the characters and the enviroment. It would also be pretty cool if the enemies reacted differently in different situations. In Half-Life, the human soldiers might be fighting aliens, then you come along, they see you and they try to kill you. I thought that was a bit weird - it would have been cool to fight with the soldiers against the aliens, that would be how it is in real life. Anyone else smell another Half Life add-on? ;)
Anyone got any more ideas about what the Ultimate Game should contain?
Thanks for reading,
Shaun.
Page: