Playing the FEAR demo lent some credance to my argument that you can have a scary game with proper illumination... except that the chink in the armour of this argument in FEAR is the 'head torch' only works for a few seconds.
It recharges very quickly but how is it that you can have in-game a nice man-portable particle accelerator but your torch drains in seconds?
I find this kind of thing very out of place in games supposedly from the (near) future. It is bizarre.
Where are the vision enchancers that take input from numerous energy sources/bandwidths and render it direct to your retinas? Real-time, no lag, bright areas and dark areas blended into a visual representation that provides the wearer with a real edge.
I think the tech is available now... just not all that rugged or portable.
So how about it game designers?
The other thing that gets me about games these days is the guns. Unless we start playing as some kind of strange alien there are certain ergonomic and exprience based constraints/guidelines for weapons. A cursory examination of current military research is all it would take.
So weapons are lighter. They fire more bullets (well... sometimes)... they try to maximise how many bullets hit their target at once. They might have higher bullet velocities with flatter trajectories - less leading your target (etc). And so on.
In games however we get presented with enormous guns firing exotic projectiles. Most bizarre of all is the Mary Popins suits that many games provide. Every gun imaginable crammed - somehow - into our characters clothing/armour. And still we dont get torches or other vision enhancement.
What about consequence? I guess we will have to wait until some future generation of 3D engine for truely interactive environments. So if you cut loose with some powerful weapon you just might bring the house down on yourself and have to reach for that quickload function key.
I want to blaze away with a plasma rifle and admire the molten pools of steel dribling down the walls. Sensitive electrical equipment exploding in sparks and flame... and so on
Perhaps the
physics engine acclerator cards are the way forward. We shall see.
On the subject of physics can bodies actually have some substance in-game? Also, no more 'rag-doll physics' unless you can be bothered to have the 'rag-dolls' fall over in some semblance of reality. I recall Ghost Recon having some quite realistic 'movements' in this respect.
Bodies should be something you can hide behind. Use for cover. Trip over. And they shouldnt mysteriously disappear. Or blend with the furniture... or your foot.
I would be very happy to see these kinds of improvements in-game than more eye-candy & general visual accuracy. The physical environment is vital to producing a truely immersive game. Things are improving but not nearly as quickly as I would like.
Reproduced from elsewhere
