The Complete History of Open-world Games #2

[GameBanshee News]

Part two of the two-fer on open-world gaming is up from PCZone, looking at GTA before drawing general conclusions.

"The industry is talent-starved - we really need great coders and multi-dimensional people, as in order to have great AI, you need a person who can create systems that simulate life.

"That person needs to be someone introspective, philosophical, and a viewer of people - working out how to fake salient features in people."

Bethesda's Howard agrees: "I think it's become common for developers to
be able to put lush scenery together, but creating other characters that can react to what you do in a believable and compelling way, is still very difficult. We have a long way to go."

Then of course, there are the MMOs - millions of individuals creating their own unique personalities, guilds and live events in huge, persistent game worlds. There are role-playing games including EverQuest II and the mighty World of Warcraft; community-driven racing games such as rFactor; MMO shooters including Tabula Rasa and the forthcoming Huxley; and the next generation of online urban adventures with APB, from Realtime Worlds, a company set up by Dave Jones, creative director of the original Grand Theft Auto.

Linear games are so last century - the future, it appears, is wide open. "We have the opportunity to show variety of choice, to let the player play the game he or she wants to play, and experience what they want to experience," says del Castillo. "The future of videogames isn't in storytelling, but in story-playing."

Yes, gone with linear and thus...wait what, the two options are linear storytelling or the kind of open-world experience GTA/TES offer? Huh. Go figure.

[DesR85]

Linear games are so last century - the future, it appears, is wide open. "We have the opportunity to show variety of choice, to let the player play the game he or she wants to play, and experience what they want to experience," says del Castillo.

Being open-world is the ultimate answer to everything, isn't it?