If you were a game designer

[Serenity Painted Death]

...

Games these days, on the whole, are VASTLY easier than they used to be. Most games are way too easy.

 

[Danalys]

Well, you haven't explained it, and from what you explain here, it couldn't possibly do what you want it to do. You can't do (accurate) body movement by tracking just 4 positions, no matter how much inverse kinematics you throw into the equation. If it was, the 40 pingpong balls wouldn't have existed in the first place.

40 ping pong balls are for getting those little movements down that sell something as real. also they are capturing far more varied types of motion.

Then this alone disqualifies your proposed input scheme from ever becoming possible, because most human beings can't even balance on their hands, much less spin around on them a full turn (or anything even resembling one) without falling into the nearest coffee table/flower pot/hifi equipment rack.

i never said the player would do that. i said they would direct the character to do that.

I think that in reality you'll find most humans won't be able to kick very high at all...particulary not without hurting themselves. If a computer player had even lesser ability, the game we would be playing would be called Karate Geriatrics or something along those lines.

same as above. did you miss the "this is not motion capture part." now i think i'd be wasting my time to actually explain the control system to you since you seem the kind of person who challenges themself to find faults, rather than solutions.

 

[typoEDR]

DRIV3R actually had a recap feature (both CG and in-game). It was one of the few things I could credit the game for.

 

[typoEDR]

Sorry for the double post, but I believe we will see some innovations in the graphics area (ah, duh!). Stay with me for a second.

Last gen was 'cel-shading', where black outlines would be rendered in conjunction with the 3D model to simulate the look of a cartoon (Jet Set Radio Future). Take it one step further.

'Toon-rendering'. The problem with cel-shaded games is that they look like cartoons in stills, but some weird 3D game with outlines all over the place running at a smooth 30 or 60 frames per second. A lot of this has to do with model animation interpolation. Makes the transition between frames very very smooth. What if we were to remove this?

The movement of cartoons often use anticipation and reactions to successfully demonstrate action with less frames drawn per second. For example, a character falling down on his or her ass might take five to six animated frames. It's not necessarily smooth, but the animator's techniques allow for us viewers to understand and accept those 'choppy' frames as one complete action. It's what makes cartoons funny and imaginative, the absurdity of it all.

Could this not be applied in a realtime 3D environment with the power of the next gen? Not the lack of model interpolation, but using the power to really push the quality of the graphics. Completely AA'd with a simple three-tone lighting/shading model (most cartoons, save for a few animes, use this shading model).

The real challenge with such a project would lay heavily upon the 3D animators. They would have to apply the concepts of tradition cel animation (they already do, but they'll have to do it without the knowledge of smooth animation transitions). Another challenge would be in the 'layers' (foreground and background) and how to make their movements look natural. I could imagine a next-generation Sly Cooper game using this sort of 'cartoon' technique. Or an anime action game. Or anything.

 

[Danalys]

alot of animation uses a technique where a character is distorted so it is representing a spread of positions in a time frame. they do that rather than motion blur and it gives extra fluidity. so it could be intresting to capture that. have a character actually distort in it's animation strings.

 

[Jabjabs]

In Shenmue, you could sort of recap using the diary, and in Sonic Adventure series they provide a little plot run down before you start.

My idea for a game isn't new, it's just panzer dragon orta on Revolution! That would rock!

 

[Mendel]

Well, when I was still a kid playing my nes I had a vision about a perfect game, where you could do anything... everything. You could travel in the city, drive a car, drive it for hours until you reach foreign land or whatever, or simply drive to airport, take a plane and fly... Or you could go to an army headquarters in the capitol of whatever country you were in and start a war. You would have to succeed in revolution first though... Mind you, every aspect of the game would be like you were playing the best game of that particular genre. Greatest car game, the best flight simulator, tamagotchi and a fishing game all in one...

Right now, the best way to implement this would probably be some sort of extension on the xbox 360 gamer card. Whenever you started your xbox, you would immediately go to this lobby game, where you have your avatar wandering in the world... you go to the ice hall and you can start a game of hockey, or you joined a gang which would start your gta. Your friends would be there too online, chatting would be straightforward. When you invite your friend to a game, you'd just walk with him to the race track!

edit: optimally , you'd have the games installed to your hard drive...