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Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

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Re: Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

#51

Post by gavanwoolery »

swayvil wrote: post #47
DanAndersen wrote: post #11

The issue with a lot of procedurally-generated content is that overall things become same-y. Lots of breadth, little depth. When you have a set number of variable sliders, you don't have to see all the possible worlds to get a sense of how many sliders there are and what their ranges are. The problem only gets worse when moving away from planet/landscape generation (dumb matter) and getting into simulations of histor…

Also there is an absence of beauty in the generative/algorithmic-art scene. Much neato, interesting and colorful - which equates to weak. It's HARD to make beauty happen algorithmically. Nigh impossible. Frankenstein hard. Also, the intersection between people who code and people who possess a sharp aesthetic sense is minescule.

I'd agree that a lot of coders lack a good sense for design and art (hence the term "programmer art" :D). I'm not a great programmer or artist, but I'm a competent programmer and an "average" artist (at best). This is only because I put so much time into learning art as a kid, and then later doing a lot of design work (mostly related to web design). Additionally I began 3D modeling when I was 13 and most games were still 2D. Anyhow, I think that learning at least a little of both goes a long way in terms of the resulting abilities.

Nonetheless, many of the old demo-scene pieces, which are entirely algorithmic, are occasionally beautiful, I'd argue. (A lot of the newer demos just look like music visualizers though...for dubstep songs :/ )

Re: Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

#52

Post by ChuckMcM »

I'm having a partial flashback here and its killing me. Back in the 90's there was a guy who was building this exact same vision "Space Galaxy" or something where every planet was unique, every alien race unique, every solar system, full planet to planet seamlessness. Derek somebody? Generally considered impossible and derided by the PC gaming press corps.

I agree with most that you need a certain dimensionality to the generation in order to get something credible. Definitely going to check this one out when it comes out.

Re: Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

#53

Post by JetSpiegel »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #52

I'm having a partial flashback here and its killing me. Back in the 90's there was a guy who was building this exact same vision "Space Galaxy" or something where every planet was unique, every alien race unique, every solar system, full planet to planet seamlessness. Derek somebody? Generally considered impossible and derided by the PC gaming press corps. I agree with most that you need a certain dimensionality to t…

Derek Smart! Never forget!

Re: Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

#54

Post by of »

protonpopsicle wrote: post #13

None of these articles on No Man's Sky ever mention Noctis, which is really strange. That's clearly a precedent here worthy of mention. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctis

It's very strange, and a little disheartening. Noctis is the best!

http://anynowhere.com/bb/layout/html/doors/local/frameset_no...

Re: Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

#56

Post by JetSpiegel »

mbenjaminsmith wrote: post #22
thisjepisje wrote: post #18

Now what would be really interesting is to have some sort of rudimentary evolution in a game like this. Star systems, planet geology, flora, fauna, everything.

No, what would be interesting is everything that you said with the addition of relativistic-speed travel. Take round trips near (or over, depending on your reference) the speed of light and watch how things evolve.

My god, the Loading times would be unbearable.

Re: Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

#57

Post by aetherson »

lotsofmangos wrote: post #29

To be honest, I thought our sun would be around a lot longer. “If you were to visit one virtual planet every second,” he says, “then our own sun will have died before you’d have seen them all.” ... "The tens of millions of planets that comprise the universe are all unique."

That's pretty funny. Though what I think they're saying is that the total size of the result-space for their planet generating algorithm is, whatever, hundreds of quadrillions or quintillions or whatever it is that makes that work out, but that a given instance of the universe comprises tens of millions of planets.

Re: Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

#58

Post by jimmcslim »

JetSpiegel wrote: post #53
ChuckMcM wrote: post #52

I'm having a partial flashback here and its killing me. Back in the 90's there was a guy who was building this exact same vision "Space Galaxy" or something where every planet was unique, every alien race unique, every solar system, full planet to planet seamlessness. Derek somebody? Generally considered impossible and derided by the PC gaming press corps. I agree with most that you need a certain dimensionality to t…

Derek Smart! Never forget!

Battlecruiser 3000AD!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlecruiser_3000AD

Re: Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

#59

Post by swayvil »

gavanwoolery wrote: post #51
swayvil wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also there is an absence of beauty in the generative/algorithmic-art scene. Much neato, interesting and colorful - which equates to weak. It's HARD to make beauty happen algorithmically. Nigh impossible. Frankenstein hard. Also, the intersection between people who code and people who possess a sharp aesthetic sense is minescule.

I'd agree that a lot of coders lack a good sense for design and art (hence the term "programmer art" :D). I'm not a great programmer or artist, but I'm a competent programmer and an "average" artist (at best). This is only because I put so much time into learning art as a kid, and then later doing a lot of design work (mostly related to web design). Additionally I began 3D modeling when I was 13 and most games were s…

Ya, I dig alot of that demo scene stuff too. I sniff a natural beauty there somewhere. A natural beauty, a smart shape game, or something. It's what I'm trying to get at with my own work (http://fleen.org). Sorta got a handle. Frankly done with the whole subject presently.

Re: Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms

#60

Post by cf »

DanAndersen wrote: post #11

The issue with a lot of procedurally-generated content is that overall things become same-y. Lots of breadth, little depth. When you have a set number of variable sliders, you don't have to see all the possible worlds to get a sense of how many sliders there are and what their ranges are. The problem only gets worse when moving away from planet/landscape generation (dumb matter) and getting into simulations of histor…

I think of lot of the solution to this problem is going to be make the random creation conditioned on user-provided examples of interesting content. You already see a lot of this happening in the most recent SIGGRAPH papers, such as http://people.cs.umass.edu/~kalo/papers/ShapeSynthesis/
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