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Original post by Oluseyi Quote: Original post by Jiia It's entirely possible to create a world (or universe) that grows indefinitely. Yes. It's usually empty.

Why? You're generating the data, so you might as well generate a lot of it. Look at games like GTA. Those cities could very easily be created on the fly, as well as the people (err, they actually are, somewhat). Even weapons and cars could sparingly be randomly modified or painted. Missions too.

It would take a lot of skill to keep it interesting. You would want to keep the player thinking he's in a real new city, and not having it generated as he drives to new locations. I guess the idea wouldn't go far on console systems, though.

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Original post by sunandshadow I was trying to make the point that a small, circumscribed setting is BETTER than an infitinte or sprawling setting because it's more structurally sound and encourages deeper worldbuilding, more sustained character development, and interactivity between game objects.

But is better really a word that applies? I don't think you're filled with the level of wanderlust that I am. When I play a game that allows me to roam far and wide what seduces me into continuing the experience is anticipation and my own imagination. In the old Elite games, which were I think randomly generated, I could set down on dozens of worlds and look at the sky change. It didn't matter that there was next to nothing there, it was satisfaction of wish fulfillment-- an experience I can never have in my life. Same for wandering the lands of Morrowind.

Now your ideal wish fulfillment may be a world of great depth. But what is this depth? When you're exploring characters, history, environments and personalities, aren't you exploring a complex, textured kind of inner space? Maybe we're doing pretty much the same thing? Because both experiences would be interacting with an idealized model of complex material that we're familiar with. When I see geography and stars that reflects what I've read about, it satisfies my desire for exploration. Because I know the galaxy is immense, it doesn't bother me that I might be seeing lots of the same thing.

Something similar might be true for you when you interact with a small, complex but constrained environment. You explore inward, we world wanderers explore outward.

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Original post by Oluseyi Quote: Original post by Jiia It's entirely possible to create a world (or universe) that grows indefinitely. Yes. It's usually empty.

I dunno. Spore makes me more and more aware (and damnably envious) that procedural generation is growing up. Might be 6.0Ghz processor material before it matures, but what they're doing with that game is just amazing.

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It is fun? Will I still be able to finish the game in less than 10 hours over the course of a week? While my kids jump all over me? Without alienating my gorgeous wife? Yeah, I'm an interstitial gamer [free registration required, iirc], and all of you designers better get with the program! [smile]

Man, as if we don't have enough to worry about! Just marry a gamer for Christmas sake! [lol] (Yes, you could end up like the 50+ year old MMO guru who powermaxes ritually with his wife and practically owns his server... [grin])

Well, I'll see you at GDC... and my gorgeous fiancée just might come with me. Then you can tell her that there's a good reason why you're designing games that should take me away from her for forty hours plus. [smile]