[MUD-Dev] 3D graphics (Was: The impact of the web on muds)

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

Jon Leonard wrote:

> I don't see leading-edge graphics as being particularly relevant to MUDs
> though, at least in the next few years.  The dominant limit for graphics
> is modem bandwidth.  In a changing environment, new model data needs to
> be sent, a more severe limitation than graphics speed.

It's also worth noting that Doom's graphics were significantly lower resolution
than the standards of the time. In a world where 640 by 480 by 256 colors was the
norm, they designed a game in 320 by 200, and it was incredibly well received.

You could always just have the user download any new models as soon as he
connects, and send animation sequences in some coded method... for example, you
might have a model of a warrior who swings his sword around. You could time-stamp
the model and the animation sequences, and have the user download them (in the
background, ideally) when first connecting to the game. When the user encounters
the new creature, the model is loaded locally. There could also be a 'generic'
model, say a greyish-white humanoid, which would be used for anything the user
hasn't downloaded. When the user encounters such a creature, the client would
display the generic model while the real model and its animation frames
downloaded. Any errors in description and action (the generic model swings a sword
while the client reports the bear clawing at you) would be temporary, and more
amusing than disturbing.

I like the concept someone pointed out of having a CD that comes with the game,
but I'd suggest that the user be permitted to download instead if he prefers...
although it would take forever and a day. The CD could be used to supplement the
income of the MUD owner, and floppies or ZIP disks could be used to update and
provide additional income. Most of that would just offset the cost of running the
game, but it's better than nothing.

> The alternative is to populate the world with pre-generated types of objects,
> allowing better pictures, but equally allowing a less ambitious client that
> runs on older hardware.  The graphics isn't the limit.

Reminds me of the old Bard's Tale series, which only had a couple dozen images per
game... animated, with about four to eight frames each, with text labels. Rather a
crappy idea. But it worked, and we accepted it, and it was popular.

What I'm getting at here is that you don't need to have the best graphics and the
best sound and the best rendering and the best networking and the best story, if
you want to succeed. If you do 'good enough' on these five areas, and maybe 'damn
good' on one or two, then you've got a winner. Even if one or two of the areas is
inadequate or even completely crappy (what was the storyline to Doom again?), you
can still have a great game on your hands. Yes, it would devastate the competition
if you did everything fantastically, and the world would fall at your feet, but
you have to be realistic.

Another thing to consider, a bit of wisdom from John Carmack of id software: when
designing a game, design for the system that will be the norm at release time, not
the norm now. The industry will advance, and ideally your game will effectively
use the things that people will expect from their hardware *then*. Which means
right now, we need bigger and faster machines than most people have, and we have
to imagine that these willl be the norm later.

I've sort of lost track of what else I was trying to say. I apologise if my post
seems disjointed and ill-considered, but I do this stuff off the top of my head.

--
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