Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Will Wright's Dream Machines

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the where-does-he-get-those-wonderful-toys dept.

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.'"

7 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. They're mostly linear nowadays anyway by CRCulver · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A lot of role-playing games have long foresaken the idea of allowing characters to choose the course of events. Instead, many plot elements are made obligatory so that the gamer can see the fancy CGI that the team put so many hours into creating. An early example of this trend is Final Fantasy VII, but the more recent example that really takes the cake is Final Fantasy X where pretty much all the free-roaming and ability to identify with the main character--the traditional strengths of the genre--where tossed out with unpleasant results.

  2. It's all well and good, but... by MaWeiTao · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It all sounds great, but someone has to produce all this content. Given what I've seen from MMOs I don't expect to see the kind of experience described in the article within the next decade or two. Developers don't have the resources or desire to invest in that sort of venture.

    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 be sure it's a tried and true formula which will provide a reasonable return on investment.

    And when it comes down to it some people simply want to tell their story. They don't want to dream up alternative futures; they don't want Luke to join the dark side in their story.

  3. RTFA by QuantumG · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I consider it a given that eventually games will become more about enabling third parties (or "modders") to easily tell stories to players in real time. i.e., online games will become more like pen and paper RPGs with a real life game master sitting there making up the story as you go along. So when you ask that witty magician why you can't just break the lock on the chest instead of going up the mountain and fighting the dragon he actually has a real answer because there's someone in the background ready to supply that answer. How will you possibly afford to pay all these people to answer inane questions all the time? You wont. They'll do it because they enjoy seeing a thousand different player's reaction to their story.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  4. I knew I was a strange kid... by LordNightwalker · · Score: 4, 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. ;)

    --
    Install windows on my workstation? You crazy? Got any idea how much I paid for the damn thing?
    1. Re:I knew I was a strange kid... by Redwin · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I read the manuals while things are installing usually, although mostly it breaks down to:

      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 want, and on a whole that is what they get. The manual is usually replaced with tutorials that help players get a feel for the game, and cut scenes help explain the story. Who needs the manual?

      --
      Warning, comments may not have been passed by the sanity department of my brain.
  5. Re:What if Neo isn't the One? by Alzheimers · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm more interested in the question, What if Neo wasn't the One, but succeded in saving Zion anyway?

    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 very purpose of the Matrix was illogical; that the entire fate of humanity to that point, was for a machine's dream of perfection that could not be fulfilled.

    Neo's entire purpose, therefore, is to demonstrate that no system is immune to chaos. There is no fate. All equations are just elaborate simulations of reality, and not reality itself. Therefore, there is no equation that can precisely define reality. His powers within the Matrix demonstrate that even within the machine's perfect virtual universe, the rules are flexible enough to destroy the system. His powers beyond the Matrix reinforce his purpose -- to bring chaos to order.

    Neo is the antichrist.

    I doubt that's what Wil meant, but that's the answer I came up with. I think that's a much better ending than the Warchowski's came up with, too.

  6. Wouldn't count on it by fistfullast33l · · Score: 2, 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 want a proven formula every time so they can make money.

    Even more, games are so complicated now that it takes a while to produce modifications. By the time those mods are released, gamers have moved on to the next flavor of the month. The gap between independent modmakers and paid developers is growing rapidly. And worse, if people don't modify a game then the economics of the thing becomes unrealistic. If people don't use your tools, why are you going to the trouble of making it so moddable? I think one thing will be most telling in this regard...if Valve keeps the Source engine around and incrementally improves it over the next 5-10 years, then we know it's an economically sound model for development. If they ditch it for a whole new source code base, then we know modding will eventually be a fringe benefit. Before you go ahead and tell me it's an obvious software design principle, remember the marketing tactics and game journal articles that always feature a game developers "newest and greatest engine." John Carmack throws out his codebase for each new game, and he's been doing it how long?