Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Path: gmd.de!ira.uka.de!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!eff!ddsw1!chinet!jorn
From: jorn@chinet.chi.il.us (Jorn Barger)
Subject: Re: Adventure interface, Physics
Message-ID: <C34EsG.JvK@chinet.chi.il.us>
Keywords: physics,vr,virtual reality,interface
Organization: Chinet - Public Access UNIX
References: <C33349.B0M@acsu.buffalo.edu>
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1993 18:45:51 GMT
Lines: 40

In article <C33349.B0M@acsu.buffalo.edu> goetz@cs.buffalo.edu (Phil Goetz) writes:
>This is my vision of the next generation of adventure games:
> [...]
>It is more like a virtual reality system than a text adventure.
[...]
>There should be other objects in the system.  Liquids.  Gas.  Fire.
>I don't know how to deal with them.  I suggest not having them in this
>initial model.
> [...]
>Gone are command parsers. 
> [...]
>THE BIG PROBLEM:  PHYSICS
> [...]
>All this physical modelling will take lots of calculation.
> [...]
>I think this could be a cool topic for my PhD dissertation,
>provided I emphasize VR and not IF.  What do you think?

Phil, forgive me if I go off a little here... I feel like the Tom Hanks
character in "Big" looking at the building-that-changes-into-a-robot and
saying, "What's fun about this???"

WHERE'S THE GAME IF YOU'RE ALL ALONE???

I've developed a bit of a chip on my shoulder about VR-this and VR-that,
because PHYSICS IS NOT THE BIG PROBLEM.  And lots of calculation is not
the solution.

(I know, you could have a certain amount of fun playing physics.  But even
3-d physics will quickly start to feel 2d if there's no psychology!)

I think IF needs a new name that rolls off the tongue easier, and we need to
start a campaign to wake the public up to the special problems of "VR deep 
structure" as they call it in Oz...

(nothin personal, really! ;^)
((I mean, it's true there are interesting problems to solve in VR, and 
your ideas are fine, but ... where's the game?  where's the *fiction*?))

Jorn
