December 2004
- A couple of Wired articles on open-source metaverse and WoW's catering to players Morris Cox
- Too cute Matt Mihaly
- Project Entropia sells the richest land online Zach Collins (Siege)
- ADMIN: We have returned, a bit. J C Lawrence
- Call for Gaming-Related Art and Fiction Sanvean
- MEDIA: MMOs: It's the Economy, Stupid J C Lawrence
- DESIGN: Spreadsheet about activity feedback Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Johan A
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Glen Rosenblatt
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Sporky McBeard
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Michael Hartman
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Koster, Raph
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Douglas Goodall
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Damion Schubert
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Wayne Witzke
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Damion Schubert
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? ceo
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Michael Hartman
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Dana V. Baldwin
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? John Buehler
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Chris Richards
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Alistair Riddoch
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? John Buehler
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Michael Hartman
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? John Buehler
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? olag@ifi.uio.no
- DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Michael Hartman
- UI scripting gone too far? Derek Licciardi
- UI scripting gone too far? Johan A
- UI scripting gone too far? Damion Schubert
- UI scripting gone too far? Koster, Raph
- MMO Quest: Why they're still lousy Damion Schubert
- MMO Quest: Why they're still lousy Derek Licciardi
- WoW's catering to players (was: A couple of Wired articles on open-source metaverse andWoW's catering to players) Ghilardi Filippo
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Michael Hartman
It pains me as an American that we insist on perpetuating the use of
the inferior English or Imperial measurement system.
The game design question this raises is what should a developer use
when create a new game world?
If you know in advance that the majority of your customers will be
from the United States, does that inherently necessitate the use of
the English system (feet, yards, miles, etc.)?
Or is it still feasible to use the metric system?
Even from a coding perspective the metric system is generally
superior for the same reason it is superior in real life: all units
are divisible by 10. This keeps things nice and tidy and makes it
very easy to figure out distances.
Areas where this can affect gameplay are:
1) Weight: Inventory systems where the amount of stuff you can
carry depends on weight must clearly decide between pounds and
grams (or kilos). This is important for total inventory space as
well as for representing the weight of each individual item.
2) Range and Area of Effeft: Spells and other ranged attacks that
have range must be expressed in either feet or meters generally.
3) Descriptions: This is most relevant to text games, but even
graphical games sometimes have text descriptions of various
things. You need to know which system you are using or else the
descriptions will be inconsistent.
I think it is obvious that no matter what a game developers decides,
the system of measurement should be universal. While it is possible
that different cultures in the game might use different systems,
this is probably going to cause more difficulties than
benefits. Furthermore, regardless of the difference in game
cultures, there are so many things that are described to the PLAYER
and those things need to be in one standardized format.
One very major concern:
If you use the metric system, will you be sacrificing your
potential attractiveness to US players?
I would be interested to see if this was a question any other
developers wrestled with, and if so what did you decide (and how did
you decide it) ?
--
Michael Hartman
President and CEO, Threshold Virtual Environments, Inc.
http://www.thresholdrpg.com - Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Lars Duening
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Richard A. Bartle
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Michael Hartman
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Richard A. Bartle
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games olag@ifi.uio.no
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games cruise
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games David Johansson
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Michael Hartman
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Richard A. Bartle
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games olag@ifi.uio.no
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Tom Hunter
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Freeman, Jeff
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Damion Schubert
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Michael Hartman
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Julio Nobrega
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Matthew D. Fuller
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Zach Collins (Siege)
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games olag@ifi.uio.no
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Eric Random
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Matthew D. Fuller
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Artur Biesiadowski
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games ceo
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Johan A
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games ceo
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Lars Duening
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games olag@ifi.uio.no
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Johan A
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Michael Hartman
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Lars Duening
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Michael Hartman
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games olag@ifi.uio.no
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games ceo
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games olag@ifi.uio.no
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Zach Collins (Siege)
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games olag@ifi.uio.no
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Michael Hartman
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games ceo
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games olag@ifi.uio.no
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Michael Hartman
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Edward Glowacki
- Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games Jon A. Lambert
- MEDIA: Blizzard - Virtual Trade Tough Nut to Crack J C Lawrence