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This is not surprising. In many ways, MMOs are the spiritual offspring of the theme park.

What I think is even more interesting is moving in the other direction, theme parks based on popular MMO franchises.

Quest-based, exploration-based, rides and virtual experiences that build upon the familiar geography of popular MMO worlds, with cross-promotions that build the core audience on both sides of the fence.

Hey, you've been using the Design-A-Tron!

I've been exploring this idea quite a bit. The basic notion is one of asymmetrical representation of the game world. Each client, be it cell phone, DS, PSP, web-browser, next gen console or PC has it's own unique view of and interface with the game world. Each plays to the strengths of the particular platform.

It's a huge investment, but a large company that really wants to build a cohesive brand *cough - Blizzard* could pull this off.

AR Across Platforms

And in an even more heretical proposition, I also suggest that (MMOs being largely database apps) users be given an API to write their own clients, creating a MOD community for MMOs that largely surpasses what can be done today.

Open.World

And why stop there? Next we move onto cohesive universes, where not only are the clients different, but people are playing different but linked games. To use the Blizzard example, you play in the Star Craft universe. Some players are playing the RTS (at a tactical level), issuing troop orders to people playing the BF2-style FPS. Meanwhile, in areas that they have established control, other players are building cities, while others are living and trading in them.

Towards a Better World

Anybody want to play?

I've been exploring this idea quite a bit. The basic notion is one of asymmetrical representation of the game world. Each client, be it cell phone, DS, PSP, web-browser, next gen console or PC has it's own unique view of and interface with the game world. Each plays to the strengths of the particular platform.

It's a huge investment, but a large company that really wants to build a cohesive brand *cough - Blizzard* could pull this off.

AR Across Platforms

And in an even more heretical proposition, I also suggest that (MMOs being largely database apps) users be given an API to write their own clients, creating a MOD community for MMOs that largely surpasses what can be done today.

Open.World

And why stop there? Next we move onto cohesive universes, where not only are the clients different, but people are playing different but linked games. To use the Blizzard example, you play in the Star Craft universe. Some players are playing the RTS (at a tactical level), issuing troop orders to people playing the BF2-style FPS. Meanwhile, in areas that they have established control, other players are building cities, while others are living and trading in them.

Towards a Better World

Anybody want to play?

I've been exploring this idea quite a bit. The basic notion is one of asymmetrical representation of the game world. Each client, be it cell phone, DS, PSP, web-browser, next gen console or PC has it's own unique view of and interface with the game world. Each plays to the strengths of the particular platform.

It's a huge investment, but a large company that really wants to build a cohesive brand *cough - Blizzard* could pull this off.

AR Across Platforms

And in an even more heretical proposition, I also suggest that (MMOs being largely database apps) users be given an API to write their own clients, creating a MOD community for MMOs that largely surpasses what can be done today.

Open.World

And why stop there? Next we move onto cohesive universes, where not only are the clients different, but people are playing different but linked games. To use the Blizzard example, you play in the Star Craft universe. Some players are playing the RTS (at a tactical level), issuing troop orders to people playing the BF2-style FPS. Meanwhile, in areas that they have established control, other players are building cities, while others are living and trading in them.

Towards a Better World

Anybody want to play?

I've had the opportunity to use the Fab Lab in Boston, and it has been a wonderful experience, but it has some drawbacks too.

The biggest source of dissapointment is that, due to litigation concerns, the Boston Fab doesn't have access to the same breadth of equipment as some of the labs abroad. That being said, there is a lot of interesting stuff to be done there. So no TIG welder for me (or the plasma cutter. Damn!)

The biggest challenge is ditching preconceptions of what can and can't be accomplished with the current technology, and learning to work with the available materials. Bring on the plexiglass, cardboard, wood and PCBs. And machining wax, for making molds.

I have a few pictures up from my first session (he cringed): Fab Lab Pics.

I should have some more pictures of finished projects up soon, and those I'll post on the Fab Lab site, SETC.

Building PCs from scratch was cool when there were no PCs at Walmart. But today...much like building a horseless carriage, or a vacuum-tube radio.

This is the same way electric motors used to be cool. I remember when I was a wee lad that every handyman had a few electric motors lying about, one big one usually strapped to the workbench, with a bunch of belts to power a number of different devices. Motors were still fairly expensive and bulky, so they tended to dominate the workbench.

Then electric motors became completely ubiquitous, and they mostly vanished from sight, embedded into everyday devices, hair dryers, coffee grinders, RC Cars. What became interesting was not the motor itself, but all the cool and unexpected things you could do with it once it got cheap enough, and small enough.

So yeah, a DIYer could sit down today and build a motor (or a computer) completely from scratch, but it becomes an exercise in nostalgia, like hand-crafting a canoe, or building a replica of the Wright Brothers plane. Which is cool in it's own way, but somewhat eccentric.

So the moder-day DIYer, like the scientist in Cronenberg's "The Fly," we find ourselves in the role of sythesists, taking off-the-shelf parts to make interesting & unusual new gizmos, or taking an existing technology and bringing it into the realm of the handyman's workshop.

The ability to cheaply do reflection mapping means anything glossy now gets a perfectly focused reflection mapped on it, which looks cool for about 5 minutes, then starts to grate.

Reflections are rarely perfect. What a lot of these new games need to take the edge off is a blurred reflection.

Here's a test render I did a while back comparing hard & soft reflections: Chrome_Soft_test.jpg

Much like chrome was a craze back in the early days of pre-rendered CGI, these hard reflections in real-time graphics are about to jump the shark.

A work in progress.

Slowed down recently due to house-hunting, but nearing completion. The hardware is ready to go, just need to write the drivers & integration software.

The RCX Brick and a few other Lego bits are the heart of my 3D Scanner project.

I need to set up NQC or LegOs for the next phase, and I need a good way to control the camera.

Dang. Not enough hours in the day.

Ok, not quite, you need a pack of index cards, but otherwise free.

As discussed in an oddly similar thread about 4 posts down, this is a DIY game I stumbled upon recently, and have bcome totally obsessed with.

The rules are very simple, you can google for it, or read the rules on my site (second post from top).

It's a game that gets more & more fun the more you play, and no two games will ever be the same.

Great for small groups! Discovered this game a couple of weeks ago, and am now officially obsessed.

Google it, or see the second entry on my homepage for a list of rules and materials.

Played this game until my sides hurt from laughing.

Direct link to the content, bypassing the obnoxious iframe.

Until I noticed the DivX movie, I didn't realise how it actually worked, now I see, it seems that this wouldn't work with objects of different shape and size, so now I understand the camera approach, it seems that the scanner idea neede a little more innovation and work though.