From: autodesk!robertj@uunet.uu.net (Young Rob Jellinghaus)
Subject: Re: CULTURE/DESIGN: Game design blather
Date: 26 Feb 92 21:00:19 GMT
Organization: Autodesk Inc., Sausalito CA, USA



In article <1992Feb25.063120.9306@u.washington.edu> steve@hsvaic.boeing.com 
(Steve Tanner) writes:

>As long as everyone else is putting bandwidth into this, here's what
>I'd like in a VR game:
>
>Something along the lines of SIMCITY, SimEarth or RailRoad Tycoon
>where interaction with a very complicated simulated environment is more
>important than killing off everyone else.

I definitely agree.  David Gelernter recently wrote an interesting
little book, _Mirror Worlds_, which goes into detail about the
implications of such detailed artificial environments.

I was somewhat excessive in my response to Bob Jacobson's post about
the evils of BattleTech.  There is no doubt that it would be a
tragedy if BattleTech were the be-all and end-all of VR, and I should
not have attempted to quash the discussion.

My point is that BattleTech is a rarity:  a commercially viable VR
application.  Criticizing it for being non-socially-redeeming is
possible, but somewhat beside the point; it fits a niche market in
which today's expensive VR technology can make lots of money.  Other
types of games, which (as in this SimCity-like proposal) will require
more sustained time interacting with your world, will also require
much cheaper VR rigs that individuals can have all to themselves.

Actually, it's interesting to consider the analogies to computer
games.  Arcade games are primarily oriented towards providing a
compelling five-minute experience; combat simulations are very good
at doing this, since you pop in the quarter and bam, you're in the
middle of intense graphic action.  PC games started off as arcade
lookalikes, but now there are the Sim* games, there are multimedia
children's storybooks, there are boardgame simulations... none of
which play very well in an arcade.  I would expect VR games to go
through the same cycles, with more game variety evolving only when the
hardware is affordable by individual consumers.


Rob Jellinghaus                | "Next time you see a lie being spread or
Autodesk, Inc.                 |  a bad decision being made out of sheer
Internet: robertj@Autodesk.COM |  ignorance, pause, and think of hypertext."
AMIX: RJELLINGHAUS             |    -- K. Eric Drexler, _Engines of Creation_