March 2005
- MUD-Dev dinner at GDC: 10 March 2005 J C Lawrence
- Time travel, borrowing from LegenMUD olag@ifi.uio.no
- Time travel, borrowing from LegenMUD Tiago Carita
- Is content on demand bad? olag@ifi.uio.no
- Is content on demand bad? John Buehler
- Is content on demand bad? Jaycen Rigger
- Efficient AI? olag@ifi.uio.no
- Efficient AI? Brian Lindahl
- Efficient AI? olag@ifi.uio.no
- Efficient AI? Brian Lindahl
- Efficient AI? Miroslav Silovic
- Efficient AI? Douglas Goodall
- Efficient AI? Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Efficient AI? Robert Zubek
- Efficient AI? olag@ifi.uio.no
- Efficient AI? Brett Bibby
- Wish revisited olag@ifi.uio.no
- Wish revisited Peter Harkins
- Wish revisited olag@ifi.uio.no
- Wish revisited Zach Collins (Siege)
- Wish revisited olag@ifi.uio.no
- secured mud connections Ammon Lauritzen
- secured mud connections Ammon Lauritzen
- secured mud connections Zach Collins (Siege)
- secured mud connections William Leader
- Encounter Crafting (was Wish Revisited) Allan Hill
- Encounter Crafting (was Wish Revisited) Zach Collins (Siege)
- list of open source engines/games sszretter
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Mike Rozak
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vladimir Cole
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Dana V. Baldwin
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Travis Nixon
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Mike Rozak
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vincent Archer
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Exar Kun
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Shelkey, Doneld
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Kelly
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vincent Archer
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Paolo Piselli
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vincent Archer
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Kelly
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Mike Shaver
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Koster, Raph
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Koster, Raph
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Koster, Raph
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Jaycen Rigger
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population ghovs
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Jaycen Rigger
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Barry Kearns
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Jaycen Rigger
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Food (was Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population) John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Paolo Piselli
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] cruise
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] Michael Hartman
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] Michael Chui
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] jbarry
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] Pandora
- Dgn: Currency free game Tony Hoyt
- Dgn: Currency free game Kirinyaga
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Kyle Leithoff
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Damion Schubert
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vincent Archer
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Damion Schubert
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Paul Schwanz
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Allan Hill
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Tony Hoyt
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Craig Huber
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Craig Huber
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Ken Snider
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Howard
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Morris Cox
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Howard
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Morris Cox
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Paul Schwanz
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Tony Hoyt
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Lydia Leong
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Koster, Raph
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Damien Neil
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Howard
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Dana V. Baldwin
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population J C Lawrence
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Kelly
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Kelly
- Convenient Community Tools (Was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population) Paul Schwanz
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Jaycen Rigger
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population ghovs
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Max Battcher
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population cruise
- Swedish Developers Shailejron
- Burning House Challenge Bloo
- DESIGN : informations about mud design Lethal Thanatos
- DESIGN: Source for free audio clips Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Descriptions Bernard Graham
- Dynamic Descriptions William Leader
- Dynamic Descriptions Christopher Allen
- Dynamic Descriptions Douglas Goodall
- Dynamic Descriptions Tess Snider
- Dynamic Descriptions Bernard Graham
- Dynamic Descriptions Peter Keeler
- Dynamic Descriptions Eric
- Dynamic Descriptions Alex Chacha
- Dynamic Descriptions Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Descriptions Bernard Graham
- Dynamic Descriptions Peter Keeler
- Dynamic Descriptions Bernard Graham
- Dynamic Descriptions Nathan Yospe
- Dynamic Descriptions Alistair Milne
- Dynamic Descriptions Nathan Yospe
- Dynamic Descriptions Paul Schwanz
- Dynamic Descriptions Max Battcher
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Richard A. Bartle
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) John Buehler
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) John Buehler
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) John Buehler
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Max Battcher
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) J C Lawrence
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) William Leader
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- SOC: Use of MUDs as teaching/organizational tools for schools and businesses Chris Yeh
- DESIGN: Why do MUD players prefer MUDs over MMORPGs Mike Rozak
- Suggestions on Books and Articles Chris
- Suggestions on Books and Articles Sean Marshall
- ANNOUNCE TECH CODE Robert W. Fuller
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) Eric Random
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) Mike Shaver
On Apr 2, 2005 3:00 PM, Eric Random <e_random@yahoo.com> wrote:
> At GDC, I notice that some speeches and discussions are more
> product advertisements than meaningul game development
> discourse. I understood Will Wright's demo of Spore to be more of
> a product advertisement for Maxis.
At GDC, there are indeed a number of sessions (some of them actually
labelled as sponsored sessions) which are thinly-veiled
advertisements. There are also a number of sessions which try to
spread effective practices within the game development industry,
such as various panels on software engineering, pipeline management,
and even HR policies or contract negotiations. I think that Will
Wright's demonstration of Spore was first a bit of very welcome
"brain candy" for the attending throng, and second a product
advertisement for procedural content (we all knew it was out there,
like Maxis, but we didn't all know it was viable at that level of
"bake-in" in a AAA title -- at least, I didn't, and I've been
banging the procedural-content drum as long as I can remember).
> Is Will Wright creating a new age of procedural content
> generation? No. That has been a part, large and small, of
> commercial game development since, at least, the 80's, and has
> been increasing with complexity since then. Does anyone assume
> that it's -not- going to play a large role in the future?
I believe that he was demonstrating that we are entering a new age
of procedural content generation, to wit one in which
largely-procedural content can compete head-to-head with
artist-generated content in AAA games. And in areas that have
traditionally very much favoured large teams of artists, such as
creating appealing textures, models, and animations.
His talk was full of references to the history of procedural content
inside and outside of the game industry (most notably in the demo
scene) and I think that, were he permitted to talk about Spore
before E3, he would practically knock you over in his haste to agree
that he did not invent procedural content, just that he was able to
lead a project to solve some challenging technical and "polish"
challenges at a market scale that hadn't been demonstrated before.
I say "just" though I think that completing the last N% to get a
good idea to shippable status at a different scale, even when it's
someone else's idea, is a non-trivial achievement.
> Is Will introducing the game development industry to animation
> through simulation of autonomous behavior? Is this new? Most
> definately not, as there are many CG studios who have spearheaded
> this technology over the years.
Even if the CG world has been doing this for years, it could still
be new to the game development industry. Bringing known-successful
techniques from other areas of software into game development is
both valuable and often non-trivial. (Or non-software; Christopher
Alexander's pattern languages work from the field of architecture
were brought in to software to great effect.)
> such technology has been used in digital and animation effects
> studios for many years as evident in some of the most popular CG
> films, for example: flocking behavior, physics effects (such as
> liquid, lighting, gas, and rigid bodies), and animal
> locomotion. Perhaps Will is the first to offer this as a key
> selling point in a game, though.
No, I'm sure he's not even that; for example, there have been
procedural-animation generators as middleware for some time, I
think, usually bundled with AI stuff.
A lot of those CG-house technologies haven't been viable in realtime
applications or on consumer hardware, or been economically viable
for content that not everyone playing the game will see, though, and
I think the productization aspect here is important, and worthy of
attention. Also, the game development industry is legendarily
resistant to adoption of new techniques, especially "process"
techniques, and in that respect one sexy WIll Wright demo is worth a
thousand papers, extra-industry examples, and minor or indie uses of
games. I wish it weren't so, and that more game developers had
citeseer in their bookmarks, but it is. That Will had the, er, will
to spend years investing his time and reputational capital in
refining those techniques is praiseworthy to me, especially as
someone who has had many ideas not quite make it from "the concept
is simple" to "the software is done".
Mike
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) Mike Shaver
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Kiztent Hatepriest
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Travis Casey
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces John Buehler
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces John Buehler
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Bloo
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Jaycen Rigger
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Koster, Raph
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Koster, Raph
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Louis d'Ambra
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Jaycen Rigger
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Michael Sellers
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) Hulbert, Leland