Everyone makes the same games. NEW IDEAS
by Smarty Pantsp · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 12/27/2007 (8:30 pm) · 34 replies
One of the biggest problems with games today is there all basically the same.For example, I went to blockbuster to rent a game the other day, and I could catagorize all the games into four catagoriees. Shooting, racing, action/adventure, and puzzle. Some people would say that those are the three game types.(rpg, ect fall into one of those catagories). But there's a fifth catagory people don't think of very often because,well, it's not a catagory. Depending on who you are, you may think of it by a ifferent name. To me it's freeplay. One thing ALL the first four catagories have in common, no matter which game it is, they all follow a line. You beat this level, you go to the next. The levels usually stay the same, and the game usually ends the same way, no matter who plays it. The fifth catagory, Freeplay, changes depending on who plays it. The reason most people play video games, is to do something virtually, that they can't do in real life. Don't beleive me? Then why is The Sims a top seller to teens? Maybe because teens can't go do all the stuff in the sims like buy a house or have a family. In war or fighting games, you shoot and fight, without getting hurt. But why play a game designed for some other person when you could have a game designed for you? (Remember the whole, changes depending on who plays it thing?) I would LOVE to see a game complete and total freedom. I want to be able to make my character look like a hobo, be the mayor of some rndom city, then watch as it grows to be a country, thendo the whole thing over again. THEN, I want to watch somebody else play the same game, be an alien, and go into earth's space defence army and fight off other aliens. Then I want to see some other thing. The more user creativity the better. Better hurry and start.
#2
Just my thoughts on the subject.
12/27/2007 (8:43 pm)
Quote:More User Freedom = More Development TimeI agree. The game Spore has been delayed two years, and it supposedly offers the most user freedom of any game out there. These types of games will make it quite a bit harder to produce such cookie cutter games.
Just my thoughts on the subject.
#3
There lots of people out there willing to help make a game for free. I'm one of them. You get some more people and you could make it. Infact, I think I'll do that. If you want to help email me at smartypantspthegamer@gmail.com
12/27/2007 (8:46 pm)
While I agree with you in theory, YOU are missing one key peice of information:There lots of people out there willing to help make a game for free. I'm one of them. You get some more people and you could make it. Infact, I think I'll do that. If you want to help email me at smartypantspthegamer@gmail.com
#4
12/27/2007 (8:48 pm)
OOOO, max I'm glad you posted that!I've been following SPORE for about a year now and, yes it's been delayed, but when it comes out, IT's GOING TO BE BIG. Just wait and see.
#5
12/27/2007 (8:50 pm)
Yeah, I've had it pre-ordered since mid 2005. I expected about a years wait, but it's been quite a while.
#6
12/27/2007 (8:54 pm)
It's coming out in fall. Will wright himself said so. I go to xspore.com for info.
#7
12/27/2007 (9:04 pm)
Will Wright is my idol (behind Tim Aste of course). However he has fibbed about the release date before. On the Colbert Report he said it was coming out December 2007.
#8
12/27/2007 (9:42 pm)
I do not support total freedom for player, but freeplay with minimium controllable set is valuable.
#9
12/27/2007 (9:47 pm)
Ya max I remember that but there was some behind the scenes issues. I think(not totally sure but 97%) that Spore caused EA games to split. If you didn't already here I bleive they split into 5 sections, sports, sims, and some more I can't remember them all, and I think It's because of all the money they lost by spore being delayed.
#10
I'm making a game called Universal Genocide. You could do exactly what you've posted here in it (your friend too), and even see the secret to an entirely peaceful civilization (chaoticly, of course)!
I'm also in current production of the Trading Card Game based on it (think Magic: The Gathering). The first 'set' consists of about 2500 cards...no joke! Expect to see it sometime late 2008/early 2009.
I'm concentrating on a few 'freeform' games actually, it's just that I'm pretty much on my own to do them.
That'll change once people see I'm serious about them AND they can be done!
~ Ronixus
Wanna help?
12/27/2007 (10:41 pm)
Quote:
I want to be able to make my character look like a hobo, be the mayor of some rndom city, then watch as it grows to be a country, thendo the whole thing over again. THEN, I want to watch somebody else play the same game, be an alien, and go into earth's space defence army and fight off other aliens. Then I want to see some other thing.
I'm making a game called Universal Genocide. You could do exactly what you've posted here in it (your friend too), and even see the secret to an entirely peaceful civilization (chaoticly, of course)!
I'm also in current production of the Trading Card Game based on it (think Magic: The Gathering). The first 'set' consists of about 2500 cards...no joke! Expect to see it sometime late 2008/early 2009.
I'm concentrating on a few 'freeform' games actually, it's just that I'm pretty much on my own to do them.
That'll change once people see I'm serious about them AND they can be done!
~ Ronixus
Wanna help?
#11
Pick one thing for your game to be. Make it fun.
12/28/2007 (3:06 am)
I think that total absolute freeformness is a bad idea. To quote Sunzi, for the hell of it - 'preparedness everywhere means lack everywhere.' If you attempt to do everything, you won't do anything very well. Of course, if you do try to do everything well, you'll never be finished developing the game, and at the end of time, when your soul is being weighed and you are asked, 'what have you built?' You will be able to show a sort of potpuorri of everything shoved in a blender, resembling some sort of thin grey slush.Pick one thing for your game to be. Make it fun.
#12
12/28/2007 (3:31 am)
I find the "freeform" games to sound cool but end up boring because it is in nature so open that its story lacks depth. I think we should focus on good stories and gameplay. Like Max Payne and Deus Ex. 
#13
I find the concepts behind Spore interesting, but wonder if it would be any fun. One thing that I have despised about the "you can do anything" concept that gets thrown around as games remove linearity is that I usually ask "why would I want to do anything in this game?"
12/28/2007 (5:26 am)
So it would be like Second Life?I find the concepts behind Spore interesting, but wonder if it would be any fun. One thing that I have despised about the "you can do anything" concept that gets thrown around as games remove linearity is that I usually ask "why would I want to do anything in this game?"
#14
just had some freeform play in it, it would be so much better!" Are you sure? Honestly, I'm a huge fan of freeform play, and I have a lot of ideas and plans for travelling down that road (as I've been doing for some years now, just to let you know that it does take years), but not every game should- or even could- be freeform. As well, freeform should not be completely free. Unless you like losing control of your game to mischievous players.
There's a lot of hurdles with freeform play, and it basically all boils down to communication between the player and the game. You're not going to be able to stick to the usual GUI elements, and then you will agonize over what elements you need (maybe some that aren't out there to just pop into the game), or if you're displaying too much or too little data for the user. Should you have a minimalist interface so the user can see everything , or give the player the ability to customize the interface?
Think those questions get hard? Then answer this: What's the best way for a player in an MMO to have a conversation with an NPC without your datacenter turning itself into a smoldering pit of lava? What that means is, the first answer people naturally point to are the natural language systems of Interactive Fiction fame, which cost a lot of CPU cycles (especially if your servers are slinging data back and forth among other high-math functions). Short of finding a way to represent language mathamatically and crunching it through an nVidia supercomputer (I'll pay through the nose for a system that can do that), you can't get there from here. So now that that's explained, you'll have to figure that out.
Oh, and by the way, how does AI work in a freeform environment? The more the player can do in a game, the more the computer has to do in order to make the gameworld interesting. People trumpet GTA as freeform, and it's certainly a step in the right direction, but take a good look at your range of actions, and you'll see just how narrow the game is (not that I blame them). You can't just stop and talk to someone on the street, or pop into any store and buy something. Crimes? Sure, but that's just a subset of actions, and a narrow and easily scripted one at that. AI will get heavier by the minute, and you'll find yourself looking into ways of representing actions and behaviors you never thought of.
All I'm trying to say here is: Look at the amount of work there is. It's worth it if you can stick it out for a few years and make it work (the latter needs to happen, or else you're going to feel really bad). If you don't think that you have to think every little nook and cranny through to make this work, then do yourself a favor and work on a smaller idea.
12/28/2007 (6:24 am)
The biggest problem with freeform play is that people tend to look at it and think that it is a panacea for all the problems that other games have. "If There's a lot of hurdles with freeform play, and it basically all boils down to communication between the player and the game. You're not going to be able to stick to the usual GUI elements, and then you will agonize over what elements you need (maybe some that aren't out there to just pop into the game), or if you're displaying too much or too little data for the user. Should you have a minimalist interface so the user can see everything , or give the player the ability to customize the interface?
Think those questions get hard? Then answer this: What's the best way for a player in an MMO to have a conversation with an NPC without your datacenter turning itself into a smoldering pit of lava? What that means is, the first answer people naturally point to are the natural language systems of Interactive Fiction fame, which cost a lot of CPU cycles (especially if your servers are slinging data back and forth among other high-math functions). Short of finding a way to represent language mathamatically and crunching it through an nVidia supercomputer (I'll pay through the nose for a system that can do that), you can't get there from here. So now that that's explained, you'll have to figure that out.
Oh, and by the way, how does AI work in a freeform environment? The more the player can do in a game, the more the computer has to do in order to make the gameworld interesting. People trumpet GTA as freeform, and it's certainly a step in the right direction, but take a good look at your range of actions, and you'll see just how narrow the game is (not that I blame them). You can't just stop and talk to someone on the street, or pop into any store and buy something. Crimes? Sure, but that's just a subset of actions, and a narrow and easily scripted one at that. AI will get heavier by the minute, and you'll find yourself looking into ways of representing actions and behaviors you never thought of.
All I'm trying to say here is: Look at the amount of work there is. It's worth it if you can stick it out for a few years and make it work (the latter needs to happen, or else you're going to feel really bad). If you don't think that you have to think every little nook and cranny through to make this work, then do yourself a favor and work on a smaller idea.
#15
12/28/2007 (12:41 pm)
Quote:Think those questions get hard? Then answer this: What's the best way for a player in an MMO to have a conversation with an NPC without your datacenter turning itself into a smoldering pit of lava?Not that I'm a hot networking programmer, but I'd just handle NPC interactions like that client-side :P. Probably totally off-base... and off-topic.
#16
What I would say is to really think about a clear vision for your game- take a bit of time, and while you do that, look at what everyone else (pro and indie) is doing and the stuff everyone talks about wanting, and do a crapload of game mockups. They don't even have to work, but just beating up the ideas in your head, you're bound to come upon some ways to get around problems that should work for what you want to do, even if it's not what you originally thought you had to do.
I completely agree with your sentiment that new genres and more freedom is good, but those two alone won't make new ideas. What we need are new ways in which to communicate data to and from the user to the system, and better ways for the system to "see" the world. New roads should appear from that part of the landscape...
Or maybe I need to lower my crack dosage- sometimes it's hard to tell which ;)
12/28/2007 (5:42 pm)
Client-side is very unsecure and vulnerable, but you're right about this getting off-topic. I just wanted to highlight some of the design problems of freeform gameplay- not really to discourage, but to inform, because these are a lot of the questions that I've been grappling with for a long (probably too long) time. The upside is that there's a lot of ideas that I think are cool, and thinking about the problems so long gives me ideas I can put out there for others. The downside is that after several years, I'm only now really getting close on certain subjects (AI for example) that I had no clue how to tackle correctly for my game. But for all the effort, a lot still needs to be done.What I would say is to really think about a clear vision for your game- take a bit of time, and while you do that, look at what everyone else (pro and indie) is doing and the stuff everyone talks about wanting, and do a crapload of game mockups. They don't even have to work, but just beating up the ideas in your head, you're bound to come upon some ways to get around problems that should work for what you want to do, even if it's not what you originally thought you had to do.
I completely agree with your sentiment that new genres and more freedom is good, but those two alone won't make new ideas. What we need are new ways in which to communicate data to and from the user to the system, and better ways for the system to "see" the world. New roads should appear from that part of the landscape...
Or maybe I need to lower my crack dosage- sometimes it's hard to tell which ;)
#17
First off, I never said EVERYGAME should be freeform. What I said is we should have MORE games that aren't on tracks. I understandthat everygame has to be on tracks because no game really be "unlimited", BUT, what games need are WIDER tracks. Take a war game for instance. you are this person here now kill these people. What the game SHOULD be is YOU choose who you are(customize appearence), YOU choose where you are (which war you wish to fight in), you choose who you kill (which side your on), and finally how to kill them ( choose to be a pilot, bomber, soldier, technical guy, ect.). Then after that when you get into the actuall game there should be as many posibilities to co plete the goal as possible. The goals can be broad or specific. You could have a goal saying kill the enemy(broad goal because it doesn't mention how) or you could say capture the base on the hill(specific place). You may have noticed that some of the things I mentioned are becoming more and more commen in games. Character custimization is freeform play. Choosing your character class is freeform play. Even choosing the setting is freeform play. So most games now are freeform play, and as time goes on, they will become more and more like total freeplay games. For now though, I want YOU to make a game that's more like a total freeplay game.
The second thing that people have repeatedly stated is time. I mat be new to the whole video making thing, but even I know that your not supposed to make the quikest easiest thing you can and expect it to be great. Right now, alot of big video game companies could probably do better than they are. But that doesn't mean you can't do better than them. Do you think Bill Gates was rich and famous BEFORE he came out with microsoft? Do you think it took him sometime to make microsoft? Or do you think he was just on the computer one day and accedently clicked something and made microsoft that way? ANYTHING you want to be good, will ALWAYS take time to do. There are four reasons not to do something in life.
1. You don't want to.
2. It's wrong
3. You can't
4. Your to lazy to take the time to do it.
I'm fine if you don't want to make a freeform game. Even if that really is what games are about and everyone will come to realize it in the next few years. It's not wrong to make a freeform game. And I'm fine if you can't bcause you don't know how, hey, I don't know how. The only reason left for someone not to make a freeform game is if your just too lazy.
The last thing on this post is something I've already said but I'll say it again. Video games are virtual reality. Reality doesn't run on tracks, so neither should games.
12/31/2007 (10:41 am)
OK, to explain further about what I meant. First off, I never said EVERYGAME should be freeform. What I said is we should have MORE games that aren't on tracks. I understandthat everygame has to be on tracks because no game really be "unlimited", BUT, what games need are WIDER tracks. Take a war game for instance. you are this person here now kill these people. What the game SHOULD be is YOU choose who you are(customize appearence), YOU choose where you are (which war you wish to fight in), you choose who you kill (which side your on), and finally how to kill them ( choose to be a pilot, bomber, soldier, technical guy, ect.). Then after that when you get into the actuall game there should be as many posibilities to co plete the goal as possible. The goals can be broad or specific. You could have a goal saying kill the enemy(broad goal because it doesn't mention how) or you could say capture the base on the hill(specific place). You may have noticed that some of the things I mentioned are becoming more and more commen in games. Character custimization is freeform play. Choosing your character class is freeform play. Even choosing the setting is freeform play. So most games now are freeform play, and as time goes on, they will become more and more like total freeplay games. For now though, I want YOU to make a game that's more like a total freeplay game.
The second thing that people have repeatedly stated is time. I mat be new to the whole video making thing, but even I know that your not supposed to make the quikest easiest thing you can and expect it to be great. Right now, alot of big video game companies could probably do better than they are. But that doesn't mean you can't do better than them. Do you think Bill Gates was rich and famous BEFORE he came out with microsoft? Do you think it took him sometime to make microsoft? Or do you think he was just on the computer one day and accedently clicked something and made microsoft that way? ANYTHING you want to be good, will ALWAYS take time to do. There are four reasons not to do something in life.
1. You don't want to.
2. It's wrong
3. You can't
4. Your to lazy to take the time to do it.
I'm fine if you don't want to make a freeform game. Even if that really is what games are about and everyone will come to realize it in the next few years. It's not wrong to make a freeform game. And I'm fine if you can't bcause you don't know how, hey, I don't know how. The only reason left for someone not to make a freeform game is if your just too lazy.
The last thing on this post is something I've already said but I'll say it again. Video games are virtual reality. Reality doesn't run on tracks, so neither should games.
#18
I never said you did, and I agree that more games need wider tracks. My point, as I said, was to do with the technical difficulties of freeform play, and the choas that inevitably ensues if the game is total freeform play. These technical hurdles are by no means trivial, and indies are not the only people working on the problem. We're a little less constrainted by the risk/reward ration, as we (in general) don't have marketing breath down our necks about deadlines and budgets. Otherwise, Ubisoft probably would have even more interesting games out than they already do. Wanting to make this type of game is a far cry from actually having the ability to pull it off.
That would be great, but in a practical sense, you have to limit that, or else you're going to develop a game that comes out to critical acclaim with marginal profits, because it took millions of dollars to create. And not just in man-hours of programming, but in content, because if you want to choose a character, side, war, location, and mission, then all that needs to have content created for it, and we simply don't have enough of the algorithms available to create all those areas on the fly (not in a quality sense yet, anyway).
::taking a deep breath, and trying not to be insulted::
Okay, let me say this: There are many developers on this site that would love to create the kind of game that you are talking about. Including myself. And you're right when you state that it is not the best thing to go and just belt out a game in record time. And you're also right about the four reasons why not to do something in life.
However, you would do well not to call game developers in general lazy, especially when you have yet to walk a mile in their shoes. And before you get defensive any more, I'll point out that I'm not flaming you, and this post will not insult you. But I'll inform you of some things that you should think about.
99% of the developers on this site have day jobs, wives, girlfriends, kids, social lives. That all eats into the amount of time you have to put into a game. 99% of the developers here do not have the funds that are needed to hire the talent necessary for the kind of games that you would like to see. And the ones who do want to create a project like that are very well aware of the technical hurdles involved- the same hurdles that I've posted in this thread. They have nothing to do with lazyness. I've spent a good deal of money and time that I cannot get back on this project that I started in 2002, and I am not yet near the point where I can share much of anything of importance with the world.
Call it "lazy", and I'm sure you did not mean that in an insulting manner, but I'm thinking that you're probably younger and have a lot more time on your hands than a lot of the older guys and girls here. Being in my 30's, and having various commitments aside from the game development that I'd like to have as my day job, I can't say that I have as much time to develop my game during the week as I'd like. Because of that, I don't look for team members because I won't waste their time on me. And lastly: Bill Gates is probably not the best analogy for game developers, because you will most likely not become rich, and almost certainly not become famous, in this field. You do it because you love it, not because you want money or fame. You'll be very disappointed if that is indeed what you think of this field.
As for the technologies involved, please peruse the forums here and elsewhere for the technologies needed, and you will see feedback about just how hard it is to get these things working in the same box, and how noone has it figured out yet except those with no screenshots to show, but lots of words to throw around about how great their game will be.
What I suggest is that you read up on your subject before you attempt to tackle it, so that you have a firm understanding of some of the principles involved. Here's a list of books I have on my bookshelf, and I'm sure others can add to it:
Game Programming Guide to Torque (Helps with TGE?TGEA)
3D Game Programming All-In-One (Helps with TGE/TGEA)
Believable Characters for Computer Games (AI, emotions, research, etc)
MySQL (because you're probably going to use a DB for all that data)
Designing Virtual Worlds (because Richard Bartle invented MMO's, and is still extremely relevant to their design, whether he admits to it or not ;)
Massively Multiplayer Game Development (if you're looking at MMO's)
Game Programming Gems books (very good tips in there)
AI Game Programming Wisdom books (same as above)
And because of the want for creating new forms of gameplay, you'll probably want to look into GUI design discussions, and then some other advanced stuff like procedural content generation. Some people have created dynamic dungeon generators (myself included), but what you'll need is something a lot more complex, and that means research.
No. I have a project that I'm working on, and while it's related to more freeform play, I'm quite fine with what I'm doing, thanks. YOU, however, can feel free to pursue your dreamgame, and I do wish you luck, because if it's everything you want it to be- I'd buy a copy :)
12/31/2007 (12:20 pm)
Quote:First off, I never said EVERYGAME should be freeform. What I said is we should have MORE games that aren't on tracks. I understandthat everygame has to be on tracks because no game really be "unlimited", BUT, what games need are WIDER tracks.
I never said you did, and I agree that more games need wider tracks. My point, as I said, was to do with the technical difficulties of freeform play, and the choas that inevitably ensues if the game is total freeform play. These technical hurdles are by no means trivial, and indies are not the only people working on the problem. We're a little less constrainted by the risk/reward ration, as we (in general) don't have marketing breath down our necks about deadlines and budgets. Otherwise, Ubisoft probably would have even more interesting games out than they already do. Wanting to make this type of game is a far cry from actually having the ability to pull it off.
Quote:Take a war game for instance. you are this person here now kill these people. What the game SHOULD be is YOU choose who you are(customize appearence), YOU choose where you are (which war you wish to fight in), you choose who you kill (which side your on), and finally how to kill them ( choose to be a pilot, bomber, soldier, technical guy, ect.). Then after that when you get into the actuall game there should be as many posibilities to co plete the goal as possible. The goals can be broad or specific. You could have a goal saying kill the enemy(broad goal because it doesn't mention how) or you could say capture the base on the hill(specific place).
That would be great, but in a practical sense, you have to limit that, or else you're going to develop a game that comes out to critical acclaim with marginal profits, because it took millions of dollars to create. And not just in man-hours of programming, but in content, because if you want to choose a character, side, war, location, and mission, then all that needs to have content created for it, and we simply don't have enough of the algorithms available to create all those areas on the fly (not in a quality sense yet, anyway).
Quote:I'm fine if you don't want to make a freeform game. Even if that really is what games are about and everyone will come to realize it in the next few years. It's not wrong to make a freeform game. And I'm fine if you can't bcause you don't know how, hey, I don't know how. The only reason left for someone not to make a freeform game is if your just too lazy.
::taking a deep breath, and trying not to be insulted::
Okay, let me say this: There are many developers on this site that would love to create the kind of game that you are talking about. Including myself. And you're right when you state that it is not the best thing to go and just belt out a game in record time. And you're also right about the four reasons why not to do something in life.
However, you would do well not to call game developers in general lazy, especially when you have yet to walk a mile in their shoes. And before you get defensive any more, I'll point out that I'm not flaming you, and this post will not insult you. But I'll inform you of some things that you should think about.
99% of the developers on this site have day jobs, wives, girlfriends, kids, social lives. That all eats into the amount of time you have to put into a game. 99% of the developers here do not have the funds that are needed to hire the talent necessary for the kind of games that you would like to see. And the ones who do want to create a project like that are very well aware of the technical hurdles involved- the same hurdles that I've posted in this thread. They have nothing to do with lazyness. I've spent a good deal of money and time that I cannot get back on this project that I started in 2002, and I am not yet near the point where I can share much of anything of importance with the world.
Call it "lazy", and I'm sure you did not mean that in an insulting manner, but I'm thinking that you're probably younger and have a lot more time on your hands than a lot of the older guys and girls here. Being in my 30's, and having various commitments aside from the game development that I'd like to have as my day job, I can't say that I have as much time to develop my game during the week as I'd like. Because of that, I don't look for team members because I won't waste their time on me. And lastly: Bill Gates is probably not the best analogy for game developers, because you will most likely not become rich, and almost certainly not become famous, in this field. You do it because you love it, not because you want money or fame. You'll be very disappointed if that is indeed what you think of this field.
As for the technologies involved, please peruse the forums here and elsewhere for the technologies needed, and you will see feedback about just how hard it is to get these things working in the same box, and how noone has it figured out yet except those with no screenshots to show, but lots of words to throw around about how great their game will be.
What I suggest is that you read up on your subject before you attempt to tackle it, so that you have a firm understanding of some of the principles involved. Here's a list of books I have on my bookshelf, and I'm sure others can add to it:
Game Programming Guide to Torque (Helps with TGE?TGEA)
3D Game Programming All-In-One (Helps with TGE/TGEA)
Believable Characters for Computer Games (AI, emotions, research, etc)
MySQL (because you're probably going to use a DB for all that data)
Designing Virtual Worlds (because Richard Bartle invented MMO's, and is still extremely relevant to their design, whether he admits to it or not ;)
Massively Multiplayer Game Development (if you're looking at MMO's)
Game Programming Gems books (very good tips in there)
AI Game Programming Wisdom books (same as above)
And because of the want for creating new forms of gameplay, you'll probably want to look into GUI design discussions, and then some other advanced stuff like procedural content generation. Some people have created dynamic dungeon generators (myself included), but what you'll need is something a lot more complex, and that means research.
Quote:For now though, I want YOU to make a game that's more like a total freeplay game.
No. I have a project that I'm working on, and while it's related to more freeform play, I'm quite fine with what I'm doing, thanks. YOU, however, can feel free to pursue your dreamgame, and I do wish you luck, because if it's everything you want it to be- I'd buy a copy :)
#19
Yeah, that was my first reaction as well.
01/02/2008 (7:04 am)
Quote:So it would be like Second Life?
Yeah, that was my first reaction as well.
#20
secondly, when I said people are lazy, the people I was talking about were the people who claim things but in reality have no idea what's going on. I have to go due to lack of time. I'll try and post more soon.
01/02/2008 (8:02 pm)
First off, I never meant to insult anyone. I got a little fired up.secondly, when I said people are lazy, the people I was talking about were the people who claim things but in reality have no idea what's going on. I have to go due to lack of time. I'll try and post more soon.
Torque 3D Owner Peter Simard
Default Studio Name
More User Freedom = More Development Time
For every different scenario you come up with, a programmer will need to program it, artists will need to design it, story writers will need to plan it, etc. Limiting the choices a player has is one of the only feasible way to develop a game.