Experiences, activities, books, individuals, life in general... They can all be mind expanding. I believe this relates to game design because it enables you to approach the problem from many different directions armed with unique ideas. In addition, experience gives you the ability to problem solve more effectively. I argue that the more you know from seemingly disjoint fields, the more you can apply and the better you can learn even more. I don''t want this to turn into a discussion where posts are merely lists. I would rather see one seperate idea per post. I''ll start with one: Vernor Vinge''s sci-fi epic book ''A Fire upon the Deep''. This book is pure mind expanding adventure. It explores the concept of an AI that is so unbelievably powerful as the story takes you on a nonstop journey into the deepest and most remote parts of the galaxy.

I read somewhere that game designers are the equivalent of Renaissance artists and inventors. They have to know a bt of everything in order to create good games.

some months ago, I remember asking if it wouldn''t be nice to have a "miscellaneous resources" thing with links to texts, graphics, whatever... not necessarily related to programming or computers. Something to expand your ideas, just like you are describing here. Not even just sci-fi or fantasy. It seems the only form of litterature nerds know is scifi or fantasy (no offense intended, not just yet). It''s kinda limitating. You don''t bring novelty in an environment by staying in it...

So I would love to help on this. One example :

Yesterday I opened an Atlas to show my sister where we are living. Then I started browsing through it, aimlessly (I have this thing for maps...) when I arrived in a section about various related material. There I was with figures for geopolitical data. World population, level of healthcare, Languages, religions. Then came the physical maps : climates, water level, repartition of vegetation ...
And lastly there was this wonderful part on tectonic, how volcanoes appear on the raising lines, and how the Earth itself is torn apart along other lines. How mountains emerge, how continents could disappear...
Then there was around fifty pages of names of town, all around the world. Thousands of them.

Of course, for you it could be just another boring book on Geography. But for me, it''s a manual to world creation. From the very fabric of a planet, to a name generator. Now of course, you need a bit of imagination... but hey, not everybody can be creative.

youpla :-P

quote: Original post by ahw

It seems the only form of litterature nerds know is scifi or fantasy (no offense intended, not just yet). It''s kinda limitating. You don''t bring novelty in an environment by staying in it...

ahw,
I agree wholeheartedly with you. I have been personally ranting about reading fiction from many different genres. In fact, out of the last 100 or so fictional books I have read, I would guess maybe only one or two have been sci-fi or fantasy. I intend to follow up on this with numerous recommendations.

As for the map reading, I have done the very same thing. That''s another subject that I want to touch on in depth.

quote: Original post by bishop_pass
I argue that the more you know from seemingly disjoint fields, the more you can apply and the better you can learn even more.

Its not really an argument if most people would agree with it.

At least thats what my english professor tells me

Experience and seeing "whats out there" are definately immensely beneficial for game developers, and for people in general. I''d rather talk to people who know more than just their field of expertise rather than someone who knows nothing more than what goes on in her/his cubicle.

The only problem is that if you get too busy trying everything, then you''ll never get good at anything...

Nothing is difficult, only the mind makes it so.

Individuals inspire me. Some I am good friends with, others I was only able to spend a few hours with, and yet others I will never know.

Meeting people, networking with people, and learning from people are all great ways to broaden your horizons. And guess what? The more diverse you are in your interests and experiences, the better you will be able to strike up conversations with others. And this leads to freindships with people which can furhter enhance your life.

quote: Original post by CrankDude

The only problem is that if you get too busy trying everything, then you''ll never get good at anything...

A good friend of mine, whom I met a few years ago is good at a lot of stuff. He designs and builds world-class catamarans for sailing around the world, is a certified scuba instructor and ski instructor, knows how to machine and prototype products, can rebuild your engine, wire your house, work with wood...

In addition, he has sailed all over the world. He designed and built a catamaran and was a member of the crew when it set the world speed sailing record for North America to Hawaii. He has a pilot''s license, including multi-engine and IFR. And he actively climbs big walls (multi day ascents) in Yosemite.

I have three points to make from this: First, he is good at many things, and knowledge from one field often generalizes to another. Secondly, as a friend of mine, I can say that knowing him has expanded my knowledge and opportunity. And thirdly, the only reason I am good friends with him is because we hit it off so well because of my interests and experiences in a number of diverse areas.

I have long been interested in court intrigue, and the kind of nasty, back stabbing politics and chess playing you get in a kingdom like that of 16th century England. So I find it very mind expanding to read or watch vignettes and period pieces on the subject. In fact, I watched a movie titled Elizabeth (about the Virgin Queen) the other night. It was awesome, and even inspired me to the online Encyclopedia Britannica. From there, hours just slipped away.

I think you have to be the type of person to ask ''why?'' alot. You can''t just be happy accepting things as they are. Exploring ''what ifs'' have to be fun. If you don''t have that attitude, then you''ll need to rely on the explorations of others.



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Just waiting for the mothership...

quote: Original post by ahw

I read somewhere that game designers are the equivalent of Renaissance artists and inventors. They have to know a bt of everything in order to create good games.

That''s what Sid Meier says. The good ones, anyway.

quote:
(I have this thing for maps...) when I arrived in a section about various related material. There I was with figures for geopolitical data. World population, level of healthcare, Languages, religions. Then came the physical maps : climates, water level, repartition of vegetation ...
And lastly there was this wonderful part on tectonic, how volcanoes appear on the raising lines, and how the Earth itself is torn apart along other lines. How mountains emerge, how continents could disappear...
Then there was around fifty pages of names of town, all around the world. Thousands of them.

Dude! I am to same way!!! The worst thing for me to do, for the sake of time, productivity, and friends who are with me, is to walk into a huge bookstore. Aarrrrrghhh!!! Eeeeeeeeen-put!!!!! (as #5 from Short Circuit would say)

(Funny enough, the first QA job I had was testing atlas software. Everybody in QA hated the project, but I was in heaven!!! )

quote:
Of course, for you it could be just another boring book on Geography. But for me, it''s a manual to world creation. From the very fabric of a planet, to a name generator.

Yes!!!! THIS is one of my best sources of inspiration! I love knowledge, but I love game design even more. The two feed each other! When I read a book on history, or psychology, or sociology it''s all inspiration material!!!



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Just waiting for the mothership...

quote: Original post by ahw

(I have this thing for maps...)

Because I have this passion for exploring, photographing, and mountaineering in the High Sierra, I have accumulated this kind of large collection of 7.5 minute USGS topography maps most of which depict areas between 10,000 and 14,000 feet. Like most avid adventurers of this area, I will pull out these maps frequently and look for new high passes or new amphitheatres of granite, and attempt to discover a new route that could take me from one basin to another.

As a result of my map reading and exploration, I have come to appreciate mountain forms and features like aretes, couloirs, high alpine basins and lakes, glaciers, etc.

I was looking at fractal landscapes, and realized they just don''t have the same look and feel of the real thing, so this got me to researching geomorphology and hydrology, erosional processes, and tectonic uplift. I got inspired!

And so I implemented an algorithm to ''erode'' a fractal landscape. Right now the code is in a state of transition and a bit unwieldy, but here is a terrain generated by it. Some of you may have seen it before.

hehehe, I live in the Alps, and even though I am studying in Ireland, I must say I miss my mountains big time. There is just nothing like it. There is this little plateau next to where I live ... it''s the most inspirational place I know of. I can jsut stand there, watching the horizon, and the endless gaps in the white stone, formed by the erosion. When you see mountains, you know all the generators in the world jsut can''t do it properly right now. I mean, look at the way Earth can take the skin of the land, and twist it in shapes that no generator could do... it''s especially obvious in young mountains like the Alps. I think the rocky mountains (what a name :/) are very young as well. And what about the chinese landscapes, the little archipels, and all those rocks standing on water, aaaah, the delight of it all

But to come back to *books*
Wavinator : (yeah, I knew you''d like the part on the world generation )
I am surprised you don''t know about The Prince, a book written by Machiavelli. THE reference when it comes to political intrigue
You could also read or look at the movies based on anything by Tom Clancy. I must admit I didn''t read the books yet, but the movies are jsut incredible. If I am correct, there is the Jack Ryan series : Red October, War games, and the last one I never remember the title (Immediate decision, naaaah ...); I also believe the Pelican Case and The Firm are both from him.
And of course, if you want political intrigue, what is bette than take a good history book, and look at all the shit going on in our backs ? Look at documentaries. sometimes you discover fascinating stuff that you''ll never find elsewhere ... or if you do, I''d love to know how ? One instance I particularly liked, after the Gulfe Strike shit (with the NATO doing what the Nazis did to Spain in 36), was the story of this french weapons dealer (an official guy, not a smuggler). He explained by the details how he sold *french* air fighters to the Irakis, and how this affected the "score" during the war, showing the irakis loss before and after the sales... hilarious, depending on how you look at it.
I also liked a serie of french book by Dan and Vautrin called Borowitz, journaliste Reporter. I haven''t a clue if this was translated. But it would be worth it. BAsically, this guy Borowitz, is a reporter, and carried by his fate, he ends up in weird places, with soon to be famous people. The action takes place around 36, with all the events in Europe. Very interesting.

more later ?

Bishop:

I didn''t mean that one could not become good at many things, just that it is time-consuming and that you can''t skim-research a topic to know it. It takes time to become good at one thing, you can''t expect to be good at everything in a short while. If all you do is quickly try one thing, then try another thing, then another, and not spend much time in any one place and so on you''ll never really get good at any of these things.

I think that terrain is pretty cool, looks almost real
How about considering the fact that seperated land masses that sit by each other have "interlocking" features? Like when the earth''s plate moved and such and the continents divided, and the land ripped apart, you can still see how many pieces fit together. I had an idea about generating land by considering how the continents divide, which would form oceans and such, also considering erosion and other factors. Just let the program start with a big blob of land and let it calculate what it would be in x thousands of years.



Nothing is difficult, only the mind makes it so.