Well, I guess we talk about two diffrent things then. I was relly talking about the established game industry, not the independant movement we''ve seen growing the last few years.

But yes, in that case I agree with you. Independant developers can gain a lot from embracing the open source ideas. And to expect giants like Blizzard to do it is plain ignorant.

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Look at games as Homeworld and Ground Control. The whole RTS genre is moving towards state-of-the-art 3D technology. And for more action-based games; Mechwarrior, anyone? All the Star Wars/Tie Fighter series?

Whoa! Terrible example. Homeworld is not just about pretty graphics. It''s also an innovation in RTS games. They''ve mixed excellent graphics with a good(in my opinion) and innovative gameplay. It''s one of those few exceptions today. Mechwarrior and Tie fighter are about simulation. Have you imagined flight simulator 2000 done in ASCII art? And Mechwarrior, state-of-the-art 3d technology???

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Also, the CRPG genre is using new technology. Everquest is using 3D technology, games such as Revenant and the latest Ultima games are really starting the shift towards more high-tech content in this genre as well.

And the latest Ultima... the last and worst Ultima ever. I''d prefer Ultima VII redone with Ultima VIII''s engine than that crap... ok, it was the most beautiful game I''ve ever seen, but if we talk about gameplay...

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Call me a sad bastard if you want, but I''m in this business to make money. And to do so, I need to create cutting edge technology. And by doing so, I will learn a lot and have great fun. Not the other way around.

SAD BASTARD!!!

quote: Original post by Anonymous Poster

Ultima Ascention is technically very complex. It was also a flop. A very expensive flop.

Technically very complex!? Damn! Have you played that stuff? Did you see the transitions between day and night? Illumination, weather effects... you can even forecast rain looking at the sky... it gets darker, the some drops start to fall, then we have the full rain, sometimes with thunders(well, one of those lightnings almost got my Avatar... he should have been fried but...). The magic weapons are nice. Many monsters are also nice, like the hellhounds... you can see they growling in the distance, with smoke coming out of their mouths... absolutely amazing!
I found the dragons to be cool, but I can''t imagine how could I kill one in the beginning of the game armed with only an ordinary bow...
All in all, the most beautiful game I''ve seen, with horrible playability. And a claustrophobic world. Maybe it would be a reasonable game, if it wasn''t called Ultima...

Gaiomard Dragon
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