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"The Future Of Gaming"

Nice, original title there, but I guess it's appropriate!

According to the reports of those that have played the demo, Metal Gear Solid 2 is looking very fine indeed.

What strikes me about the comments though, is the large variety of things you can do. Just looking at the thread "How do you kill yours" in the PS2 forum lists dozens of different things. Point a gun at them from close range, they'll put their hands up. Shoot them in the leg, and they won't stand on it. You can look in lockers, and hide bodies in them. You can hit your head on the locker doors if you're daft enough to try to get too close to a picture in one of the lockers ;-).

Now all of this got me thinking. It seems so much more involved than anything previously seen. I guess that the only limitation of the demo is that you're stuck within the boundaries of the ship.

But as time goes by, things will improve. The developers won't have to create levels that confine the players to such small areas, and I'm sure other levels of MGS2 will be much larger, this was after all, only the first level.

There are other improvements that can be made too, a shot in each leg, and one in the hand shouldn't kill a man, you should be able to torture them more before they die!

You should be able to pick up all objects, and have a good look at them. If they're useful, take them.

I'm not saying games should become ultra realistic, but it would be nice if advancements where made that made your character more versatile in attack, and more manouverable. The landscape should become more interactive. If you're walking through a grassy field in the morning, your shoes should get wet, and you should be able to pull up some of the grass. There should be realistic cloud movement, with it darkening, and breaking into rain. Your characters hair, or fur, should move in the wind, and after a bit of a run, or a fight, they should sweat, and look a little out of breath.

Games are going to keep on moving to new levels and I think the next step is development of what the characters can do, and their interaction with the environment around them. There are currently many barriers in these areas, but it looks like games such as Metal Gear Solid 2 will help to break these down.

The thing is, you'd need such a powerful machine to be able to handle the real-world physics engine to sort that sort of stuff out. So i dont think we'll see things like that just yet.

Also, it would make AI routines harder to program because there would be so many more variables the player could change, ie pulling a desk in front of a door to block the bad guys. Enhanced AI routines would also need more processing power.

I think we could see games with engines capable of this sort of thing being developed for systems like PS3 or X-Box2 etc.

The Game wrote:
> In respone to meka_d's second post,

I think that in order to pull
> bed sheets off etc you would need a PC, purely for all the buttons!

Not at all. If you had a "grab" button, you could grab many different things. Simply grabbing the bedding, then walking away would pull it off the bed.

You could also use the "grab" button to pull a desk in front of a door to stop people from getting in.

Talking of getting more interaction in games, why do car manufacturers not allow damage to appear on their cars. Wouldnt it make you drive more carefully if when you smashed into a wall you saw your car actually get trashed?

In respone to meka_d's second post,

I think that in order to pull bed sheets off etc you would need a PC, purely for all the buttons! Consoles couldn't cut it where things like that are concerned, plus it would take loads fo extra coding and mapping. I really do think that the type of games we have now are best, they come out reasonably quickly but we don't want to be waiting any longer than this!

More interaction is always a good thing but you still need a balance of all the asects of a game, including release date, longetivity, graphics, sound, etc etc.

I am sure you already know this but ah hell it MIGHT win gameaday!...maybe!

Goatboy wrote:
> Ummm...can't you do these things in the "real"
> world?

Smashing plates, yanking sheets off beds and looking
> through cupboards? You sound like someone on Crimewatch
*s*

You missed my point there! I was saying firstly build an engine that's powerful enough to do all of those things, then take these features and put them in a game such as MGS.

You may well drive to work everyday, but you don't race against others, maybe smashing into a few walls, just trying to squeeze past them, do you? (Well I hope you don't!)

I'm not asking for realistic situations in games here, just a little more interaction with the environment around.

If there's drawers in a room, it would be nice to be able to open them. It would be nice if you could move some of the furniture, maybe to barricade a door closed whilst you try to crack a safe.

Would you be able to choose who you wake up next to?

If so i choose either Rachel from S Club 7, or Anna Kournikova.

Anyone else?

Ummm...can't you do these things in the "real" world?

Smashing plates, yanking sheets off beds and looking through cupboards? You sound like someone on Crimewatch
*s*

I don't know, how realistic do you want these things to be?
Like GT3, yeah looks cool but I drive everyday to and from work, don't really want to play a game where I drive about a lot.

MGS2 is different, because I don't get the chance too often to infiltrate ships and hide in lockers (well, one of those things is a pretty regular thing but that's my business).

I say more games that allow you to walk into work 4hrs late and not care!
To hell with realism, let's have a game called "You wake up next to Salma Hayek and don't have to leave the house for 4 days".
Now that is a level of realism that better be damn near perfect.

Just thing back to NES games like Rush 'n' Attack. It was just you, and the enemies. The most interaction you got with the environment was the odd platform to jump on, whether it be a strange steel platform hanging in mid air, or walking on top of a train.

Now you have these visually stunning 3D environments. But really, they're just the same. You walk on then. You can't walk through them. There are many things that can't be moved.

Progress is certainly being made in these areas though, by the sound of things. I'd like to see a game engine that, as an example of it's power, would allow you to walk into a house. In that house you could go into any room, and do what you like. You could jump on the bed. Pull off the bed sheets, then look in all of the drawers. You could then rummage amongst the socks, maybe.

If you walk through the garden, then into the house, you should leave dirty footprints. In the kitchen if you pick up and drop a plate it should smash, but dropping a saucepan should make an entirely different noise.

Now take these elements, and put them in a game, such as Metal Gear Solid. Everything you can see, could be examined more closely, and would maybe have some function. If you wander into a room with tables in it, you should be able to move them. Maybe lay one down on it's side, to use as a shield.

Even better, why not grab a man, and use him as a human shield as you make progress?

This is the way I seem gaming going in the future. The games can't really get much bigger in terms of quests, and missions, otherwise people won't need to buy any more games in a hurry, but expanding upon the environments you play within will no doubt make the whole gaming experience just that little bit more special.

Would be good if you are able to do whatever you want in an area, or look out a window to see the patrolling guards passing below you and spotting you.
If it's that advanced it should be great.

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