Monday, July 04, 2011
Have you ever watched a science fiction show where the spacecraft goes from its normal speed into hyper-drive or on Star Trek when the Enterprise went to Warp Factor 10? Indeed, it shows stars and planets which become almost like a blur as the spaceship moves forward, leaving space time at a standstill. In many regards this is simulating inertia and a massive unadulterated acceleration sensation using motion video to get the proper visuals.
Indeed, these concepts are used often in gaming, and if you've ever played a game where you are driving a racecar, the video makes the track which is near you in fine detail, and the faster you go the side areas are blurry. But, most of these simulations are not all that good, and when you play these games you don't really get this sensation of speed that you get when you're actually driving in a real car, racing a motorcycle, or flying an aircraft. But there's no reason we can't do better than this, there is no reason we can't get that sensation to appear to be so real that you can't tell the difference.
Now I suppose those that have not had the experience of moving fast, or accelerating at a very fast pace, may not know the difference, and they may even say I don't know what I'm talking about, some of the games are very real. Yes, some are, but I would still submit to you that they are not good enough yet, and we can do a lot better. Even the aviation simulators which train airline pilots and such do not really do a good job of simulating inertia, massive acceleration, or up close and personal speed.
One way to simulate inertia or acceleration might be to use a gaming chair which is slightly tilted to make the player feel as if they are being pushed back into their seat, just as they would with accelerating in a car. Some aviation simulators use a similar tactic. If we want our games to appear to be real, and get the gamer to suspend their belief system, and allow their mind to actually enter the game, then we need to do more with the visual effects, and also this sensation of the body as the player is playing the game.
Not long ago, I was having such a conversation at our think tank with someone who is an expert gamer, indeed she agreed with me, and we've come up with a few ideas. However, if you think you have solutions to this problem, I'd ask you to please consider all this and think on it. And then, shoot me an e-mail at your own personal convenience.
Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 23,100 articles was a lot of work - because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off..
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