"I often hear that game developers are not incorporating cutting-edge academic AI into their projects because it's too "risky" (they can't really predict how gamers would react), and because they don't see the point in it."
One huge reason why cutting-edge academic AI isn't popular in today's games is QA. Debugging learning AI is a nightmare.
Another reason is not enough time, development or CPU. When you have only 10% of the CPU and 6 months, a FuSM may be the best you can do.
Add to this the fact that, for most players, predictable behavior is actual more fun. Being able to "outsmart" your AI opponents by recognizing patterns and taking advantage of them makes the player feel good about themselves (e.g. "If I toss a grenade over here, the AI will run away from it and I can shoot them. Damn I rule!").;)
Anyhow, there are some good game AI groups out there that love talking to academics. Check out gameai.com to start. Also pick up the three "AI Wisdom" books.
Guess what, both sides of our "two party system" are fucking with our freedom. And we (the American people) are as much to blame as they are for letting it happen.
There is no "Good party, Bad party". If Al Gore got elected, we would still be in roughly the same position.
They'll most likely have to do it with their studio-band. But their studio-band rocks! I'm not the worlds biggest audiophile, but I find it very hard to hear any difference between the Hero songs and the ones I hear on the local FM station.
A huge number yes, but I don't think you would kill the Windows market with just games.
I'm WAY out of my element here (I'm a Code Monkey, not a Market Researcher), but I think Microsoft would crush Linux with marketing, PR, and FUD ("Did you know Linux might rape your dog? It's true!" - Bill).
I think Linux may beat Microsoft yet, and game support would take them a lot of the way there, but it's going to take lots of other elements as well.
"And on my god, the laptop users!! how many will make the switch to Vista do you think:P"
I've not sure which god you want me to swear on but, unless something major happens (e.g. Apple or Linux finally figures out how to get the gamer market), all Windows gamers will make the switch to Vista *in time*.
You're right however in that this will not happen overnight. Last word I got was that the first Vista machine will probably not even have the hardware to run DX10. But Microsoft is playing the long game here and, in three to five years, the smart money says that if you're a PC gamer, you'll be running Vista.
Let me be clear, I'm not happy about this. But it's how things are moving right now.
Linux has other problems than just a lack of games, but I think game support is a larger element than most Linux programmers (and Apple) gives it credit for.
Don't take this as a put down, I thought the same thing until just a few years ago, but the difference is that these law put government restrictions on games while the movie rating system is voluntary. http://www.filmratings.com/about/content.htm
"Submitting a film is purely a voluntary decision made by the filmmakers. However, the overwhelming majority of the producers creating entertaining, responsible films do in fact submit their films for ratings. All five Classification and Rating Administration rating symbols have been trademarked and may not be self-applied."
Next time when we have one of these articles on Slashdot, can they include this text at the end? It would save us a lot of time.
Microsoft learned long ago that people will upgrade for games. I'm guessing that, outside the business world, it's the main reason early adopters upgrade their home OS.
I laugh when I see people on gaming forums bitch that their not going to upgrade to Vista (because of DRM, bugs, slow code, etc.). They may hold out for a while but, unless Microsoft changes its mind and releases DX-10 for XP, they'll have to upgrade when game developers stop supporting DX9.
I think Blizzard is going to continue to roll around in the great big piles-o-cash they are making off of WoW. Why spend years working on a single player or normal multi-player game, when you could put all your efforts into growing one of the biggest MMOGs of all time?
WoW has hit a mainstream market. Every Starbucks I enter has somebody playing WoW in it. NPR has had at least 3 reports on it in the last six months. Any non-MMOG that Blizzard does now will look small in comparison.
You are totally right about your Godfather example. Most games would never get more then a few chapters in before they lost so many players that they couldn't afford to finish. If you're not going to spend $50 on a 80-hour game, you're not going to spend $400 on 80-one hour games (selling for $5 each).
But the model can work. In fact, there are some MMOGs that are doing this now to a certain degree. Some MMOs are obvious about this and sell "expansion packs" while others give out "free" content (which isn't really free when you're spending $12 a month just to play).
I think the next step is making more games that you can pick up, play for 5-30 minutes, and then stop. The real trick is being able to stop at any time (something you can't do in a MMOG). Gameboy style games tend to do this, but I'd like to see more games with some depth that are easy to start and stop (yes, I know it will not be easy). I can only play so much Sudoku!;)
"Harlan is a lot like me (and many other geeks), in that we can often be opinionated, blunt assholes who insist their current view is the right one, and will defend it with passion and vigor."
And now you know why you don't get invited out to parties.
I have a lot of "geek friends" and, while I can normally deal with this, I can tell you that you're not turning off "ordinary folks" because *their* insecure. You're just coming off as an asshole.
It's fine to have beliefs but, right or wrong, you're going to annoy the hell out of 98% of the people out there if you feel the need to get all vigorous about jamming it down their throats. If you get off on this, fine. But don't think these "ordinary folks" are the ones with the defects...
(Sorry for being blunt with my belief system, but I've seen too many unhappy "smart people" with this problem.)
It's always annoying when you learn that, just because somebody is talented it doesn't mean they're a good person. I've meet some talented people who are great (Gabe and Tycho are two of them), and I've meet some real dicks.
The funny (sad?) thing is, Ellison "friends" think the same thing. I remember talking with one (who I will not name here, but (s)he's *very* close to Ellison) who said: "He's a bit of a dick."
True, but it's the easiest way I know to get some numbers. Most of the companies hosting these MMOGs certainly don't want to give up that sort of information (especially the ones that have had major drop-offs).
If I was in a job that required solid facts on these numbers, I'd pay the money and (hopefully) get something more exact. But I'm blessed with only having to worry about selling single-player games, so tracking MMOG numbers is just a hobby.:)
It's cool to cluster computers together, it's cooler to make that cluster out of the odds-and-ends of PC 'junk', and it's even cooler to run it off of an alternative power source.:)
Man, you're no fun. If you keep doing things like that you'll get to retire at age 65 while the rest of us are working at McDonald's well into our 90s.
Why on earth do Nintendo fans think that Nintendo is going to go VR? The VR tech that is cheap enough for home use is lame, bad for your eyes, and tough to make games for. Nintendo already made that mistake with the VR-Gameboy.
A built in projector makes no sense either. I would add hundreds of dollars to the price of the product and wouldn't give the user anything they couldn't get from any number of 3rd party sources.
Blu-ray? No way. The cost is too high and the payoff right now is poor (how many Blu-ray movies do you think WalMart is going to sell this year?).
I don't know what the last secret is, but I'm betting it will not add much money to the cost of the product (maybe a built in memory card so you can bring your saved games over to your friend's house). If Nintendo can release a sub $200 unit this year, they'll win a big share of the market.
I think it is only half the truth. If the price estimates on making the PS3 are at all accurate ($700-$900 in parts alone) then it is going to hurt them a lot to sell the PS3 right now. If they wait a year or so, the price drops and they might be able to release at a reasonable price.
On the other hand, the price that Microsoft is paying for its console will go down as well. And Microsoft can always come out with a "XBox360-Media" edition of the console that includes HD-DVD, DVR, and a big old hard drive for $50 cheaper then the PS3. At least, that's what I would do...
Unless something *really* bad happens, I don't see this happening.
I am, however, very worried about how fair our election system is and fear that it may be even more questionable come 2008. The current "paperless" system has brought up a lot of unanswered questions.
But, if we do end up a dictatorship, and we meet each other in the same "Freedom (internment) Camp", feel free to slap me for missing the obvious warning signs.
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One huge reason why cutting-edge academic AI isn't popular in today's games is QA. Debugging learning AI is a nightmare.
Another reason is not enough time, development or CPU. When you have only 10% of the CPU and 6 months, a FuSM may be the best you can do.
Add to this the fact that, for most players, predictable behavior is actual more fun. Being able to "outsmart" your AI opponents by recognizing patterns and taking advantage of them makes the player feel good about themselves (e.g. "If I toss a grenade over here, the AI will run away from it and I can shoot them. Damn I rule!"). ;)
Anyhow, there are some good game AI groups out there that love talking to academics. Check out gameai.com to start. Also pick up the three "AI Wisdom" books.
There is no "Good party, Bad party". If Al Gore got elected, we would still be in roughly the same position.
They'll most likely have to do it with their studio-band. But their studio-band rocks! I'm not the worlds biggest audiophile, but I find it very hard to hear any difference between the Hero songs and the ones I hear on the local FM station.
I'm WAY out of my element here (I'm a Code Monkey, not a Market Researcher), but I think Microsoft would crush Linux with marketing, PR, and FUD ("Did you know Linux might rape your dog? It's true!" - Bill).
I think Linux may beat Microsoft yet, and game support would take them a lot of the way there, but it's going to take lots of other elements as well.
I've not sure which god you want me to swear on but, unless something major happens (e.g. Apple or Linux finally figures out how to get the gamer market), all Windows gamers will make the switch to Vista *in time*.
You're right however in that this will not happen overnight. Last word I got was that the first Vista machine will probably not even have the hardware to run DX10. But Microsoft is playing the long game here and, in three to five years, the smart money says that if you're a PC gamer, you'll be running Vista.
Let me be clear, I'm not happy about this. But it's how things are moving right now.
"Submitting a film is purely a voluntary decision made by the filmmakers. However, the overwhelming majority of the producers creating entertaining, responsible films do in fact submit their films for ratings. All five Classification and Rating Administration rating symbols have been trademarked and may not be self-applied."
Next time when we have one of these articles on Slashdot, can they include this text at the end? It would save us a lot of time.
Microsoft learned long ago that people will upgrade for games. I'm guessing that, outside the business world, it's the main reason early adopters upgrade their home OS.
I laugh when I see people on gaming forums bitch that their not going to upgrade to Vista (because of DRM, bugs, slow code, etc.). They may hold out for a while but, unless Microsoft changes its mind and releases DX-10 for XP, they'll have to upgrade when game developers stop supporting DX9.
That makes sense. If I was a developer of non-MMOG games, I'd want to work for another company or start my own.
WoW has hit a mainstream market. Every Starbucks I enter has somebody playing WoW in it. NPR has had at least 3 reports on it in the last six months. Any non-MMOG that Blizzard does now will look small in comparison.
You are totally right about your Godfather example. Most games would never get more then a few chapters in before they lost so many players that they couldn't afford to finish. If you're not going to spend $50 on a 80-hour game, you're not going to spend $400 on 80-one hour games (selling for $5 each).
But the model can work. In fact, there are some MMOGs that are doing this now to a certain degree. Some MMOs are obvious about this and sell "expansion packs" while others give out "free" content (which isn't really free when you're spending $12 a month just to play).
I think the next step is making more games that you can pick up, play for 5-30 minutes, and then stop. The real trick is being able to stop at any time (something you can't do in a MMOG). Gameboy style games tend to do this, but I'd like to see more games with some depth that are easy to start and stop (yes, I know it will not be easy). I can only play so much Sudoku! ;)
And now you know why you don't get invited out to parties.
I have a lot of "geek friends" and, while I can normally deal with this, I can tell you that you're not turning off "ordinary folks" because *their* insecure. You're just coming off as an asshole.
It's fine to have beliefs but, right or wrong, you're going to annoy the hell out of 98% of the people out there if you feel the need to get all vigorous about jamming it down their throats. If you get off on this, fine. But don't think these "ordinary folks" are the ones with the defects...
(Sorry for being blunt with my belief system, but I've seen too many unhappy "smart people" with this problem.)
Bacchus has zero credibility. I hope Infinium paid him well, because I wouldn't trust him with another system launch.
The funny (sad?) thing is, Ellison "friends" think the same thing. I remember talking with one (who I will not name here, but (s)he's *very* close to Ellison) who said: "He's a bit of a dick."
If I was in a job that required solid facts on these numbers, I'd pay the money and (hopefully) get something more exact. But I'm blessed with only having to worry about selling single-player games, so tracking MMOG numbers is just a hobby. :)
It's cool to cluster computers together, it's cooler to make that cluster out of the odds-and-ends of PC 'junk', and it's even cooler to run it off of an alternative power source. :)
Molyneux put up a good fight, but Wright won hands down.
A built in projector makes no sense either. I would add hundreds of dollars to the price of the product and wouldn't give the user anything they couldn't get from any number of 3rd party sources.
Blu-ray? No way. The cost is too high and the payoff right now is poor (how many Blu-ray movies do you think WalMart is going to sell this year?).
I don't know what the last secret is, but I'm betting it will not add much money to the cost of the product (maybe a built in memory card so you can bring your saved games over to your friend's house). If Nintendo can release a sub $200 unit this year, they'll win a big share of the market.
Guess they will just have to roll around in their piles of money because of their wrong choice. Sucks to be them.
Okay I'll bite on this troll. What makes you say that?
On the other hand, the price that Microsoft is paying for its console will go down as well. And Microsoft can always come out with a "XBox360-Media" edition of the console that includes HD-DVD, DVR, and a big old hard drive for $50 cheaper then the PS3. At least, that's what I would do...
I am, however, very worried about how fair our election system is and fear that it may be even more questionable come 2008. The current "paperless" system has brought up a lot of unanswered questions.
But, if we do end up a dictatorship, and we meet each other in the same "Freedom (internment) Camp", feel free to slap me for missing the obvious warning signs.