On The Trendiest Concepts In Game Design 50
Thanks to the Guardian Gamesblog for its post discussing some of the 'trendiest' concepts currently infusing the world of videogames. The author notes: "Like every other entertainment sector, the videogame industry is prone to sudden fads and fashions that seem to spring out of nowhere, take the scene by storm, and then disappear only to be replaced by more advanced technologies, or better ideas, or something really silly", before pointing out trends such as 'sandbox gameplay' ("Sandbox is the new 'non-linear' - a favourite buzzword for open-ended game design... the dole office is full of unemployed end-of-level bosses") street racing games ("All the big driving genres - arcade, rally, F1 - have been done to death, so developers, already fascinated by crime and edgy urban themes, have turned to street racing"), and 'historical accuracy' ("Once the preserve of sad PC strategy titles, history has become a major videogame theme.")
Hold on... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Hold on... (Score:2)
Re:Hold on... (Score:2)
Mmm, Night Trap and Make My Video. Who could forget?
YLFIRe:Hold on... (Score:1)
Re:Hold on... (Score:1)
The next big thing (Score:1)
Normal mapping vs. bump mapping? (Score:2)
Re:Normal mapping vs. bump mapping? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Normal mapping vs. bump mapping? (Score:1)
Re:Normal mapping vs. bump mapping? (Score:5, Informative)
Bump mapping is used to make a surface look more 3D by making the small details get light differntly (like the grout between bricks). It gives the illusion of depth. The problem is if you view across the surface, it's still just a flat surface.
Normal mapping actually changes the geomety of the object when it's rendered. So while the effect might end up looking the same (probably not, but they could be used for the same kind of thing), when you look across the surface, this time it's not flat, it's actually 3D.
Now that's a lousy way to use it if all it does is the same as bump mapping. Do the little tiny bumps (like on bricks) really matter that much? Wouldn't bump mapping be faster? Yes. But normal mapping lets you do more. You could edit the normal maps on the side panels of a car in-game to "bend" it so that it is dented because it was hit by another car. You could use slightly different normal maps on all the soldier in a game so that they are all the same model, but seem to have slightly different faces, body structures, etc. It allows some interesting stuff, which bump could, at best, hint at.
Re:Normal mapping vs. bump mapping? (Score:3, Informative)
Normal mapping isn't doing the geometry stuff, that's displacement mapping. Something that isn't yet available (I don't think) in hardware (No, not even on a 6800 GT ULTRA SUPER DUPER). This is not to be confused with Virtual Displacement Mapping, or Holographic Mapping, or Virtual Holographic Displacement Mapping (all of which are the same thing). They involve offsetting texture coordinates based on the camera position and angle to make textures APPEAR as though the actual geome
The answers you seek lie within (Score:3, Informative)
Normal Maps are an extension of bump mapping in a way. Instead of using simple black and white images they use the red, green and blue channels of a color texture to capture the directions that varying su
Re:Normal mapping vs. bump mapping? (Score:2)
Re:Normal mapping vs. bump mapping? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Normal mapping vs. bump mapping? (Score:2, Informative)
A pixel in a normal map represents the angle/direction (normal) that the surface at that point should appear to be facing. When the lighting is applied, it is calculated using that normal, relative to the actual orientation of the underlying polygon.
The problem with normal mapping is the lack of parallax.
a rather disappointing list (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd say the real trends are things like episodic gaming, MMORPG's, the leveling treadmill, the limits of player interaction, etc. In short, the things that we actively choose, not those that are dictated to us by the limits of our technology.
Re:a rather disappointing list (Score:2, Interesting)
But I guess games are like movies. Eventually all of the truly original c
Re:a rather disappointing list (Score:4, Interesting)
You're right, the list isn't much in the way of trends in gaming. You want a trend? Trying to make a game out of any sport with the word "extreme" attached to it. That's a trend (even if a sorry one).
Old school physics? (Score:4, Insightful)
The crappy thing is, Tresspasser kind of scared developers away from doing physics engines, lest they pull another tresspasser and completely fuck up their game. It wasn't until recently (starting with UT2003, AFAIK) that the big boys of the industry said "no, we can do this right". Suddenly, physics is a buzzword and a 'new thang' instead of being 5 years old and still evolving.
I suppose the only good news is that detailed physics are probably here to stay now, and should get better as the industry keeps fueling their evolution.
Re:Old school physics? (Score:2)
I guess it depends on what level of physics you're talking about. Total Annihilation was, AFAIK, the first RTS game to use somewhat realistic physics in its game world. As a result, placing your artillery on higher ground really did extend the range, and hiding behind a hill really did protect you from line-of-sight missiles.
However, given that the TA
Sandbox? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sandbox? (Score:3, Informative)
It is, but not in the context used.
Traditionally, a "sandbox" in a computer is an isolated portion of a computer where absolutly anything can happen but is incapable of inflicting damage on either other computers or on other parts of the system. This is quite similar to the honeypot concept.
In a video game, a sandbox is a free-style area where anything can happen without having to worry about outside effects or changes to the outside. Normally, suc
Re:Sandbox? (Score:5, Informative)
Actually a sandbox is traditionally a box filled with sand, and is often used by children for playing it with little toy diggers, spades, buckets and the like. Sure, in computer science circles it may mean an area where you can play around without harming the rest of the system, but that really only applies to computer science. If you're talking about gaming it makes a lot more sense to refer to the free-form play aspect of sandboxes.
Re:Sandbox? (Score:1)
If you want a nasty program (toddler) to run around without damaging your system (house) you pu
Re:Sandbox? (Score:2)
Re:Sandbox? (Score:2, Insightful)
In that case, it's ABSOLUTELY a good term to use for video games.
Re:Sandbox? [flamesuit=on] (Score:3, Funny)
[quote parent] something that's gritty and irritating to my eyes, usually full of crap, and that after you're done playing in it you haven't accomplished anything.
Fits perfectly.
Re:Sandbox? (Score:2)
Think of "The Sims". Someone needs to combine "The Sims" with a random RTS or maybe even space based RTS ( a la Homeworld ). Think about it, some random person build a nice house, a few more random people build more nice houses, make up for a pretty and lively neighborhood with people chatting, working and having fun. Then you can start an orbital bombardment on that neighborhood starting with a few salvos from your heavy cruisers, followed by several waves of plasma bombers...
Or, more seriously, someth
Re:Sandbox? (Score:2)
Re:Sandbox? (Score:2)
GDC (Score:5, Funny)
Dynamic soundtracks (Score:2)
Re:Dynamic soundtracks (Score:2)
I assume they either put a lot of time into making sure that you could put any chunk after any o
Re:Dynamic soundtracks (Score:1)
Re:Dynamic soundtracks (Score:1)
Re:Dynamic soundtracks (Score:1)
Actually, DirectMusic [gamasutra.com] (part of DirectX since version 7 or so) is not very dissimilar to iMuse, at least in concept. It lets you build blocks of music together, define transitions between them, and assign different 'groove levels' for them, so that the music can get more exciting as the action hots up, or you switch between 'moods', and so on. It's pretty good for creating dynamic soundtracks.
The thing is that synthesized MIDI music doesn't sound anything like as good as a digital soundtrack recorded in a
Real Olympic Game (Score:2)
I want to see vollyball, ping pong, tennis, along with all the track & field etc. Have it go online.
What about.... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Real Olympic Game (Score:2)
Re:Real Olympic Game (Score:1)
Also by Epyx : Summer Games I & II
I had them for the C64. I seem to remember them requireing you to frantically shake the joystick. I also recall they sold a microswitched joystick that was well suited for their games.
Epyx History [fomalhaut.de]
Re:Real Olympic Game (Score:2)
Dynamic soundtrack a fad? (Score:1)
Easy games? (Score:3, Insightful)
It seems like a lot of people just want a game that they can play through and finish without too much effort. More like an interactive movie than a game. If you get stuck, the mags are full of cheats to help you. Some games even have a special cheat menu now (Tony Hawks, Turok Evo etc).
Ideas (Score:2)
Colin McRae rally 3 had you drive some tests to get a rally licence before you could start championships. But CMR4 doesn't have it anymore.
Maybe this is a good thing, because I remember Driver, and its insanely difficult test in the parking garage that you had to pass before you could actually start the real game.
Re:Ideas (Score:2)
*cough*1997*cough*
GTRacer
- Driver's tests WERE pretty cool!
Sandbox as a trend... (Score:2)