Something needs to come along which allows for speedier development. Not just premade engines. Something more exciting - a different paradigm. Any thoughts? [edited by - bishop_pass on December 31, 2003 11:52:48 AM]

lisp?

Maybe Dark Basic-like software, but faster and more customizeble?

My game: Swift blocks

C#? :-P

but seriously ... though I don''t have any specific ideas, my only thought would be to look to established and slightly related industries to see how they do it. First thing that comes to mind is the movie industry.

They''ve got standard equipment and methodologies that (more or less) abstract the low level aspects of making a movie so they can concentrate on the artistic aspects of the project. For example, they''ve got the camera which abstracts the process of getting their content into viewable/editable format. wait, this is starting to sound like a game engine ... oh well, back to the drawing board.

Joel Martinez
http://www.codecube.net/

Lisp is already here. Lisp is something that developers can already to choose to use, if they feel so inclined. The direction of this thread should be aimed at discussing that which is not here yet - some set of tools or paradigm not yet in existence that should be created for the facilitation of development.

Erasmotron?

ld

Sorry, didn''t notice your last post there.

Did you have anything in particular in mind, bp? I think at this point that it''s more likely that we have to find new ways to incorporate two-sided human intervention into games. Neverwinter Nights is a decent example, every MMORPG has more examples. But then, MMOGs are more useful as social augmentation than as implements of drama. Erasmotron might be the work that deals with that best.

There used to be threads here discussing the idea of a situation-driven vignette story engine. I think that''s a tool worth pursuing, except that the Erasmotron patent probably covers it.

ld

Some kind of genetic like game building blocks maybe? Or, maybe games that evolve... You enter a few values for the type of genre, and whatever other specifics you want... And then you let the computer evolve the game. It would first hatch all the pieces that would be in the game, then it would combine them in wierd - and mostly useless ways-, and in the end the strongest, most streamlined, best game that fits with your selections is created.

I read (popular science?)about inventions that were created by using a technique like this. They were re-inventions of other patented inventions. But they were unique and different enough to warrent their own patents.

If it is a different style of programming you are looking for, just don't program in an object oriented style, and "design as you go". Again, you will lose out on a lot, but save tons of time.

[edited by - PlayGGY on December 31, 2003 12:36:01 PM]

How about metadata is to a database as metagame is to a game. In a database systems class we were taught how to create tables that define the metadata, so that the database is self-describing. Then you can use the same tools that operate on you application''s table to operate on the metadata tables.

So take that analogy to metagame. Is it possible to describe a metagame in terms of a game? Then developing is a matter of "playing" the metagame to build or enhance or change the resulting games, but all using the same set of tools.

Seems to me you could come up with a system that is actually slower than the classic development methods. It would be a challenge to come up with something speedier. On the other hand, a multiplayer metagame might be a great way to facilitate cooperative efforts.