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Can one day a program make an entire game from a design document?

Started by December 08, 2002 12:43 PM
23 comments, last by Warsong 22 years, 1 month ago
Um... I don''t think that programmers would be out of a job. I just think that if the industry did that, people would just be buying cliches of other games -- like people do with movies now except they put more work into it. If you used a program like that, all your games would be substandard -- especialy if you just used the graphics from the program itself. Now, if you could interface an easy AI library with a 3d modeling program, and graphics program like Photoshop 7 you might be getting closer to that goal.
Now I shall systematicly disimboule you with a .... Click here for Project Anime
Maybe instead of the program actually making the entire game, it would just set up an engine for your game (in different programming languages), based on the specifics you input. There might be something already made that does this, but I''m not sure.
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The process of making a game involves constructing a very indepth document for the computer to use as instructions to create the game. This document includes all of the sourcecode files, which are written in procedural directives, all of the graphics and music and sounds needed, and the MAKE files needed to bind them all together. By semantics, the process itself is the machine that converts one document to another, collecting insight and originality from the people involved, so, yes, such a machine exists and is used a lot today.

Now, if your asking if a machine will exist that will do this all for you, no. This thing here, ( Idea -> [Machine] -> Game ), nope. But all hope is not lost, there are things called GCSes like Verge and Megazeux that provided maybe a 1/4th of the "Machine" you''re looking for.
william bubel
I don''t know, making programs from a design document can''t be too hard. All you would have to do is make a program that parses the doc and creates equvalent c/c++ code as it goes.
There is a fine line between the precision of a design doc and the precision needed for a computer to make a game.

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quote: Original post by elendil67
There is a fine line between the precision of a design doc and the precision needed for a computer to make a game.


So it’s close but not perfected yet in the design doc, and for the program to be more user friendly.

Well if anyone was to think about making it, then it should be made to do something simple like pong or Pacman then add on and evolve. If you can thick of a basic way to say how to play pong in terms for non programmers to understand and for the computer to understand then we are on the right step.

So can anyone explain pong that both a non programmer and a computer can understand? I guess explain it as if you were talking to a 5 year old.
***Power without perception is useless, which you have the power but can you perceive?"All behavior consists of opposites. Learn to see backward, inside out and upside down."-Lao Tzu,Tao Te Ching Fem Nuts Doom OCR TS Pix mc NRO . .
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If there were a program like that, where would the fun be in programming!!!????????
David Smithwww.geocities.com/gamespp5004-"If you can't dream it; it can't be done"-David Smith
quote: Original post by Warsong
Well if anyone was to think about making it, then it should be made to do something simple like pong or Pacman then add on and evolve. If you can thick of a basic way to say how to play pong in terms for non programmers to understand and for the computer to understand then we are on the right step.

So can anyone explain pong that both a non programmer and a computer can understand? I guess explain it as if you were talking to a 5 year old.
For this to happen, you''d need a scripting language similar to the structure of English. The computer would also need to be running a very smart script interpreter that could parse English sentences.

In computer languages, the tradeoff between simplicity is power. If you want your language to be very simple, you need to limit the things that your language can do. The way you''d offset that lack of power is to make the computer/interpreter assume things. For example, if you create a script interpreter that only assumes it''s making simple 2D games, then your scripting language can be simpler than if your interpreter assumes it''s making "programs" in general.

I get a feeling that you''re not a programmer. I think if you took the time to learn what programming is essentially about, you could answer all these questions yourself.
Use to be a programmer and knew a few languages and was into it for a few years then I just stopped. I am so tired of tedious coding. The boredom is harder than the coding.

I don''t mean that you set yourself to write sentences for something like that but. The programmer’s flexibility to think abstract is limited and someone totally abstract is in dream land. I am just trying to get things in the middle.
***Power without perception is useless, which you have the power but can you perceive?"All behavior consists of opposites. Learn to see backward, inside out and upside down."-Lao Tzu,Tao Te Ching Fem Nuts Doom OCR TS Pix mc NRO . .
A design doc to video game converter!?

There are some software packages like games factory that do this already....but the games they can make are pretty primitive as you may know...which is EXACTLY why such a machine will not exist at least not for another 30 years.

If you want to make Space Invaders...something like games factory may work well for you...but you prolly want to make something much more current...something like GTA3 or Everquest purhapse?

In another 30 years some software may allow you to develop such a game...but to 2002 video game standards...by 2033 games like GTA3 and Everquest will look as primitive as Space Invaders does today...not just graphicly..but in terms of raw gameplay...and in all likely hood, by 2033 you will want to make a much more current game.

Another thing...no matter how well you think your design document describes your game...something will always arise where you didn''t go into enough detail, went into to much, and/or completely overlooked something or other...this happens ALL the time in the industry...programmers are always asking what this or that meens, why one description is very clear but another confuseing...computers don''t make mistakes...they can only work as well as they are programed to...but given ANY oppertunity a human will mess up...this goes for current developers who are always fighting off software bugs...this goes for the programers who will develop your "super game makeing machine"...and this goes for you, and how well you write out your design document to feed into the machine...this isn''t a attack against you personnaly...but a mark of being a human being...The moment you start to think "hey, I don''t make mistakes" is the moment you prove yourself wrong

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