[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Music Industry teaching the Game Industry (Was: A rant for Vanguard)

[Nick Koranda]

Sean Howard wrote:

<snip>
> I hate forced group and thus will likely never be able to enjoy
> Vanguard on any level, <snip>
>   

This got me to think about the design process of massive online games 
and how it differs from the music industry and bands.

The game design process seeks to find what players want in a game and 
design the game to fit those wants.  The music industry is different 
since bands dont ask what music they should create, they create music 
that they enjoy and hope others enjoy it as well.  The successful bands 
are the ones that have created music that has struck a cord (no pun 
intended) with a large populous.

I think the game design process is so expensive now a days, at least for 
the "AAA" games that you cant mimic the music industries style of 
creation.  I would imagine that the game industry in part would do well 
to find ways to place the creation process in the hands of individuals 
or small groups and let lots of "bands" (dev groups) create their 
"albums" (small MOGs) and let the playing community decide which are big 
hits.

Think of a guitar as a tool to make tones and chords.  It is generic and 
allows users to create vast amounts of different songs (multiple 
chords/tones.)  What if game tools allowed the same?  Instead of having 
an artist draw a tree (one chord), have a function that has the ability 
to draw a million different trees (procedural synthesis = multiple 
chords.)  This example extends to rocks, streams/rivers, mountains, 
etc.  Procedural synthesis is not just bound to natural objects either, 
but could extend into living creatures/beings as well.

Expand those procedural functions one level higher to make entire 
forests, mountain ranges, or a clan of orcs, each different looking but 
still all orcs.  I am glad to see the gaming industry exploring more 
into this as I see it as the future.