Really I just wanted a link to this video on my blog. When I think about the new Wii and the new Zelda... I sorta wet my pants.
But seriously, video games have come a long way, but even with the original Legend of Zelda, the architecture, settings, and spatial design are crucial to the game play.
The newest Zelda game, Twilight Princess, is no different. The game designers have created a lush, imaginative 3-D world, and typical for zelda games, the characters are dwarfed by their surroundings.
Grand Theft Auto had similar emphasis on settings, and one mini game featured in GTA: San Andreas, has you running around the GTA version of San Francisco, photographing the notable architecture.
What's my point?
I love SimCity because it's a simulation game that marries several things I love... urban design, social criticism, architecture, etc etc. But the only problem I have with it is it's flatness. Even the latest incarnation, SimCity 4, there are beautifully rendered images with depth and shadows. But it still lacks the viseral qualities of GTA/Zelda.
There are parts of GTA that are seedy and dangerous, while there are locations that are breathtaking. Zelda is similar... light and shadow, spatial proportions... all contribute to making a space feel safe or not. I guess this stems back to our earlier conversations about dark alleyways, farms and romantic locations. I just always feel like my simcity is pure AI rather than a rich complex place for people to live.
2 comments:
I would tend to disagree. Albeit only slightly. SimCity has a fairly basic set of "rules" for determining what happens each year (see: Conway's "Game of Life" for a basic rule set). I don't think there is any true notion of AI - or if there is, it is only passive (i.e. responding to what is being done). Zelda is indeed much more visually and spatially complex, as you can "do things" at multiple levels/scales, BUT there is no AI in Zelda. It is, at least in my understanding (which I'll admit does not include any understanding of Twilight Princess), does not respond to your actions - it is therefore pre-scripted.
But in a few short months it will become very apparent that ALL VIDEO GAMES WILL BOW TO SPORE
There is no script to follow - each action creates a reaction and spawns "evolution". The best (and perhaps least mentioned) part of the game is that this "evolution" occurs not only in terms of the world you are developing but in the actual game play itself. If you elect to authorize the online link to the game database, the system will analyze your game play and take pieces/components from other player's games and insert them into yours. If you are a developing a predator-type character the system will search for other strong predators for your to have to fight with, etc.
HOW COOL IS THAT?
Seriously.
I'm not much of a gamer either. (Although I have been in past summers an Age of Empires junkie). I agree with Laurie that it would be interesting to see what are cities would be like in an updated Sim version. My guess is that we would feel completely different about them. Because of the sparcity of graphics, we have the ability to imagine/ set up what certain things are. (ex. parks as farms). I think sometimes the more specific the graphics are the less of a personal imprint we leave - unless, of course, we had an unlimited amount of choices.
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