Will Wright's Dream Machines 116
Mike writes "Will Wright writes in Wired Magazine, primarily centering his focus on imagination, how it affects the way we play games, and how it is affected in turn by the games we play. From the article: 'Games cultivate - and exploit - possibility space better than any other medium. In linear storytelling, we can only imagine the possibility space that surrounds the narrative: What if Luke had joined the Dark Side? What if Neo isn't the One? In interactive media, we can explore it.'"
Eh ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Eh ... (Score:1)
Re:Eh ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Eh ... (Score:4, Informative)
So possibilities don't end where you fantasy ends, it ends where the combined fantasy of others end. And that is often much further and in a way different direction that you can come up with.
Re:Eh ... (Score:2)
That isn't that set in stone (Score:3, Insightful)
On the other hand, some still offer a lot more possibilities. E.g.,
- some games do offer different ways to solve a quest. It's not complete freedom, but it _is_ more than a book or m
That's the old-school way of thinking... (Score:1)
Think of it like a big box of Legos. A developer needs to make the Legos and needs to make them interoperate (put the nubbins and the spaces in them to lin
Re:That's the old-school way of thinking... (Score:2)
Maybe you're playing some game I'm not aware of
Re:Eh ... (Score:2, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Well... Linear except for dying (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Well... Linear except for dying (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:They're mostly linear nowadays anyway (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:They're mostly linear nowadays anyway (Score:2)
If Second Life could recruit some major game designers to join in and help them i
Re:They're mostly linear nowadays anyway (Score:2)
Re:They're mostly linear nowadays anyway (Score:2)
Re:They're mostly linear nowadays anyway (Score:1)
Re:They're mostly linear nowadays anyway (Score:1, Informative)
For Example, in Morrowind you could only destroy the tools, not use them to make yourself a god, or use them to make the Three gods, gods again
But they are awsome in that they are open games, with many many diversions which allow for multiple hours of fun without playing the "main" Game. And with the PC versions you basicly have an almost unlimited ammount of extra fun, (th
We need the nethack of stories (Score:2)
I think we need something like that, except, in place of just many combinations of item usage, we could have algorithmically generated character interaction, generated dialog.. I think that'll be the key to busting open the range of stor
Re:They're mostly linear nowadays anyway (Score:2)
Make sure you qualify when you're making that point or you'll look like an idiot, because it's easy to find counter-examples in western RPGs.
Back in my day... (Score:2, Funny)
We didn't need any of these newfangled vi-jeo games.
Re:Back in my day... (Score:2, Funny)
PICO BIATCH!
Re:Back in my day... (Score:1)
Re:Back in my day... (Score:2)
Re:Back in my day... (Score:3, Funny)
Playing Pong in the back yard?
It's all well and good, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
While there are plenty of people out there with plenty of imagination, there are many more who lack it and as we all know the vast majority of companies are very averse to risk. If you're going to invest millions in a game you want to
Re:It's all well and good, but... (Score:5, Informative)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=837260333
MOD PARENT UP (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:MOD PARENT UP (Score:1)
It may very well be technically über, but then again, it may very well be not.
Either way, (slightly offtopic) whether it's fun or not is a completely different matter.
Re:It's all well and good, but... (Score:1)
what if? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:what if? (Score:1)
Re:Can we say (Score:2)
Re:Can we say (Score:1)
Re:Can we say (Score:1)
It is on the other hand a wonderfully Open game where you can
What if Neo isn't the One? (Score:4, Funny)
Then the credits woulda started rolling right after the oracle told him he wasn't, halfway through the first movie, and we'd have all been spared an hour, and 2 crappy sequels.
Re:What if Neo isn't the One? (Score:3, Interesting)
If he could fulfill the Oracle's prophesy while not being the correct "solution" to the Architect's equations or whatever Neo was meant to be, his success would have drastic and unforseen consequences on the result of his re-integration into the Matrix.
Beyond that...if he wasn't the answer but solved the equation anyway, what does that say about the equation? That they were fundamentally flawed; that the ver
Re:What if Neo isn't the One? (Score:2)
Re:What if Neo isn't the One? (Score:2)
Or, in a possibly more entertaining vein, we spend another hour and two sequels watching Agent Smith beat the everloving hell out him.
Re:What if Neo isn't the One? (Score:2)
Fanfics (Score:2)
But yes, I like games with multiple stories. Imagine that in say, FF-X you would be able to get involved with Rikku instead of Yuna, and you could see different scenes about it and the story evolved...
That would be great for Square-Enix games, for a change.
Re:Fanfics (Score:2)
Re:Fanfics (Score:1)
Re:Fanfics (Score:1)
RTFA (Score:3, Interesting)
That's actually the idea behind Neverwinter Nights (Score:2)
Not sure how well it works, I never had the patience to get an NWN group set up.
Wouldn't count on it (Score:3, Interesting)
Looking at the current state of things, I'd say we're far from it being "given" that games will become just tools for Dungeon Masters and the like. Only a small set of games have actually released tools powerful enough for developers to modify. Unless the code is released, all you're doing is modifying the artwork and some weapon characteristics ala BF1942. I think if anything, creativity and flexibility are being given up because the publishers don't want to take risks on things that won't sell. They w
Re:Wouldn't count on it (Score:2)
This sounds like the argument that no one can be famous for more than a finite and limited amount of time. The Beatles beat that by changing over time.
Have you noticed that those same articles featuring the "newest and greatest engine" also talk about "newest and greatest features"? Everyone was talking about the Source engine's HDR, just as much as they were talking about the Doom 3 lighting whe
I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:5, Interesting)
Just watch a kid with a new videogame. The last thing they do is read the manual. Instead, they pick up the controller and start mashing buttons to see what happens.
Heck, I must have been one strange kid then... Usually the very first thing I'd do was read the manual, especially the background story. My cousin or my friends on the other hand didn't. Never really thought about it, but I always figured I was the normal, albeit somewhat brainy type, and the others were just lazy or dumb or something. Now it appears I was the weird kid, and they were the normals...
Just out of curiosity... How many of you guys actually read the manuals to each and every piece of hardware or software you ever bought? I assume the proportion of anal retentive manual readers in the general population is somewhat elevated here in our beloved slashdot community. ;)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:1)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:1)
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Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:1)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:1)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:1)
Occasionally this meant my play session degenerated into cries of "Hey! How did you do that?", but it was always a
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2, Interesting)
1. Read the background story (not so valid these days, as it is usually covered in the intro video to a game, or on the back of the box)
2. Skimming over the controls to see if there is a new sequence of things that I haven't seen before (again, this is usually covered in a tutorial at the start of a game normally)
These days most games don't really need a manual to play the thing. "Pick up and play" is what the masses w
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
If the game isn't a plotful game (Mario Kart, Smash Bros) I will. And often I will once I've beaten the game. Sometimes I will if I think there's something I'm missing with the controls - but even then I carefully avoid any pages full of game description
I read all of crappy ones and most of good ones... (Score:2)
But really for most games these days do you need a manual? If you've played civ 1-3, civ 4 isn't that different, and what is different is helpfully covered in a short little section of manual titled something handy like, "differences for veteren civ players."
The world of warcraft manual was shockingly useful considering most MMO manuals are a waste of paper. But even still, if you've played one MMO you've played them all. You probably don'
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
I also read the manuals for every computer part and system I've ever owned or used. Be it a wireless router, Gentoo, OS X, or even a mouse.
Ditto
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
Half the kids I know that picked up the controller and started mashing buttons wind up looking like Skinner's Superstitious Pigeons.
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:1)
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
Nowadays, manuals are largly irrelevent. Story can be told in the game... and there is usually a tutorial in the game for how to play.
Re:I knew I was a strange kid... (Score:2)
On non-linear gameplay... (Score:2)
Linear gameplay in titles that are intended to be immersive and have some depth (which means I'm not bitching about the lack of story branching in Tetris) is really a waste of the medium. When I spend my $50-$60, the last thing I want to do is be tricked into thinking that there is anything I can do to impact
Re:On non-linear gameplay... (Score:1)
Failing that, there's always Knights of the Old Republic. KOTOR is to scripting and storytelling what Doom 3 and FEAR are to graphics.
Re:On non-linear gameplay... (Score:1)
Re:On non-linear gameplay... (Score:2)
Thing is linear games can be immensely fun. Once. Near zero replayablity factor. Once you're through with the linear story, there's very little more to do. But if the game offers deep branches for your possible actions, you try to play all of them.
You haven't really finished Morrowind unless you've been proclaimed master of each faction (and some are mutually exclusive!). You MUST play through the Bloodmoon extension ad human and as a werewolf, otherwise you miss half
Sure, kinda (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Sure, kinda (Score:2)
Re:Sure, kinda (Score:3, Informative)
But there are plenty of games which are based on randomness and emergent behavior that isn't canned. For example, the Sims/Sims2 and Sim City narrative isn't canned. The game simply provides a sandbox that the player is able to create their own story in. Same goes for games like the Civ games, or The Movies. MMPOGs have narrative that comes from player interaction. Even the new Elder Scrolls: Oblivion game gives you a whole dynamic world that you can create all
Linearity... (Score:1)
Similarly you have stuff
Re:Linearity... (Score:2)
I understand why you don't like Morrowind. It almost seems like there are no goals and you are just a wandering soul. However, there are open ended games AKA the sims, where you are given t
Re:Linearity... (Score:1)
Yeah but good books and good movies have good characters and good plotlines..etc,etc,etc. And very few games have this, and even games that have a good plot would be 10-15 pages if written up. If they wrote the story for Linear games the same as they wrote them for books/movies then yeah there wou
The only games that can achieve this... (Score:1)
The Thrill Of Discovery (Score:2)
At the time, I thought: Brilliant; if the game has bugs, no problem, it's just a "feature".
But now I think that actually, exploring the official, authorized, documented limits of a game or other toy to see where it acts in ways that the designer d
Re:The Thrill Of Discovery (Score:2)
How many times, Zonk? (Score:1)
and by that logic... (Score:1)
+5 To all of you (Score:1)
When I read the post title on the front page, I thought that the comments page would be a horrific cross-fire of mangled misinformation about Morrowind and Fable.
Thankfully, the first post reads 'We can explore any aspect of the story that the developer already thought up and wrote code for
The only truly non-linear games are ones that, as it's been said in posts previous to this, to have some kind of content gener
Re:+5 To all of you (Score:2)
So in other words you hope they find they aren't procedural but simply procedural?
Re:+5 To all of you (Score:1)
I hope they're procedural, and the dog's nads, but a large section of my brain is telling me that it's going to be a bit crap in practice.
The great thing about pessimism is that you're never disappointed: If it's crap, you were right: go you. If it's good, then it's good: Go Will! I wish 'em all the very best of luck!
Re:+5 To all of you (Score:2)
Ever heard of fanfic ? (Score:2)
We can explore possibilities even on traditional media. The way to do this is called "fanfic". Sure, most of them are crap, but the ones that aren't are typically far superior to their source material. And sometimes the crap ones are too ;).
And then there's the category that reads like it was translated from Japanese to English word-by-word with a machine, and once you get past the sentence structure makes it clear that the author had taken something stronger than alcohol before writing it. For whatever r
User-made content oversold? (Score:2)
The fact is, populism aside, there are some people who are simply a lot better at creating content. And if we're just relying on them to create content for a lark in their spare time, we're really hurting the community. Those
Re:User-made content oversold? (Score:1)
Open Ended Gaming (Score:1)
Luke Did Join the Dark Side.... (Score:1)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Empire [wikipedia.org]
In Dark Empire, which is set shortly after Timothy Zahn's trilogy featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn, Palpatine returns from the dead in the form of a spiritually-possessed clone body and successfully turns Luke Skywalker to the dark side of the Force. Palpatine is killed many times throughout the series, always returning in a new clone body. However, he meets his "final death" at the end of the series. Luke is turned back to the light side by his sister, P
This is Will Wright (Score:2, Insightful)
The magic o
Re:This is Will Wright (Score:1)
Dark Side Luke thoughts (Score:1)
(Assuming an end of ESB conversion to the Dark Side)
Well, depending on whether Luke decided to side with Daddy, Palpy, or try and take over the galaxy himself, we could have seen some awesome Dark Side fights and elaborate superweapons being used indiscriminately.
Unfortunately, coming up with a game that allows these possibilties would take a hell of a lot of work and imaginiation, something that is lacking in big market games these days. But hey, as long as Luke