How is this even possible?

[Joecoolyo]

The scale is distorted, it's actually almost realistic scale. When he appears fly close to the ground he's really flying at about the level of a small skyscraper. This is because details and scenery haven't been put in yet and the spaceship is traveling very fast. Just look at the shadow.

...yeah? I was more stunned by how pretty it looked when he entered the atmosphere than anything else. I can't wait until clouds, and other such things (like trees and ground stuff) are added to make it even more beautiful.

 

[Murky]

If they are generating this stuff procedurally for a lot of people they better do it on client rather than the server.

 

[Mouthwash]

If they are generating this stuff procedurally for a lot of people they better do it on client rather than the server.

... I don't know the difference between the two.

 

[CommonKnowledge]

The music would have been nice if it weren't for the obnoxiously loud glockenspiel or whatever it was making that binging sound which drowned out the violins. It reminded me of the opening bit of that 28 days later piece looped for eternity.

 

[Mouthwash]

The music would have been nice if it weren't for the obnoxiously loud glockenspiel or whatever it was making that binging sound which drowned out the violins. It reminded me of the opening bit of that 28 days later piece looped for eternity.

I found it quite relaxing. It doesn't get good until the ship goes down to the planet, then the binging sound kind of blends into the music and creates a near-perfect harmony.

Btw, I've been reading their forums and it seems that they're going to release a prototype of the planetary engine in a few months. So we'll be able to go to planets and stuff but we won't be able to explore an entire galaxy.

 

[woody60707]

They were having a discussion on the forums about what would happen if missiles or lasers that were used in battle went careening off into space were to keep going along their trajectory. Obviously it would be immensely taxing on the server and there might be freak accidents where a player flying through deep space gets struck by a laser bolt that had been traveling for years after some forgotten battle.

I mean, the sheer data storage that alone would require...

That's just ... silly. Do you have any idea how much stuff is "flying" around in space. It's not even possible for matter to live that long for odd like that to be possible.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

No it isn't.

I don't see how this in any way implies that appreciation of music, and thus variations on the idea of "best", don't correctly change according to the listener.

Anyway, just had to point that out.....back to the gaming.

 

[Leoreth]

No it isn't.

That's like saying there's a science called statics that teaches you how to construct a building so it doesn't fall down, and therefore the beauty of buildings is an objective quality.

Music theory is just that, the science of putting music together. I could use it to create music I detest.

It's a fractal. Zoom in, and you get more detail. Return to the same spot, you get the same detail.

It's not really self-similar though.

... I don't know the difference between the two.

Client: the computer the game runs on (i.e. your computer, if you're playing the game).
Server: the computers used by the developers to store game data (most of it at least, usually) and organize the communication between the various players so you can see and interact with them.

I guess there are some MMOs that are peer-to-peer and don't use servers, but that's the usual setup.

 

[Mise]

This is cool, but I really don't want a procedurally generated simulation of the universe. I just want, like, 30-50 really cool and beautiful locations. This is far too big, surely this will be overwhelming and unplayable. There aren't enough people on the planet to make this game playable.

 

[kochman]

No it isn't.

Ah, but, Mouthwash, there is "no accounting for taste".

 

[Mouthwash]

This is cool, but I really don't want a procedurally generated simulation of the universe. I just want, like, 30-50 really cool and beautiful locations. This is far too big, surely this will be overwhelming and unplayable. There aren't enough people on the planet to make this game playable.

No, there will always be a frontier in this game unless everyone on Earth signs up. The will be populated areas (like the core) where most people will go. It certainly won't be "unplayable."

 

[Mouthwash]

That's like saying there's a science called statics that teaches you how to construct a building so it doesn't fall down, and therefore the beauty of buildings is an objective quality.

Music theory is just that, the science of putting music together. I could use it to create music I detest.

So what you're saying is that Beethoven isn't any better than Justin Bieber?

 

[Borachio]

Better for whom? In what sense better?

More sophisticated? Sure Beethoven, then. For some particular value of sophisticated.

More accessible to the typical young person? Bieber, then. For some particular value of accesible.

 

[warpus]

I don't have time to go through their design notes ATM, but I subscribe to this subreddit

which is basically a collection of articles and interesting tidbits related to projects such as the one we are discussing here. Very interesting stuff

There's even a civfanatics link on the front page

 

[Farm Boy]

But, how IS this possible? How can a game achieve such huge proportions? Why hasn't this been done before?

This kind of has been done before already. The trick is simple and ultimately repetitive algorithms generated on demand, as others have said. If you look at Skyrim, it's got what, about 11 to 18 square miles of individually plotted and placed items? Amazing. Look at one of it's earliest predecessors though, Daggerfall. Daggerfall largely used algorithms for placement of objects and that game world, if you chose to randomly run around it without point, was about the size of England/Scotland/Wales put together.

 

[Tahuti]

Look at one of it's earliest predecessors though, Daggerfall. Daggerfall largely used algorithms for placement of objects and that game world, if you chose to randomly run around it without point, was about the size of England/Scotland/Wales put together.

Daggerfall was also one of the most bug-infested games to be ever commercially released.

Bottomline: It is possible, but also extremely difficult to implement. Generating a large world is one thing, but displaying it is another.

 

[Farm Boy]

Daggerfall was also one of the most bug-infested games to be ever commercially released.

Agreed, it was way ahead of it's time and it wasn't really ready. It did work though, if you had the patience to play it. I guess sort of like anything ever on Games for Windows Live, which amazingly enough, isn't dead yet.

Bottomline: It is possible, but also extremely difficult to implement. Generating a large world is one thing, but displaying it is another

Heheh, yea. Look at Dwarf Fortress.

 

[Mouthwash]

I don't have time to go through their design notes ATM, but I subscribe to this subreddit

which is basically a collection of articles and interesting tidbits related to projects such as the one we are discussing here. Very interesting stuff

There's even a civfanatics link on the front page

Look at my post again; I gave you the link to the specific notes for galaxy generation.

 

[warpus]

Yeah I know, I just have no time to read that right now

 

[emzie]

Scott Adams (Dilbert creator) once quipped that Star Trek's holodeck would be the last invention mankind would ever create. Seeing where MMOs are headed, I think I believe him.