James Cameron's Avatar, LA Noire, Performance Scanning, Being Human US, Sims 3, Ghosts, the future..
It occurs to me that LA Noire will be a success regardless of the sales. It is a powerhouse with a simple gimmick, faces and performances by real actors that people can identify with.
While video game rendering isn't advancing quickly due to that anchors Xbox 360 and PS3, the skill with which developers like Team Bondi manage to do magic with those limited platforms, is always impressive.
Then I saw some episodes of being human. And the Ghosts.. and wondered why it is that gaming just doesn't do ghosts? If it is a rendering thing.. fine, if it is a story issue of how to give you ghostly powers.. then fine there too, they are weak arguments.
Heck, and entire game could be dedicated to Ghosts if the Being Human character is any evidence.
But the one game that does have ghosts and does some interesting things with them is the Sims 3.
I'm wondering if the Sims 4, ignoring medieval, will have more impressive Sims. Doubtless they'll have a more powerful render engine as well middle ware for animation and physics.. crossed fingers.. Looking at LA Noire though what would be nice is making the Sims more realistic, even if just a little. Make it a tad less cartoony and simplistic and cell shaded to something more mature like LA Noire.
You're looking at them too long for the horrific and low complexity facial models and animations to cut it again. Taking the rest of the game into context, it all needs a major upgrade in realism.
The game though is designed to be generic and that's fine. Where Bondi worked very hard on specific performances for specific actors, it would be interesting to see a large amount of generic performances applied to randomized or player created characters. That's where the money will be though.. much better performances and quality to better align the game with much higher consumer expectations will ensure the continued viability of the franchise.
That and NGP could take a mobile Sims offering to a new place where it can and therefor should have a much richer and mature feel to it. What you'd end up with would be a tool for machinima the way the Sims grew to be over the year.. except for the ridiculous cartoony design and generic animations, which makes it harder to make something specific and that can be taken seriously.
What you can do is dub over a performance in the sims and have it taken seriously. It would be nice to have that be a focus on the 4th game in the series.
And then the ghosts. What I noticed what that it is true that ghosts traditionally were bound to a specific thing be it an event, a person, an object. Sims 3 didn't do that. It isn't a problem or anything but without it ghosts lack a very compelling sense of purpose. Seeing someone and getting them to react a certain way. Interacting with a specific object by building up your ghostly skills until you can. Travelling to a specific place that you're not sure about. etc.
Speaking specifically about NGP, it would be very interesting to see a fully rendered City like the PC version of the game, for a mobile sims game. But one that allows console controls which are missing from the PC version. Ultimately driving a sim around worked very well on Sims Busting Out, and can work just as well or much better for NGP because of its much more enhanced control options. Placing and selecting and interacting with stuff in the game by touch, buttons and precision of thumbsticks woulc be very amazing for an NGP version of the Sims.
As well being able to drive several new vehicles to the franchise would also help the game.
And being able to interact with sims in entirely new ways with touch and tilt could result in much more compelling possibilities for game play. Again being a ghost for example.. jumping and dropping through floors, or touching walls to see through them, or literally shaking the world to upset living sims.. the possibilities are almost endless.
As well having totally independent sims that can only control by suggestion would be incredible.. something like applying the Majesty 2 control scheme to enhance what the Sims control scheme is based on, finding interesting or important things to interact with.
Being able to control the game could achieve a Zen level of fluidity if you could control your sims hands off of them but still have them do what you want, without getting mad or dying. And if they do die.. play them as a ghost well enough to have them get revived at the science facility.
It occurs to me that LA Noire will be a success regardless of the sales. It is a powerhouse with a simple gimmick, faces and performances by real actors that people can identify with.
While video game rendering isn't advancing quickly due to that anchors Xbox 360 and PS3, the skill with which developers like Team Bondi manage to do magic with those limited platforms, is always impressive.
Then I saw some episodes of being human. And the Ghosts.. and wondered why it is that gaming just doesn't do ghosts? If it is a rendering thing.. fine, if it is a story issue of how to give you ghostly powers.. then fine there too, they are weak arguments.
Heck, and entire game could be dedicated to Ghosts if the Being Human character is any evidence.
But the one game that does have ghosts and does some interesting things with them is the Sims 3.
I'm wondering if the Sims 4, ignoring medieval, will have more impressive Sims. Doubtless they'll have a more powerful render engine as well middle ware for animation and physics.. crossed fingers.. Looking at LA Noire though what would be nice is making the Sims more realistic, even if just a little. Make it a tad less cartoony and simplistic and cell shaded to something more mature like LA Noire.
You're looking at them too long for the horrific and low complexity facial models and animations to cut it again. Taking the rest of the game into context, it all needs a major upgrade in realism.
The game though is designed to be generic and that's fine. Where Bondi worked very hard on specific performances for specific actors, it would be interesting to see a large amount of generic performances applied to randomized or player created characters. That's where the money will be though.. much better performances and quality to better align the game with much higher consumer expectations will ensure the continued viability of the franchise.
That and NGP could take a mobile Sims offering to a new place where it can and therefor should have a much richer and mature feel to it. What you'd end up with would be a tool for machinima the way the Sims grew to be over the year.. except for the ridiculous cartoony design and generic animations, which makes it harder to make something specific and that can be taken seriously.
What you can do is dub over a performance in the sims and have it taken seriously. It would be nice to have that be a focus on the 4th game in the series.
And then the ghosts. What I noticed what that it is true that ghosts traditionally were bound to a specific thing be it an event, a person, an object. Sims 3 didn't do that. It isn't a problem or anything but without it ghosts lack a very compelling sense of purpose. Seeing someone and getting them to react a certain way. Interacting with a specific object by building up your ghostly skills until you can. Travelling to a specific place that you're not sure about. etc.
Speaking specifically about NGP, it would be very interesting to see a fully rendered City like the PC version of the game, for a mobile sims game. But one that allows console controls which are missing from the PC version. Ultimately driving a sim around worked very well on Sims Busting Out, and can work just as well or much better for NGP because of its much more enhanced control options. Placing and selecting and interacting with stuff in the game by touch, buttons and precision of thumbsticks woulc be very amazing for an NGP version of the Sims.
As well being able to drive several new vehicles to the franchise would also help the game.
And being able to interact with sims in entirely new ways with touch and tilt could result in much more compelling possibilities for game play. Again being a ghost for example.. jumping and dropping through floors, or touching walls to see through them, or literally shaking the world to upset living sims.. the possibilities are almost endless.
As well having totally independent sims that can only control by suggestion would be incredible.. something like applying the Majesty 2 control scheme to enhance what the Sims control scheme is based on, finding interesting or important things to interact with.
Being able to control the game could achieve a Zen level of fluidity if you could control your sims hands off of them but still have them do what you want, without getting mad or dying. And if they do die.. play them as a ghost well enough to have them get revived at the science facility.