Slashdot Mirror
Game Innovation by the Bedroom Coder
scriptedfun writes "The BBC reports on how bedroom coders might regain their place in the game development world by providing the industry 'an injection of imagination.' Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express (covered previously on Slashdot) is given a special mention, but the article points out that 'the concept behind XNA is nothing new,' citing Sony's Net Yaroze as another example. With user-generated content fueling innovation in many aspects of technology, current initiatives by the major players to provide easy access to game development tools may just redefine the face of next-gen gaming. Peter Molyneux, creator of Populous, says: 'It's 100% down to the passion that people have, and the ability to perhaps bring in other people, maybe from all around the world on the internet, and create something.'"
The poster should RTFA.
It shows that popular opinion is that the framework is too crippled to make anything useful and that most people buy games that are of the mainstream FPS, Sports Sim, Killing Hookers variety. Nothing to see here...
Isn't the market saturated for the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) pornware?
What the hell... Except the fact that it is limited to Managed code, there's nothing stiffling about XNA. The only thing it does is provide you with a Game class you derive from, and the Start()/Update()/Draw()/End() methods. The other components, including even the Graphics component, are entirely optional, and if you find them 'stiffling', just don't use them. The architecture for a 'we need to suit all kind of games' product is very good.
.. because of the bedroom coders. Such a platform wouldn't have survived - and done as well as it has - without bedroom coders.
The major platform/console mfr's need to recognize this. Hopefully we'll see them do so in the near future..
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
TFA:
"Peter Molyneux from Lionhead Studios says: 'I was lucky. I could start with a friend and we just worked on this crazy idea called Populous and that's where we came from.
'Those days, unfortunately, have gone.
'What we created was amateurish to be honest with you, if you compare it to today. What we are dealing with today are not only fantastic game designs, but amazing quality visuals. '"
"Amateurish"? Populous? I would much rather play Populous than Black & White or his other new "pretty graphics" game any day of the week. Populous may look simple, but there is a great game under there, and to me, that is NOT "amateurish." Just because a game doesn't have the latest 3d gee-whiz, two billion polygons, real-time lighting, and perfectly rendered pubic hair does not make it "amateurish."
Game developers, as well as gamers, need to figure out that good games *can* look like they did in the old days, even today, and still be fun. I don't play a game for the pretty graphics, I play it for the gameplay.
This is a sig. Deal with it.
There's plenty of private groups doing neat things...
:) email kerry at vscape.com if interested...
<plug>
I run a small group, some of us game industry veterans, creating a MMO system over p2p. Cross platform front end w/ CgFX shaders over OpenGL or DirectX (= portable to next gen consoles), back end is hybrid of p2p with very few database and certificate authorities, all secured by very strong crypto. User content, fully scriptable (Lua now, Java soon, C++ if core group signs it), art paths for Max and Milkshape. Network includes IM, social network, bt based content and file exchange, voice chat, and micropayments with gateways back into traditional credit card processors. Plan to release as free for non-commercial use, most source will be opened (later.) And all development funded by the developers, who are tired of knowing how to do something really cool, and watching it destroyed by our previous employers (Accolade, EA, OnLive, and others...) We're getting ready to go public with demo, could use a few more experienced game coders, really need artists, but figure demo will attract all we need.
</plug>
The failure of the Net Yaroze was that it was only provided to a Japanese audience; American developers like me could never get our grubby little hands on it. XNA is available to everyone. I think that's going to be far more successful than Sony's Nippon-centric garbage.
Don't get me wrong; Sony has a perfect right to release products only in Japan. It's just a wee bit hypocritical when they claim their Japanese-only product is designed to foster and encourage community. If Microsoft did the same, it would be called racist and anti-competitive.
Microsoft cheerleader, blue flag waving, you got a problem with that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Yaroze
w ww.scea.sony.com/ <-- Snapshot of the US Net Yaroze page from 1998
http://web.archive.org/web/19980626131204/http://
--
Slashcode bug # 497457 - unfixed since December 2001 - Go look it up!
o/~ Join us now and share the software
Er, did you ever chance upon the spell creation altar in the Wizard's University in Oblivion? You could quite easily create a spell that gave yourself all the buffs you wanted all at once. Or you could enchant them all upon rings or amulets, too.
Random and weird software I've written.
Yep.. but the combination spells were generally too small of duration.. and had to cast them a ton. I finished the game but my biggest challenge was encumberance. I created 4 feather spells besides the ones in the game and would cast them all just to haul some EQ around.
One click and all plus a water breathing plus extra armor.. fire resistance.. etc would be nice!
I can program myself out of a Hello World Contest!!
I don't think that innovation or creativity is gone from the game industry. It's probably at an all time high. It just appears to be lacking because their are lots of "me too" titles being put out as well, often with a lot of publicity and hype. There are plenty of companies that are perfectly happy to churn out franchises and incremental sequels, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's obviously a market for continously refined gameplay, or else companies would stop producing them. It just so happens that those sorts of games are quicker to make, so we hear about them more often, and they're generally produced by well funded companies that can advertise a lot, and so we see a lot of them.
Add in the fact that a lot of the "easy" innovations, the real big shifts in game play, have already happened. There are a lot of different genres out there, almost any worthwhile idea that you have is going to be similar to something that already exists. Which isn't to say you're not innovating, just that it's not likely to be some sort of earth-shattering revolution. Something significantly different than we're used to, like non-tradition control schemes(Exhibit A: Nintendo), will allow even the more conservative developers to innovate in more blatantly obvious ways. These innovations will have a great "bang for your buck" ratio, because there's a lot of uncharted territory. A nice example being EA and their madden game on the Wii. Having you actually motion like you're throwing the ball to pass is an obvious direction to take the game in, yet it'll be a very new way of playing for gamers. Compare that to trying to write an innovatively intelligent AI for an FPS, which is likely to be much more difficult to pull off, and at the same time be something that you'd need a good amount of gaming experience and play time to really appreciate.
Innovation is still very much alive and going strong, it's just harder to see amongst the crowd of more standard stuff being produced today, and the huge library of stuff produced in the past.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
I don't really know if anyone other than my girl friend would want to play the games I come up with in my bedroom. It is generally designed for 1-2 players (theoretically it could be more, but that might destroy multiplayer in general, making it single player for awhile). The best part is, everyone wins and you get some good exercise in as well.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
After all, Coders need SOMETHING worthwhile to stake claim to in the bedroom.
I had a spark of an idea between Invasion: Battle of Survial; Tales of Legendia's story; and Zela 3's gameplay. Project Nightwork lays it out in a Zelda 3 example.
The basic idea? Massive tactics. I am tired of tactics with no story and "flood with warriors" gameplay. I'm tired of stories with lovely tactics and "go kill something" gameplay (Tales of Legendia). The visual influence in Zelda 3 did it for me, I just thought, "Hey you know what would make this game cool...."
I'm not a game designer; I have ideas. They're out there. If you like them, take them, tell me, I'll look forward to something cool.
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The problem with game development is not really in the code, and it's not in the storyline, either. It's in the artwork. I guess that things like XNA will lead to a lot of sharing of artwork and a lot of artwork being available for games, and that can only be a Good Thing.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
From the XNA FAQ:
Q: What does XNA stand for?
A: XNA's Not Acronymed
No thanks. I've seen the massives make game content:
28,954 simultaneous games of Big Game Hunters Mucho Money
"Love heals scars love left." -- Henry Rollins
Microsoft's tools are very good, DirectX has just about caught up to OpenGL and .NET is a pleasure to develop with. IMO they are really care about their DirectX and X-Box SDKs. So it's almost there, really. It's almost possible to develop a great game from your bedroom, but it's still a ton of work. And you can't code art.
What usually kills most projects is the art. Interestingly there is this stigma that is attached to artists, you know, will work for free. They take quite a bit of offense to this, and generally, won't work for free. What's ironic, is that most of us bedroom programmers are working our ass off for free, yet artist working on the same project expect monetary compensation. Art seems to kill more projects then any other issue. Art is about as much work as coding, so I'm not belittling it, but guys, were all in the same boat ok?
A lot of current developers are also re-making games that were innovative, and generas that have kind of disappeared in the mainstream. Adventure games, text adventures, edutainment, hard SCI-FI, etc..
But, utimately, I think their has to be a real reward for the bedroom coder. I do it for the love, but that's getting old. Maybe more incentive and recognition from Microsoft will move some of us off the PC on onto the XBox 360 instead.