quote:Original post by Quantum2005 I think the only downside to the rapid improvement in games is that it will eventually make the "Small Game Developer" opsolete. Think about it, if every game on the market has graphics as good as those in the moves "Shrek" or "Final Fantasy", then it will be next to impossible for newcomers to the industry to sell games.
However... There is always likely to be at least one person out there who says "anyone should have access to the tools necessary to make a decent game" and therefore releases a graphics library. Some other people come along, dicover it and start using it and then run up against its limitations; they decide to improve it. Someone else comes and integrates and audio library, and yet another an input library... and we''re back where we started, right here.
Enough professionals are also hobbyists that they will step in to support games in terms of technology (and Carmack''s engines will probably continue to be released Open Source a few steps behind). The real issue I see is the acquisition of assets - graphics, models, sound effects, voice acting, etc. That''s where the real bottleneck/glass ceiling is.
Your right, there will always be small time game developers, but I think eventually people will have even less of a chance of getting into the games or software industry than they do now, just because of the way trends are heading. However, that does not mean our games will be any worse in comparison of what they are now compared to the major game releases. (sorry, complex sentance, heres a nice analogy: good game we (smalltime developers or hobbyists) actually finish is to Quake III Arena as good games we actually finish later will be to major software companies'' games of the future). Libraries will be released, and methodes you cant think of right now will be thought of by you or your children later to improve a single person''s ability to use modern hardware acceleration etc to its fullest. (was this a not well-written post? maybe... 5 in the morning here, time to sleep, night!) .sen
Think of the FPS games. No more sitting behind a monitor working with a keyboard or mouse. No, you just install the program on your AMD Athlon 120 Ghz, plugin your VR suite and play. You''re the player, you are as fast as you are or as agile as you can. Games will be much more interesting. Like playing a combat simulation where you''re a soldier and have to attack the enemy. When you''re killed the game is over and you need to restart inside another game. Think of the chaos, the action, the thrill. At least your condition will be good as a soldier :D.
Sand Hawk
Member of the Stupid Coders. http://www.stupidcoders.cjb.net
-Earth is 98% full. Please delete anybody you can.
Hey, reminds me of this one game... I think it was called.... paintball??!?! Paintball rules =) but it would rule more if when you got hit you automatically went out of the game and all the other players just saw you as a corpse to trip over. However, it would also be very scary in the right curcumstances =)
If technology were at that point, I definitely wouldn''t be playing an FPS with it. I''d go straight for the Populous remake I wouldn''t see it as a replacement for traditional life, but an realm of experience - why bother with more 1st person experience when you could have something completely different.
I wouldn''t see it as a replacement for traditional life, but an realm of experience - why bother with more 1st person experience when you could have something completely different. 
They''re coming for you!
