Nightly Open Thread
I missed last night’s open thread, obviously, and so I wanted to offer up tonight’s thread to sing the praises of Terry Garrett, a mechanical engineering student in Colorado who doesn’t let a trivial little nuisance like blindness get in the way of his passion for gaming.
But then the great state of Louisiana had to go and do something dunderheaded.
This post brought to you by the original trolls:
Get off the stage, ya bum!
I dunno. I like Wikipedia. It tends to be very accurate and has all the answers I’m looking for.
But I’m a teacher, and have to tell students not to use it. Stupid school system :p
I’m still a bit skeptical of it, though it’s not bad for general information hunting. I have been burned by a bad edit before, though.
And I’m pretty sure it’s articles aren’t…er…monument-quality. Plus…a printout? Really?
Haha, wow, that’s ridiculous and a new low for monuments as far as I know. Next up: Sloppy handwritten factoids on wide rule loose leaf paper stapled to an old shipping carton.
What I tell students to do is go to Wikipedia, then look up the sources used on the page. That way they still get the in-depth info, but from slightly more reliable sources.
That is a good practice, to be sure, Thepal. It’s what I typically do now.
I’ll just this: if you think Wikipedia is sloppy, you don’t know Wikipedia.fr UGH.
First of all, Terry Garrett is a badass. That is just awesome. As crazy as this sounds I’m going to take some inspiration from him and -attempt- to design my project to allow a blind person to play. And I am not joking, so please don’t take offense. I suppose it’s all about the sound effects, accurate stereo positioning, volume, damping treble for more distant objects, and tons of subtlety in how game objects announce their properties through audible cues.
In defense of Wikipedia, which is probably my favorite web site (after Aiera, I mean), I agree with THEPAL. I don’t think in human history anything’s come as close as being literally the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom that even the poor and remotely-located can access with an Internet connection.
People like to make fun of it because it’s community driven and any fool can edit its articles. I’d say the same fears should be applied to ALL “wisdom” whether it’s allegedly from the mouth of God, Encyclopedia Britannica, or the trash magazine at the checkout counter.
Just think of all the stupid crap people have believed over the centuries, most of it treated and taught as fact by the enlightened authorities of the time. I don’t think Wikipedia is any worse off than any other “reputable” source.
Off topic (not that there is one), but that Ultima IV flash port WtF mentioned earlier is superb:
http://www.phipsisoftware.com/ultima4/Ultima4.html
As regards Wikipedia, I’m not above using it for quick-reference stuff, and I’m certainly all in favour of an all-accessible font of information….but I suppose I’m just skeptical of it, because as yet I don’t think it has enough editorial oversight. While you won’t catch me saying this about markets and governments, I’ll argue to death that repositories of knowledge should be subject to oversight by a centralized, corrective and self-correcting authority. (Indeed…it’s this very belief that has kept me Catholic more times than I care to remember.)
Because the very real risk of letting every damn fool have his say is that a lot of foolish stuff gets said. That’s all well and good in the short term, but it’s best to have a dedicated group of non-fools in place to make sure that in the end, it’s the truth that shines through.
I’ve long had a design for an FPS for the blind. Yes, I’m being serious. I never did get around to going any further than the initial design, though. One of these days maybe.
That would be interesting. Maybe each enemy could emit a tone of a specific frequency range, with a separate range for each enemy. The exact frequency within each range would be tied to the proximity of the crosshair to the enemy’s head. The amplitude of each frequency would be tied to the distance of the enemy from the player. You could then identify the loudest frequency (closest enemy), then adjust your sights until it matches the “kill frequency” for that range, pulling off a head shot.
Getting fragged with a well-placed headshot from a blind guy in an ego shooter would be beautiful. Level layouts would be difficult to get across without some advanced sound processing and a lot of sound effects related to walking and brushing against walls and objects, however. An Ultima-style game seems like it’d be a little easier.
Another Ultima VI remake?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtEUg-1xO0g&hd=1
Gorn: Thanks for the link…that merits investigation.
Jesus, that looks amazing. That guy/gal has some serious skill. Good find there.
Not that I really believe in mystical type stuff, but after watching those videos I got this strange feeling, almost like there’s a little too much serious effort being put into Ultima projects and something big is about to happen. I know that sounds odd at the very least, but does anyone know of any other game that gets this kind of tech treatment from the random masses? Maybe I’m just paranoid, or maybe it’s intuition, but all this attention makes me think someone (Mythic, I suppose) is going to take notice and pull the trigger on a new Ultima project.
WtF: Because the very real risk of letting every damn fool have his say is that a lot of foolish stuff gets said. That’s all well and good in the short term, but it’s best to have a dedicated group of non-fools in place to make sure that in the end, it’s the truth that shines through.
@WtF: I guess that begs the question of who, exactly, are the non-fools? Cast your gaze across the arch of this planet and name them. The problem is that ultimately we’re all fools with a bit of wisdom thrown in here and there. Our only hope is centralizing those collective bits of wisdom in a system that allows us to remove any foolish bits while defending those that are not.
Wikipedia is a bit like democracy; full of shit and noise, but better than the alternatives. Everyone wishes for the benevolent dictator, the just king. Sometimes you get him, but there’s often a high price to pay for placing your faith in those who “know better”.
Also while not religious in the conventional sense, I DO NOT argue religion as that is a matter of faith as far as believers go. No point in arguing with faith; that’s the sign of an idiot, haha. My parents are religious so I learned that (the hard way) a long time ago. All respect for religious beliefs as long as they’re tempered by mutual respect.
In light of — and in agreement with — your last paragraph, Kevin, I’ll refrain from answering the question posed in the second.
Not that I lack for an answer. But it would probably start a debate, and I think we both have better things to pursue tonight than an argument unlikely to sway either of our opinions one iota. Specifically, you have a really cool game engine to continue developing, and I have a video to finish rendering before…er…tomorrow. Heh. And news to post.
And I do quite agree about your little…inkling regarding Ultima. I’ve been under that same suspicion for a few months now.
I don’t mean that people having faith is a sign that they’re idiots, just to clarify. I mean that someone who argues against someone’s faith is showing signs of idiocy. Had to clear that up, speaking of powder kegs and chain reactions (Ultima VI YouTube videos).
That’s how I opted to interpret the statement, and I hope others did as well. So…no worries.
I’d even go a step further and remark that arguing against someone on the Internet in general could be indicative of idiocy on the part of the person who is doing — or at least who started — the arguing. Because in my experience, hardly anybody ever changes their mind on the Internet. And for those that do, the reward of seeing them do so is usually rendered…less sweet by the egregious effort required.
Agreed. I think that’s the one thing Aiera needs not have, is some crazy flame war about religion. I’ll stick with the virtues, a generally agreed-upon philosophy around here. 😉
To be fair, long-time readers of Aiera will remember that I typically deliver Christmas and Easter tidings and wellwishings, and my religious inclinations typically show in those. But then, I don’t really think that’s particularly offensive or flame-bait in any real sense. My usual tone and intent are directed toward wishing all the best of both of those seasons — even blessings from on high — to my readers, and I’d hope that even those who don’t particularly share my beliefs won’t find it offensive if I ask the Lord to shine a little love on everyone.
But then, I think the key is relevance. I opt to mark Christmas and Easter; mentioning bits and bites about faith is kind of relevant. The rest of the time, it’s Ultima and gaming; I’ll mention religion if it’s contextually appropriate and relevant to an article, and otherwise not do so. It’s a sound policy and has worked pretty well for a few years now.
I have no problem with that. I’m equally offended by “blue laws” banning the sale of alcohol on Sunday as I am by Nazis banning prayer in school. To me atheists are the same as believers in in that if either one starts telling ME what to do by virtue of the law I get really pissed. Each to their own, don’t tread on me, live and let live, different strokes for different folks; it’s been said a million ways for a reason. Hell, I even say Merry Christmas to people in stores, my family and friends. Common courtesy and common sense.
As long as no one’s writing laws that force the consequence of their beliefs on others, or writing laws that keep people from practicing their beliefs, I’m fine. I’m a Libertarian in the most basic sense. Let everyone do whatever the hell they please as long as it doesn’t violate my rights to do whatever the hell I please. Basic mutual respect for human freedoms, essentially.
But you’re right… I need to go make a primitive particle emitter so I can tell it to shoot out grass, dirt, etc., so digging won’t look so crappy. Fun discussion though. 🙂
Yeah, I totally don’t get blue laws, and they vex me every time I encounter them on business trips to the US.
Maybe it’s because I’m Catholic, or part Irish, or part Ukrainian, but I’ve never understood this whole “prohibition of alcohol” thing; I’ve only ever acknowledged the injunction not to become drunk on worldly things. And between prohibition and Paul can be found a remarkably refreshing golden mean, best expressed in a shimmer of amber from a pint glass.
Neither Dupre nor Shamino, nor even Mandrake the Bard could have put thy meaning to finer words.
That frequency idea is really good @SANCTIMONIA. My idea was actually single player only, and while you control the body of the hero there is a sort of guardian angel voice in your head that directs you about.
Enemies are just three big hit boxes, one to the left, center, and right. Hitting the center scores a direct hit, but when you hit the left or right your angel would tell you where to aim, appropriately.
As for getting around the level, I’d use waypoints that tell the angel to tell you, the player, where to go next/if you are going the wrong way.
I envision a level where you ride atop a train, and your angel has to tell you when to crouch to avoid low hanging signs, jump over low hanging beams, and shoot baddies all the while.
The angel herself would have to be one big mean finite state machine, though. She’d have to be able to react as previously mentioned when shooting at baddies, plus she’d have to say something if you whiffed completely, if you are inadvertantly staring at the floor/ceiling, going the wrong way, where there are items, where there are baddies, where there is cover, and oodles more.
The idea appeals to me on a number of levels. For one thing, it isn’t something you hear about every day in game design. I also think finite state machines are cool, so while it sounds like it would be hard to program it might also be really fun and rewarding. And perhaps most importantly, sound assets seem to be a lot easier to create than 3D models/texture assets (although to be fair I don’t really know what goes into creating a decent stereo sound effect asset, I’m just assuming that for a non-artist like myself they would be easier to manufacture than 3D models and textures).
That sounds like a pretty interesting idea. Designing a normal game to be accessible to a blind person, I imagine, could be radically different than designing a game specifically for a blind person. The latter would have no graphics at all, which would actually be kind of awesome. Just a gamepad and either stereophonic or surround headphones. Things like force feedback could be used to good effect as well. I also recall these articles from Slashdot, which hopefully will be hitting the marketplace at some point:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/07/29/2154209/Thermoelectrics-Could-Let-You-Feel-the-Heat-In-Games
http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/01/18/0520213/Adding-an-Olfactory-Dimension-To-Games
There’s a ride somewhere in Epcot called Soaring where they project low altitude aerial footage onto a large parabolic screen. They create wind and actual scents at times appropriate to what’s being shown on the video, for example a citrus smell when passing over fields of orange trees. While it’s relatively simple, the experience is pretty amazing.
And yes, creating a bunch of 3D assets sucks and is very time consuming.