Game Development Giant

Of course, since the remote somatosensory operation method to complete virtual reality simulation is not satisfactory, designers will naturally think of other methods.

Especially except for the hardware designers of Microsoft and Sony, their somatosensory technology is not as good as that of top hardware manufacturers such as Microsoft and Sony, and they have all hit a wall on this road, let alone small fish like them, so , they changed their mind and tried to use a relatively stupid method to achieve their goal, that is, physical simulation.

This method can be to create something similar to a treadmill (or wear a motion capture device such as gloves or shoes). This machine will capture the rhythm of the player's footsteps to achieve virtual movement. The most exposed product at present is called virtuix omni, which is an accessory product specifically for virtual reality eyes. The complete set includes a treadmill that can move 360 ​​degrees and special shoes to use with it. Regrettably, this device also has many shortcomings, such as being expensive, taking up a lot of space, consuming a lot of player energy, etc...

From the current point of view, there is still no device on the market that can perfectly match the virtual reality helmet, but whether it is remote somatosensory operation or physical simulation operation, they have provided an idea for VR game hardware. I can only hope that there will be more in the future. Suitable equipment appears, including Sony's VR helmet, Morpheus, which will be launched in 2016.

Jester doesn't think this new VR device can be that amazing.

It's probably just usable.

This is just the difficulty of the hardware, other than that. There were also a lot of software challenges posed - no one knew how to make a great VR game.

Because no game like this has ever existed.

Without a reference, how would you know how good your own development is?

Jester didn’t know this question either. Even before he traveled through time, he had never played any VR games. Such games could only be played at some large game exhibitions, such as e3, Cologne Exhibition, Tokyo Exhibition, Paris Week, etc. For example, cj.

Other Jesters may not have much chance to go. But cj does plan to go.

But before he could go, he traveled through time and was unable to play the VR equipment announced by Sony on cj. And Summer Class, which was highly rated, was also a bit disappointing.

In fact, many domestic manufacturers also have great ideas about VR equipment before time travel. Jester knows that many domestic manufacturers have entered the big pit of VR equipment. At that time, there were probably more than 100 VR glasses products, large and small, in China. Although manufacturers would develop independent apps for their own products, in fact, different glasses boxes and apps were compatible with each other, which provided opportunities for copycat products. A space for breeding.

Many manufacturers are more willing to put money into hardware development and give up on software development. Hardware manufacturers are unwilling to spend money on content. Whether it is PC-level VR helmets or glasses cases and other equipment, the demand for content remains at demos. Domestic VR equipment has become a toy for everyone to try out. We can only use it to experience the demo version of the test game. After the experience, we exclaimed Wow. The effect is great!, but this does not allow us to experience the fun that the game brings to us.

However, judging from the information I learned through the news or other aspects.

Sony’s Dream God is still worth looking forward to.

Of course, everyone knows that virtual reality has great potential in the future. It may be like 3D replacing 2D, completely changing the entire game industry. It was through this background that Sony was handing over 2D and 3D games. The completed counterattack turned the competition between Nintendo and Sega into a three-nation struggle for hegemony, and finally became the ultimate overlord.

No one can guarantee whether there will be such an opportunity when virtual reality equipment replaces ordinary gaming equipment.

Although virtual reality games look cool, everyone can also see that these types of games are still in the exploratory stage, and current virtual reality products are not yet worthy of the word virtual reality. There are still many problems, the price is relatively expensive, and the functions are not perfect enough.

But these cannot conceal the bright future of virtual reality games.

From the current point of view, Oculus, the product of the company where Carmack serves as CEO, is a very mature VR product, but this does not mean that Oculus will always stand out. Old hardware manufacturers such as Microsoft, Google, and Sony are all starting to explore this new continent.

Although Oculus started early and has accumulated a lot of experience, in the final analysis, virtual reality technology still requires strong hardware support to be realized. By then, the virtual reality equipment market may see a prosperous scene of three kingdoms and even a hundred schools of thought contending. In fact, we can definitely do more A bold guess is that in the future, virtual reality technology may not be the only means to realize virtual simulation games.

Just like Microsoft's hololens mentioned before.

As mentioned before, this is an augmented reality device, a technology that calculates the position and angle of the camera image in real time and adds the corresponding image. The goal of this technology is to put the virtual world into the real world on the screen and interact with it. , the simplest example is that hololens will superimpose the world of MC on the real world, and people with hololens can play MC in the real world.

Of course, even when Jester traveled through time, there was constant controversy surrounding Microsoft's enhanced device.

Players are not sure whether the Hololens version of Minecraft can really achieve the effect demonstrated by Microsoft at the E3 conference. After all, the conditions in each player's home room may not meet the standards at the time of display. We all hope to see that the actual effect of the Hololens version of MC in the hands of players can be as realistic as the demonstration, but this may require us to wait patiently for a while.

In addition, of course, it is the brain control technology that has been discussed in countless online game novels... intubation in the back of the head or other technical means. Judging from the current conditions, this idea is still very creative.

But it still doesn’t stop you from thinking about it.

There is an animation adapted from the novel in Japan called Sword Art Online. In the setting of this work, online games have become an operation method similar to brain control technology. Players put on a helmet and enter a sleep state to open a virtual game world. Many domestic online game novels are also written in this way. , not only wearing a helmet, but also a game compartment. Even direct intubation.

After reading countless such novels, Jester couldn't help but have such a question. He once thought this way. That is, will this fully immersive game mode become a reality in the future? Will this be the final form of virtual gaming?

This is a question that no one can answer for the time being.

However, don’t think this is a fantasy, actually. Although for many players. This is a bit incredible, but there are really people doing this technology.

At a meeting at GDC2013, foreign reporters discovered that a company called Neurosky was showing the audience its unimaginable new technology: brain waves - a mind manipulation device. Well, yes, it is the one that many hot and crazy yy A brain control technology.

The basic principle of this device is that when the player wears something like goggles, the computer can collect people's brain waves. Count the tester's thoughts to determine what he or she wants to do next. Then return a calculated value to the program. When wearing this device, the audience needs to focus their attention on the target on the screen, and then the corresponding concentration value is increased. Then until the concentration value exceeds the set threshold, the object will be thrown towards the target on the screen.

It's a very simple piece of equipment, but his imagination is truly fantastic.

Of course, Jester has no common sense, but he has seen some videos about this device. In one video, we can see that the game is still very rough and can only complete simple throwing actions, and the fantasy we imagined. The world is so different. But all the seemingly ordinary things we are currently exposed to have gone through this rough step. Think about it, what could the earliest Odyssey game console do? They even require you to paste a piece of plastic film with a pattern on your TV screen when you are playing, and only one light spot can be displayed on the TV screen.

When playing, players need to look at the storybook that comes with the game console when they buy it, and look at the perspective and plastic film to figure out the whole story.

Then, technology continues to advance, from Odyssey, to Atari, to Nintendo FC, to Sega's MD, SS, DC, to Sony's PS, to Microsoft's Xbox... This step-by-step progress and change is People who have experienced the entire gaming era know very well that some things that were previously considered impossible have developed step by step from crudeness to maturity.

So why can’t mind-controlled games become a reality in the future?

I can only say, it’s hard to say.

Overall, virtual reality games offer new opportunities for interactive entertainment. At present, we have only seen some prototypes of virtual reality games. With the support of VR equipment, the sense of reality, substitution, and immersion in video games have been infinitely expanded. In the future, virtual reality games may become a new generation of interactive content, and they may build a new virtual game world for players.

But these are all things in the future, who can say for sure?

Based on what he learned about the direction of VR or AR technology in the next twenty years, Jester came to talk to Carmack about this topic.

Carmack was very interested in this topic. He was completely attracted by the development route and broad prospects of the entire VR equipment described by Jester, which even made his interest in virtual reality surpass his interest in developing it again. He was interested in running a lap in the car. Several times in the middle, people came to him and asked him to run the second lap. He always waved his hand impatiently, indicating that he would wait a while to finish chatting with Jester about this tall man. Let’s talk about the topic above.

By the time Jester finished chatting with him about this topic, Kazunori Yamauchi had already finished the competition.

But Carmack is not very sorry. For him, being able to find something that allows him to regain his passion is more important than anything else. And he is also very smart. When he saw Jester take the initiative to follow If you are talking about this thing yourself, you must have other things to tell him - it is very likely that your boss wants to set up a department specifically for the development of virtual reality equipment!

Boss... Carmack wanted to ask his boss if he really had this plan.

If there is, then should you let yourself be responsible? Even if you don't let yourself be responsible, it would be good for you to participate. What he likes most is to do things that interest him.

He is now a little tired of his current job of developing engines and wants to change his work direction. Although he has not told Jester, Carmack did wait to work for a while before saving up enough money. , he went to work on the Rockets, which he was very interested in when he was a child, to see if he could make a career.

But now the virtual reality that Jester told him made him more interested in making games than when he originally wanted to do it.

Although Jester described this thing as very difficult to develop, the more difficult the thing is, the more challenging it is in his eyes, and the more it arouses his interest in this matter - he has been since joining Mars Entertainment. , wasn’t what you did that time full of challenges?

When he developed the engine of Quake by himself, it was also full of challenges.

But before Carmack could say anything, Jester smiled at him and said straightforwardly: I know what you are going to say. I do have plans to develop virtual devices, but not now. There are still some It’s too early... Just wait for another year. I will not start this project until the engine of your next-generation Quake is completed and our new console is released.

As he said that, Jester paused for a moment. He also saw the meaning in Carmack's eyes, so he smiled and said.

You don't have to be anxious. I took the initiative to talk to you about this today just to ask you whether you are interested in this, because if you do this, it will definitely not yield any results for a long time. If you don't have the enthusiasm for this project, If it is supported by strong passion, I think few people will be able to support it. (To be continued...)