Dust 514 - More Than Your Average Shooter

...Could use a good dusting.

Since 2008, CCP Games has been showing brief flashes of it's upcoming MMOFPS, Dust 514. For those unfamiliar, CCP Games is the developer behind the MMO EVE Online, one of the most ridiculously in depth games around. EVE Online was first released in 2003, and through a lot of hard work, CCP has been able to keep the game around through the past decade or so. Dust 514 will be only the second game ever developed by the Iceland based company. That in and of itself is noteworthy. However, Dust 514 is on the precipice of doing something groundbreaking. You see, Dust 514 is set in the EVE universe. The battles you fight in the game will be waged on the same planets that you can find in EVE Online.

That's only the half of it though.

The events that occur in Dust 514 will have direct and far reaching consequences to the players of EVE Online. Control over planets can be determined from the battles waged in Dust 514. The players in the game are treated as mercenaries, though nothing as of now is stopping you from fighting for your corporation or alliance if you play EVE Online. This opens up the possibility of alliances or corporations putting out a call for help if they think they are about to lose a planet. The groups that control worlds through Dust 514 can even build infrastructures on the planets they, or their corporations, control though it isn't really clear what purpose this will serve yet.

The first brilliant thing about this is that you don't have to be an EVE Online player, to play Dust 514 and vice versa. The second, and much more impressive, is that the players of these two different games will essentially be able to coexist, despite not playing the same game. For the first time ever, two radically different games players can have an effect on each others experience. The relationship between these two games and their players could set the stage for a radically different approach to bringing players together. It goes beyond just multiplayer between two different gaming platforms. It bridges two entirely different genres of gaming, which is arguably a much bigger challenge.

One of the biggest problems facing player connectivity is the fact that we don't all play the same games and systems. A few games have tangled the idea of bridging the players of one game on multiple systems, but none have done so with a whole lot of success, and given the way the big three console developers handle business with each other I doubt that we'll be seeing any real solid games with such a feature for a while. A few games have started toying with social networks which can introduce you to other players and services like Call of Duty ELITE and Battlelog offer lots of extra features for the people subscribed to their services. The problem with the game-specific social networks is that they are more or less devoted to a single game franchise. Breaking down the walls surrounding certain parts of the gaming community so that it's players can share an experience is a bold move towards creating a game world where players can all experience the same world from radically different perspectives and situations. I myself, am not a big MMO person. Never have been. I just don't like them and the way they are presented to me and the way some of them feels more like a chore than something to be enjoyed. One of my friends loves MMOs. He plays at least three of them at any one given time. While he doesn't have a dislike for first person shooters. they are defiantly not his favourite genre. The relationship between EVE Online and Dust 514 offers the opportunity for two players with different likes and dislikes to share the same world.

But it's deeper than that.

In response to the obvious question: How could I not? 

This could be the very model that can finally end the debate of casual versus hardcore gaming, by bringing us all together. What if a casual game could be used to give hardcore gamers support in their games? Would you turn down the extra help? Of course not, and it could be the perfect way to introduce someone to a gaming universe, without forcing it to be from one perspective. Instead of forcing your girlfriend to sit there and play World of Warcraft, she could instead play a casual game that could produce equipment for your character.

It might take years to nail down exactly how this could work, I mean the mechanics behind this sort of thing are just now being explored as possibilities. However, Dust 514 may very well be the revolutionary first title to explore the idea of bringing players together, even if they aren't playing the same game.
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It's been awhile since my last post. The real world catches up to you fast when your not paying attention to it. That said, I'm going to be taking a bit of a different approach to things here over the next month or so. We'll see how that goes (as usual.)

As always, please share this as much as possible, keep reading, and thanks for reading.

Until next time.


Idea Came From Here: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/transgaming
Image References:
#1. http://download.gamezone.com/uploads/image/data/1010573/Dust-514-concept-art-characters.jpg
#2. http://canv.as/ugc/processed/b3f647e34b467e29597997f025ad8d59b9869f3c.jpeg

Flufflist: The Top Five Western RPG's Of All Time

...No there is no Zelda here.

With the release of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, western RPG's made a bold statement. Despite having no multiplayer whatsoever, it has been one of the best selling games this year. It is also one of the best reviewed, with over 50 perfect scores from critics, and the player reception has been just as good. It actually has me thinking about where it might end up in the all time RPG's list a few years from now. It also made me think about all the other western RPG's I've played, and their legacies too. So here, from me to you, is a list of the top five western RPG's of All Time (from my point of view)

Oh and spoilers and stuff....you've been warned.

Honorable Mention: Neverwinter Nights

Neverwinter Nights is a rare game in my mind, and it holds a special place with me personally because this was the game that really got me into RPGs. I had always been a somewhat casual gamer kid before I found my dad's copy of Neverwinter Nights, but I was hooked forever afterwards. At the time of it's release, Neverwinter Nights had some pretty decent graphics, but it was the turn-based gameplay based on Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition rules that had people interested. The solid gameplay is every D&D fans dream when it comes to taking the pen and paper experience to the digital world. The story was solid, though it did slow at times. However, these all took a backseat to the multiplayer and mod community. The robust multiplayer allowed players to pick from a multitude of severs to play consistent campaign's, as well as the campaign that shipped with the game. But for me, the thing that sets this game apart is the mod community. Neverwinter Nights shipped with the Aurora Toolset, which allowed players to create their own campaigns to play in the game. Couple that with the people who made new items, hakpacks to use with the toolset, and custom audio, and some of these campaigns actually beat out the one that came with the game. There is practically YEARS worth of excellent gaming to be found on the internet thanks to the community that loves the game so much. And that's really what sets this game apart from the others on this list (except Morrowind perhaps) is that the community actively made improvements to the game. While the game shows some serious age now, it is still worth picking up, because there is still so much to discover through the community.

#5. Planescape: Torment

If you like to be evil, and you don't want any morality conflicting your decisions, then Planescape: Torment are right up your alley. The dark and emotional story are unlike anything else I've played in an RPG. The story isn't about happy endings or saving the world from evil. It's about a man simply named...uhh...The Nameless One, who he is unable to remember who he is when he wakes up in a morgue at the start of the game. As you play you learn that The Nameless One is immortal but every time he "dies" he forgets his past. Your free to discover the truth how you see fit, and the games dark setting and premise feel refreshingly different from usual RPG's. Really this is one of the stronger stories in a game, because it's more personal. Your choices in the game often times have unpredictable consequences and makes playing the game fun and engaging, You also have the ability to learn new abilities by "remembering" one of The Nameless One's past lives, which is a genius idea. The game had some incredible music and voice acting as well, and a lot of it still holds up today. The interface is also intuitive, even today, keeping menus and screens limited so you can focus on playing the game. The gameplay is also very solid, if a bit easy. While Planescape: Torment earned a great critical reception at release, people avoided it for some odd reason. Perhaps the dark story and setting were a little too different at the time. Whatever the case, Planescape: Torment is a cult classic that has never earned the attention it deserves, but that doesn't diminish how incredibly brilliant it really was and still is.

#4. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Morrowind is the ultimate game for exploration. The story starts with you on a prison ship, as you are transported to a small port. The guards call you up from below the decks. They check you out in a ever so brief tutorial of how the game works, which doubles as your character creation process. They politely suggest you visit a man named Caius Cosades and then send you on your merry way. From that point on the island of Vvardenfell is your oyster. You can go anywhere, do anything, be anything. Join a guild, help one of the three big houses that run the province, go side questing, or just go run around the island until your bored. For me, I never was even able to finish the story until about two years after I got the game. I got so involved with the world and the various quests and people and places that I never felt a serious desire to wrap the main story up. This game is unlike the others on this list because the story and characters take a backseat in this one entirely. Storytelling has never been Bethesda's strong suit, and they wouldn't argue that. That's because The Elder Scrolls games have always been about doing whatever you feel like doing. But Morrowind made you just feel like doing something, even if you didn't know what. The world is incredibly detailed as far as aesthetics and content are concerned. And all you have to do is see the sheer number of readable books to know that there is a pretty detailed history to go through if you feel like it as well. Morrowind also has a fairly dedicated mod community that has made numerous improvements to the game that have kept the game fresh even after Elder Scrolls IV came out. Morrowind doesn't need a super detailed story to make it enjoyable. Sometimes, just firing up the game and knowing you can do whatever comes to mind on a given day makes it incredibly addictive.

#3. Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a prime example of excellent storytelling and world building in an RPG. While the gameplay is solid, and the graphics are certainly breathtaking, Mass Effect took a leap forward for games with it's story and characters. The story's premise is as follows: The Reapers, a sentient race of machine-like beings who sweep through the galaxy every 50,000 years or so and wipe all sentient life out of the galaxy. They've repeated this process for millions of years. Now it;s up to Commander Shepard and his crew to stop them once and for all. I have never played anything even close to what I get with Mass Effect when it comes to story. It's like playing a Sci-Fi movie, except your in the drivers seat. The world itself is spectacularly well put together. All the alien races have their own histories, the technology has interesting concepts, and the codex that builds as you explore the game world shows just how much effort Bioware took in building the galaxy you wander through. Really some of the history of the galaxy is so interesting it almost demands some games of their own. The characters are extremely memorable, and they all have different personalities, motives, and views on the universe and how things work. Wrex, a Krogan Battlemaster, enjoys fighting like most of his species, but is also one of the few who cares about his dying races future. Meanwhile you have Garrus, a Turian who hates to let the bad guys win. So much so that he is an "ends justify the means" type. He's also an extremely talented soldier, he's like Dirty Harry and Batman mixed into one package. Mass Effect's universe is so deeply detailed, it seems almost certain that we'll be playing in it long after Commander Shepard's story is finished this March. Just so long as we stay away from the elevators...

#2. Knights of the Old Republic

Back in 2003 Star Wars had already had a rich history when it came to games. Rouge Squadron, Dark Forces, the Jedi Knight games. But when Bioware were given the opportunity to create an original story in the Star Wars universe, they were given a golden opportunity to put their company on the map. It was also a big risk, taking on what became the biggest Star Wars game ever, which included a huge risk by setting the game thousands years before Darth Vader was even a whiny little brat named Anakin. But Bioware not only delivered a solid game, and they also didn't just delivere the most memorable Star Wars game ever. Bioware delivered on of the greatest RPGs of all time. The game wasn't just an RPG with Star Wars sprinkled in. Every second of the game feels like Star Wars.The gameplay was solid, if a little easy at times. The soundtrack was also incredible. They didn't rip tracks out of the movies, they created an original score that gave the game it;s own feeling, while also still sounding like something straight out of A New Hope or Return of the Jedi. But it was the characters and the story that really make this game memorable. Characters like HK-47 and Carth Onasi are just as beloved by Star Wars fans as Darth Vader or Obi Wan. They also develop very well, and have interesting back stories of their own. The story though, was what really made Knights of the Old Republic memorable. In my opinion, it's not just good, it's better than even the original trilogy of Star Wars movies. It's paced so perfectly, you never feel like things are rushing along or are moving too slowly. The side quests and companion quests are just as fun and detailed as the ones in the main story. And the big twist, that you are (or at least used to be) one of the most evil forces in the entire galaxy came so far out of left field you never saw it coming. It was like "Luke I am your father" all over again. My jaw had to be screwed back into place after it happened. Perhaps the biggest compliment one can give Knights of the Old Republic, is that it holds up so well. It does show it's age when compared against today's newer RPGs, but the characters, the story, even some of the gameplay, near the top of the pack. The only question left to answer now is will The Old Republic MMO live up to the legacy of the original?

#1. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

The oldest game on this list also happens to be the best. Simply put, western RPG developers have been trying to top this one for more than ten years, and while many have gotten somewhat close, no one has been able to fully top what this game did. It's main story alone is almost 70 hours short. Add in the side quests, class specific quests, an companion quests and this game is nearly 200 hours in length. The story is incredible in and of itself, taking a few twists and turns en route to a hell of a final showdown. The game, for it's time, was absolutely drop dead gorgeous, and even today, while clearly dated, they aren't half bad. The characers in Baldur's Gate II are by far some of the best in gaming period. Minsc (and Boo!) alone has earned a place in gaming lore forever, but add in characters like Imonen, the childhood friend of the protagonist, Yoshimo, the mysterious swordsman, and Edwin, a rouge wizard who enjoys insulting you (and gets transformed into a girl if you play through his side quests)  and you have a great party to adventure around with. In fact, even with room for five people to take with you, I found it difficult to choose from the extensive list many times. Add to all that the gameplay and leveling systems which were nearly flawless, and you have a game that just stands at the top of the mountain. The story is thrilling, the characters interesting and detailed, and the world is vast and deep. Nothing has quite reached the level of fun, depth and storytelling that Baldur's Gate II reached.

So there it is. I imagine more than a few of you are wondering are a few different games are here. So post up what you think in the comments. Did I get it really wrong? Do you agree? Let me know!

Until next time space cowboy...

Pokemon: Five Ideas For The Future

...Gotta catch em'all....when I find the time.

Pokemon is pretty much the most successful RPG around. Fifteen years after we first meet Pikachu, Charizard and company the game is still selling millions upon millions of copies around the world. The most recent entries in the main series, Black and White, have breathed new life into the franchise with a better story, more interesting characters, and a new land modeled after a major metropolitan city outside of Japan (New York City.) Some are even saying that they might be the best pair of games since the originals.

But even though Pokemon has stayed relevant and maintained a rabid fan base, there are also plenty of people calling for even more change. And really, it;s hard to argue with them. Despite the fact that the main series of games spans five 'generations', each with two or three titles in it, the game has largely been the same since Red and Blue. Thats not a bad thing because Pokemon has a formula that just works, but in order to avoid alienating even more people, and to really bring the franchise to the next decade, some more changes are necessary. Here are a few good places to start.



Honorable Mention - Enough Legendary's

This is one that put here simply because I think it needs to be said. There are too many legendary pokemon. The term used to apply to pokemon that were extremely hard to obtain, or were the best of the best. Now there are some that are about as easy to obtain as normal ones, and some are even given away. In my eyes, that diminishes their importance, and just clogs the games up with too many superpowerful monsters. Refocus the importance of these pokemon, or make them harder to get, that way getting them means much more than it currently does.



#5. Some Character Creation

I'm not necessarily a fan of this idea, but I recognize that it's an idea that would certainly make quite a few people happy. Pokemon has always forced you to play as a child. While initially you could only play as a boy, Game Freak did bring the option to play as a girl in Gold and Silver. Since then nothing has really changed character wise. In fact, that was one of the reasons I really enjoyed Black and White. The finally introduced playable characters who were teenagers. Now maybe it's because I am no longer ten, but playing as kid every single Pokemon game just gets a little old. It'd be nice to let you truly step into the world of Pokemon as yourself. Everyone likes to see themselves in their favourite games, and might even make your adventure a little more memorable.



#4. Let Us Visit Every Region 

I'll admit, this is one I personally want to see quite a bit. There are now five regions in the Pokemon world, and other than Gold, Silver, And Crystal (and their remakes) we've never been able to visit other regions of the Pokemon world in the same game. It's not like it's impossible to do so either, characters from other regions frequently show up in different games. It'd make for one monstrous game, certainly something that would require a long term commitment. Sadly, that is one of the many pitfalls of trying to pull this off however. There's lots of other problems and questions, some with easy answers, many where outside the box thinking is probably necessary. Still, it would be nice to be in Goldenrod, and then go visit Castelia City without changing which game I'm playing.

#3. Even More Online Options

This is one we all can benefit from. The online options have gotten much better with Black and White than the previous versions, now with the ability to simply challenge anyone online instead of needing to be in the same general area, or have a friend code. Previous games have also had some kind of fun diversions, and have even started allowing players to team up in the game in certain areas. Yet, as nice as it's gotten, it could be even better. Ash pals around with two people in the anime. Always does. So why not let us roam around the Pokeworld with our own friends? It'd make for even more fun for everyone when you can pal around with your buddies, and could even open up new options for gameplay options and challenges. It'd also be nice to have some more options when facing another person online. The way it is now, your getting luck of the draw, and sometimes you'll be facing people with some pretty tough pokemon. There should be more of a system in place for who you get matched up with. Also, item trading. Get on it Game Freak. Like, now.

#2. Even More Story Improvements 

Black and White made some big steps in the right direction with this, but it still needs to go even further. Every game is set up much the same story wise. X bad guy group wants to achieve Y objective while you face eight gyms spread through a region and then challenge the elite four to become the Pokemon Champion. Even Black and White stick somewhat to that formula, and it's starting to get a little stale. Change the gyms, give us a true Pokemon League Tournament. Make it be one bad guy instead of a group, make the objectives of said bad person more interesting, have more characters in the game play into the whole story. There are so many ways the story could get better. I know some people are seeing this and saying "How could he think such thoughts! This is part of what makes Pokemon Pokemon!" While that is true to a certain point, I think Game Freak could make a game that doesn't stick to those rules and still have it feel like a pokemon game. After all, the Pokemon Ranger games have done a good job of telling different stories, and while Ash is usually chasing gym badge, he still finds time for some pretty lengthy side stories. Let us experience some of that too.

#1. Graphics Upgrade

This is the one just about everyone is calling for at this point. The graphics style is one of the most recognizable parts of the Pokemon games. It is also showing it's also showing it's age and despite the attempts to slap new coats of paint over the framework, it is just about time to ditch the 2D sprites all together. There might be some people who won't be happy about it but with the power of the 3DS' graphics, there is no longer any excuse to keep the game stuck in even partial 2D. We have seen plenty of Pokemon games outside the main series that have featured 3D and some have looked pretty good at their launch. It seems like such a trivial thing, and yet it could really bring a fresh feeling to the next game. They don't have to change perspectives, and they do not need to change the battle style. They just need to break free from the sprites.


That's all I got for now. Given this list is just a few of the things they could do, this is certainly a good place to start. Future Pokemainiacs will appreciate this changes as much as current ones do, and most of these can come about without sacrificing the feel of the game at all, which is an important key to any change to a long running franchise.


To wrap this up, I just want to say Extra Life 2011 went very well. If you didn't donate, but still want to and think it's too late, there is a small window of time to get late donations in, but do it ASAP please. I appreciate it all the same.

And with that, I bid thee farewell for now.

Unlimited Detail - The Facts, The Myths, and The Future

...makes sense that the company is called Euclidean.


WARNING!
This blog post is going to be about an experimental technology that is essentially untested in gaming. There are no games made from this tech yet, and there are questions about how real it even is for gaming right now. However, this is all real technology that you can get into right now. 


Alright, to kick things off I'm going to show you a screenshot.

A little small I know, but you can tell that's a gorgeous screenshot. The game that this is taken from is Crysis 2, perhaps the best looking video game out to date.

Now imagine that this screenshot, that is so beautifully detailed, could in a few years be considered 'far below average'.

That is not a pipe dream. There is a very real technology being developed and it has finally begun to take shape, and the initial results look very promising to bring games so close to looking realistic most companies that pride themselves on "photo realistic graphics" are going to look like the biggest liars in the industry. Or at least that's according to Euclidean founder and CEO Bruce Dell.

Now for a technology lesson. Everything that you see in a game, from the sky, to the ground, to the characters, to the weapons is made up of polygons. The reason games continue to look better and better is because of the arms race between the two big graphics card companies, Nvidia and ATI, to find ways to increase the number polygons that can be used to make up objects. The more polygons, the 'rounder' an object can be. The 'rounder' it can be the more realistic it looks. As games are built, the simply slap textures over the polygons. Textures are not standing objects, they're more like a coat of paint. If you've ever played Dragon Age II and seen the citizens of Kirkwall appear as shiny white models because of a glitch in the games design, then you know what character models look like without their textures.

There is another method to making object called point cloud. Point cloud works in an entirely different way from polygons. Instead of making the objects out of flat polygon shapes, you make them out of points. Thousands of little dots that allow designers to make incredibly complex models that look realistic. An example of why this is so much superior is designing the ground of a level. With polygons, you have to put down a basic surface of shapes, and then slap a texture on top of it. No matter how detailed that texture is, it is a flat object. In many games, the ground looks incredibly detailed and life-like. But if you zoom in, you can see that everything is flat. All that dirt is just a flat painting or picture. With point cloud, instead of making a floor out of polygons and then putting a texture on it, you can design the ground, the grass, the flowers, all right there. By using the points you can construct complex shapes. So instead of making a tree out of a bunch of polygons, you can design the tree with points and actually make it round, and add in all the details while designing the object. The result is a tree that looks like a tree. You can see if you zoomed in on a tree made in point cloud that the wood's textures and qualities as far as shape and appearance are concerned are nearly photo-identical.

If the above confused you greatly, let me put it simply: Instead of making objects out of polygon shapes and then adding a texture to it, you can essentially build the object itself.

Now point cloud is something people use all the time when designing objects, the problem with it's application for something on the scale of gaming is the amount of processing power required to animate the world would be unreal. It would, according to the tech demo, "take the same amount of time to process one frame, as it took the Egyptians to build the Pyramids."

Now there are other ways of making graphics, such as voxels and ray rendering. Voxels have some very restrictive problems that make them almost useless in graphics animation. You can only have so many, and the require a lot of processing power to utilize.

Now, Mr. Dell is dead on up to this point. This is the problem with point cloud, is that the amount of processing time is so large, it's impossible to make a game with this technology, and really, it should be at least a decade or two away from even being an experimental option, much less a realistic one. But Dell claims he has developed a complex algorithm that he compares to a search engine, like Google. He claims this algorithm drastically reduces processing power by searching for and then using only the points necessary at a given time.  Thats about the point where, in his tech demo, he gets little bit...dodgy. He explains some of the problems with something like this, such as how big or small an object is, what perspective it's being seen from etc. He simply says "we've found ways around that." No explanation, no nothing.

And then it gets even more hard to believe him. He essentially disappeared for the past year since he announced this technology. He has reappeared recently and has reasserted that this is real tech and that it could be available for developer use in the next two years.

This all sounds amazing right? What could possibly be wrong with it then?

Well what indeed, is the question seeing as how Dell has never once stated any problems or limitations or specifications of unlimited detail technology. Thats a problem because every tech has it;s limitations and it's issues. The fact he has not even mentioned any, and has simply danced around obvious questions with answers like "we can't show you that yet" or "we've found ways around this."

Anyone else smell that?

I've seen a lot of people going nuts about this, and I did too when I first saw the tech demos. But once you sit down and look at it for a bit, you can see a lot of pitfalls and problems with this. Some people are even saying this is all a big hoax. Now I don;t know about that, but there are some obvious questions that need to be answered, and we also need to see more of the things that really make unlimited detail tick instead of just having Dell explain what he's doing without really explaining what is making work the way it does.

For now, it's best for everyone if we just push this to the back corner of our minds and get back to our polygon count battles between ATI and Nvidia. Eventually we will see how much merit is in Robert Dell and his technology.


The rest of this week is going to be lighthearted blog posts about games that are important to me, because this one was REALLY over the top and I need a break after writing this. In the meantime I am sad to say I still haven't raised single cent for Extra Life up to this point. I will put my own money towards this around the day of the event but I seriously would be eternally grateful to those of you who donate to the cause. I know I've got some UK readers out there, and you guys count too! Send me a an e-mail if you want to donate but your not sure how you want to do it, and if you've got paypal, just head over to the donation link on the side of the blog and donate whatever you can. We can make a difference, but I can't do it alone.

Alright that last bit got a little depressing/angry so here's a picture of  a funny sign to wrap things up.

Later.