Inspiring animation and wonderful CG

Great use of HDRI technology.
http://www.1st-ave-machine.com/
Go to check the first animatino under their project page.

How emergent do we need in game? Thoughts from Second Life

Second Life is one of the most open ended games I have ever seen. Unlike games, it does not contain any fundamental and universal game mechanics. There is no clear goal in Second Life either. From some aspect, Second Life is a sand box, or an empty island where people meet and try to figure out some thing to do. Of course the first reaction most people want to do is game.

Emergent is a word used to describe a phenomenon that simple rules creates complex and unpredictable result. It is one of those words everybody is after in the game design world. However emergent is not the elixir for video game when player is not sure what to do.

Like There.com is a virtual cocktail party, Second Life is not a game either. To me, it is an online authorization environment where users use Second Life to create their own properties and trade to each other.

In video game, emergent is very precious due to all the established rules and constrains for the world. So when people still can do lots of things out of their expectation, they will feel like they just found a treasure and fun. However, in Second Life most of the emergent events are there because there was nothing there. As a player I don’t appreciate the total open world, it is not the kind of emergent I want. I felt lost, both the sense of control and the sense of value. Although as a human I can adapt, but I would rather play something else, that is simpler to adapt.

Is Second Life emergent? Yes, you can never predict what people will make in that world. Is it fun? Not being a part of the creator in that world, I’ll say “No~~”. I would rather go to play tennis than standing on the field waiting people to come up some thing similar to ping pong……