The Next Big Thing

[Kirkburn]

Nods.
I don't know much about graphics or anything, but I do realise it is VERY hard to simulate fluid dynamics - I don't think it's been done at all, let alone being at the point of being put in a game.

Try doing it for university ...

Edit: oh, yeah, MEQON!

 

[Dekstar]

I'll say it because Reginald seems to have disappeared:
MEQON!

Ahem. Photo-realistic graphics is the time when we should say to ourselves "hmm, maybe it's time to start doing something else. This is getting scary". Hmmm?
By the way, I say Radiant AI too. Hate clumsy AI fools.

Edit: for the whole "OMG!!11oneeleven I can't see my f33tz0rz!". uuuh.... Anyway, in Hitman 3 you can. I guess pretty much any game where you can switch actively between 3rd and 1st person has it (Excluding morrowind, it seems). If you look through the CSS files though, you'll probably find a way to implement it using the v_models (I think that's it. Correct me if it's w or somemthing)

 

[Lahire149]

I wanna see A.I. that acts like real military, not just a bunch of crapy ragdolls, that don't know how to advance/respond to fire/work in teams.
And I'd also like to see a cheap MMORPG that actually has "GAMEPLAY" somewhere in it....

 

[ScORCHo]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R is the only name you need to look out for. I encourage ppl to go to the site and read about what is involved in this awesome game. www.stalker-game.com (and maybe another game to watch is that new Elder Scrolls thing)

that Radiant A.I sounds similar to what is being developed for stalker as well.

 

[CREMATOR666]

Actually, the Radiant AI is probably being developed by EVERYONE nowadays, meh! :hmph:

 

[Lanthanide]

Cremator - yeah, that's what I'm thinking, really. If you get behind the hype-speak it just sounds like a more detailed and thorough implementation of what is already out there, not something really new or different.

I mean, Valve promised really amazing AI that would do all sorts of different things in depending on the situation it was placed in, and look what they actually delivered - AI that's about the same as any other game.

 

[Epsi]

The thing about AI, is internally, it may be thinking a huge number of immensely clever things, but in the end, you either won't notice, or you'll hit the point at which you start to believe more in the AI Characters, then they hit their limit of interactivity. Like, one of the chat bots you can try out which are contenders in a Turing test. For a while, they appear convincing, until you ask something they are unable to answer, or you start being able to predict their response, etc.

Learning AI isn't the be all and end all, look at Black and White. The learning AI enabled the creature to learn things, sure, but it also allowed the creature to learn stupid things. Like, taking a dump on a building is a good idea.

Also, I've had a look at the meqon tech demo. The water physics aren't fluid dynamics, it's simulating waves using the wave equation, which is a far simpler job than fluid dynamics.

Anyways, time will tell more than anything else what's the next big thing. Big ideas always sound impressive on paper, but you can't judge until the product has actually shipped. Until then, you can't tell how much is just hype.

 

[kupocake]

Oblivion features a groundbreaking new AI system, called Radiant AI, which gives non-player characters (NPCs) the ability to make their own choices based on the world around them. They'll decide where to eat or who to talk to and what they'll say.

They'll sleep, go to church, and even steal items, all based on their individual characteristics. Full facial animations and lip-synching, combined with full speech for all dialog, allows NPCs to come to life like never before."

This doesn't sound ground breaking at all... just an evolution of the kind of AI that has been going on for ages. Futhermore, this would be completely useless in an FPS. The whole point of FPS AI is that you shoot at it to stop it working - giving it the ability to act out complex and lengthy routines is utterly pointless if every actor capable of each routine is there to be shot in the face five seconds after you first spot them.

This is the challenge as we move on in games. I'm no games designer, but after getting as far with physics as they have, there seems little more that can be done apart from improving detail in every aspect of existing engines. The next big massive leaps would be in the way we play games - looking at things on a screen has been around for 80, perhaps more years now. There'll be better ways of viewing our entertainment, but who know when.

My "next big thing" will be advances in the rendering of natural environments. I'm talking realistically rendered strands of grass that part as you walk through them, Trees that react to wind, every single leaf blown about by complicated physics, muddy surfaces that you displace and leave a boot-print in as you move away. The dead "man-made" world is becoming remarkably photorealistic, but natural environments are still barren landscapes with a few grass textures popping out of conveniently barren landscape (Far Cry was better than most in this area, but it's still just a terrain mesh with some nasty grass popping out of it).

Perhaps then the grass advances could them be adapted to another thing needed to make Player models more remarkable: hair. Think characters that look one step futher towards Final Fantasy the Spirits Within, married with a script that doesn't suck. That will hopefully be the next big thing.

 

[Dekstar]

This doesn't sound ground breaking at all... just an evolution of the kind of AI that has been going on for ages. Futhermore, this would be completely useless in an FPS. The whole point of FPS AI is that you shoot at it to stop it working - giving it the ability to act out complex and lengthy routines is utterly pointless if every actor capable of each routine is there to be shot in the face five seconds after you first spot them.

Dude, Morrowind is an FPSRPG. It's not made for you to go around killing everyone you see.

 

[kupocake]

Dude, Morrowind is an FPSRPG. It's not made for you to go around killing everyone you see.

But the original poster is clearly asking "what will be the next big thing in FPS games", and i'm clearly pointing out that this type of AI is useless in such a genre.

At the same time though, I do make it clear that I don't think the AI "advance" is anything out of the ordinary for any genre and I stick by that. I'm actually most suprised that RPGs don't already have this kind of AI.

 

[Ames]

Dude, Morrowind is an FPSRPG. It's not made for you to go around killing everyone you see.

Correeeection! It's an FPRPG! There's no shooting.

 

[MiccyNarc]

Water that actually behaves like water.

*sees the millions of posts now*
"I dumped my bucket of water and the computer crashed!!1!1!1!1111"