How can new console improve on games compared to this gen?

[Arwin]

I think living and breathing environments, which include physics, better animation and better real-time lighting and shadows, are an important part of what I want to see next gen. Preferably combined with better framerates and stereoscopy support (sorry Davros )

 

[fearsomepirate]

Another thing is that more power = fewer hacks. By a "hack," I mean a way of getting a desired visual result without using a physically accurate model or a straightforward method. Designing and implementing hacks is time-consuming, time that could be spent doing something else.

For example, Doom's primitive lighting was simply coded, but it also meant that something as trivial as making four pillars in a room appear cast shadows was inordinately time-consuming relative to the result you got.

 

[milk]

There are thousands of places games can go, you probably just can't imagine what they are yet.

There is this old video on youtube, that is good to give you some examples.

I must say the video is not great. It has bad quality, bad music, its not very technical, neither is it completely accurate on some descriptions, but it is a good compilation of different simulation technologies that could be applied in future games.
The premise is, in the future, one single game might do just everything shown in the video. It has clips of offline renderers, some real time sims that are just too expensive for aplication on games, and some stuff that actually is implemented in games but just some very few.

 

[almighty]

Parralax occlusion mapping

Seriously, Perfect Dark and Kameo had it and looked amazing... then the effects slowly vanished and I can't think of any other games that used it.

 

[owen]

This generation has released lots of "pretty" games. None of them were really deep. I usually describe them as pretty versions of "pac-man". Pac-man has all the graphic and physic elements that people on B3d keep talking about; open environment, physical, collectables and AI. Nothing much as changed since then with a few exceptions such Shadow of the Col, Hitman Blood Money, Grand Turismo and Just Cause. But even in GT5 I still feel "stuck to the road" and I still can't do a 180 flip. And even when a game gets its physics right sometime the progress is mare by awful menus. But I digress, games are hard to make and take many MANY years of tinkering and thinking and coding.

If we keep using the same engines we aren't going to get much more than shiny-er pixels.

Here is what I want next next gen;
- Better stories; No more A to B bullshit. No more pointless fetch quests.
- When I leave a room I want the simulation in the room to keep running. No more AI camping/shooting rooms.
- Smaller sandboxes with better content and persistent interactions (I have not played Farcry 3 as yet)
- Time. I want a sense of urgency, needing to do things at certain times, its going to reek havoc on stories and set pieces but it needs to be done.

 

[nightshade]

Parralax occlusion mapping

Seriously, Perfect Dark and Kameo had it and looked amazing... then the effects slowly vanished and I can't think of any other games that used it.

I believe both used parallax mapping not parallax occlusion mapping.
And there are so many console games that use Parallax mapping.

 

[orangpelupa]

next gen console if equipped with something like oculus rift and Kinect/move/Wii remote will increase the immersion of games.

I can be 'inside' the game and move easily with analog stick and natural interactions with gesture and voice that feel weird with Kinect can be feel more natural.

the problem is, does the consumer want to use something like oculus rift on their face?

but maybe viable in Japan for making them explore fantasy world? or enjoy taking in love plus and training girls in idol master?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I believe both used parallax mapping not parallax occlusion mapping.
And there are so many console games that use Parallax mapping.

Kameo definitely had strong PO mapping. Looked really a good and a sign of things to come, and then it fizzled out as a technique on these consoles.

 

[MrFox]

I want Sony to combine their latest VR glasses tech with the Move tech.

There's an OLED viewfinder on the Sony NEX camera, the whole EVF is only 1 inch cube and the image is superb. I'd love small VR glasses using two of those instead of the bulky "what-were-they-thinking" HMZ-T2.

 

[owen]

Kameo definitely had strong PO mapping. Looked really a good and a sign of things to come, and then it fizzled out as a technique on these consoles.

Its funny how the obsession with graphics has gotten so out of hand that we went as far as to create a whole processor for the sole purpose OF MAKING MORE GRAPHICS. lol.

I want a AIPU. Only reason online multiplayer games are taking over is because game companies can't keep single player experiences interesting and fresh.

 

[ERP]

Its funny how the obsession with graphics has gotten so out of hand that we went as far as to create a whole processor for the sole purpose OF MAKING MORE GRAPHICS. lol.

I want a AIPU. Only reason online multiplayer games are taking over is because game companies can't keep single player experiences interesting and fresh.

I'm not sure this is true at all.

I think the primary reason that multiplayer games are becoming dominant is that the demographic has changed and that social interaction is now an important part of playing games.
Almost 15 years ago I thought that it was inevitable that every game would have some sort of multiplayer aspect to it, sharing gameplay with friends is a very compelling experience, and not just because they have better AI.

 

[owen]

I'm not sure this is true at all.

I think the primary reason that multiplayer games are becoming dominant is that the demographic has changed and that social interaction is now an important part of playing games.
Almost 15 years ago I thought that it was inevitable that every game would have some sort of multiplayer aspect to it, sharing gameplay with friends is a very compelling experience, and not just because they have better AI.

In my experience the majority of "competitive" on-line multiplayer time is spent testing your skills against avatars controlled by people. If there ever was a game that had AI as good as real people then that game would be EPIC. Why else would people play the same 10-15 stages of COD over and over for solid weeks? The stages are not particularly interesting or dynamic or pretty, the gameplay is rinse and repeat. In fact the stages are mentally annoying because they are engineered to prevent camping. Why are people doing it?

It is because competitive multiplayer is more interesting than the single player campaign (which has better graphics). It depends on the game and the ADD in all of us but even a single player campaign which is 30 hours long pales in comparison to running around a start for 15 minutes with random people.

Multiplayer has been done.

 

[MrSpiggott]

In my experience the majority of "competitive" on-line multiplayer time is spent testing your skills against avatars controlled by people. If there ever was a game that had AI as good as real people then that game would be EPIC. Why else would people play the same 10-15 stages of COD over and over for solid weeks? The stages are not particularly interesting or dynamic or pretty, the gameplay is rinse and repeat. In fact the stages are mentally annoying because they are engineered to prevent camping. Why are people doing it?

It is because competitive multiplayer is more interesting than the single player campaign (which has better graphics). It depends on the game and the ADD in all of us but even a single player campaign which is 30 hours long pales in comparison to running around a start for 15 minutes with random people.

Multiplayer has been done.

A single player game with accurate, human equivalent, AI would be a disaster. It would signify the end of games like uncharted or gears of war. Imagine a current multiayer COD game, with real people, where every other player was exclusively coming after you, how long would you last?

No. AI needs to remain dumb, just make sure it's not annoying.

 

[owen]

A single player game with accurate, human equivalent, AI would be a disaster. It would signify the end of games like uncharted or gears of war. Imagine a current multiayer COD game, with real people, where every other player was exclusively coming after you, how long would you last?

No. AI needs to remain dumb, just make sure it's not annoying.

just evolve them a bit. dont make them sentient.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

A significant part of my enjoyment from games comes from exploiting AI weaknesses. It allows me to dominate the machine with its perfect reactions and accuracy and greater numbers by actually being smart. Great AI would render those secret missions deep into enemy territory and massive gunfights taking on small armies impossible. AI needs to be appropriate for the game and target, but I'm not seeing much in AI that really bothers me outside of stupid RPG NPCs. Shooters and action gamers with cannon-fodder grunts are fine as they are IMO. They are smart enough to flank and change things up. If the solo games had grunts with the perks and weapons of multiplayers, imagine how truly miserable the experience would be - spawn camped into the start of level 3 by intelligent foes and unable to progress the game.

 

[orangpelupa]

smart ai with limitation seems will be good. it can surprise gamer but not frustrate them,

at least that what I feel from playing halo and the enemy with light sword suddenly flank me

but smart ai that can learn maybe good for certain game like digimon.

or Ai that can bring natural text conversation. seems good for rpg like skyrim or hack series

 

[Boxercide]

I think stealth systems need a big overhaul and IMHO, a big part of that is AI.

 

[Prophecy2k]

A significant part of my enjoyment from games comes from exploiting AI weaknesses. It allows me to dominate the machine with its perfect reactions and accuracy and greater numbers by actually being smart. Great AI would render those secret missions deep into enemy territory and massive gunfights taking on small armies impossible. AI needs to be appropriate for the game and target, but I'm not seeing much in AI that really bothers me outside of stupid RPG NPCs. Shooters and action gamers with cannon-fodder grunts are fine as they are IMO. They are smart enough to flank and change things up. If the solo games had grunts with the perks and weapons of multiplayers, imagine how truly miserable the experience would be - spawn camped into the start of level 3 by intelligent foes and unable to progress the game.

This is probably the most sensible post i've read on the internet in a very long time.

THANK YOU FOR THIS SHIFTY!!! *bow*

I totally agree. I think AI as is if fine. Sure there are some games that do AI badly, but I enjoy shooting idiot CPU controlled enemies in the face in Max Payne, because it doesn't know what to do when i've wedged him into a corner

For next-gen I would like to an improvement in things like persistency in the game-world. Things games like ES and Skyrim do. And not just in RPG games. Being able to impactfully change the game world in a more permanent way is something that would make a game universaly more enjoyable imho.

I'd also like to see more simulation and experimentation with things like simulated materials in games. Imagine volumetric clouds of gas that can be released, blown, ignited and manipulated in realistic ways; flammable liquids or solids that can flow, be heated/cooled, boil and be combusted; metals that can conduct electricty that can be arranged in ways to route electricty to various areas to serve a gamer's devious devices; plants that can burn and soft body materials with elastic properties that can be exploited too. If a game can be made to create a sandbox with any of these things, gamers would have a field day just making their own fun for hours and hours on end I just imagine the YouTube videos

 

[eloic]

...
I do not want t see any sub-hd rendering what so ever next generation and I expect every decent game to be native 1080p.
...

Well, I might get a shitstorm, here, but 720p WOULD be fine for me if we had 0 aliasing and good postprocessing effects on top of nicely rendered graphics with realistic simulations such as cloth and physics; and I mean realistic physics all the time, so that it would be impossible for a triangle to pass through another triangle, if you know what I mean, animations also being adjusted according those realistic physics (that is, no more fists going through an object when you punch, and so on).

On shaders and realistic lighting, we're almost there, IMHO, if we must be fair on our opinions.

AI must be improved, too.

All those aspects are of a technical nature. I think next gen consoles "can't improve" a storyline, because that's not a technological issue, rather than an abstract product created and offered by the developers.

:smile:

 

[LXFBN]

I can guarantee everyone here that for the most part AI and physics will not improve next-gen. Devs will use the increased power from Durango and Orbis solely for improvements in graphics. I can almost swear that before this gen started people were saying the same things about the 360 and PS3.