Future Game Design: Density as Level

[vastin]

I was pondering what a standard Computer RPG would look like in some (not so) distant future when we are playing in some form of fully immersive/responsive virtual environment. What would hit points, or levels look like in a world where I'm swinging swords and avoiding blows via my own movements

Comments

[egowumpus]

I think that would appeal very well to the tactile and kinesthetic senses of the game, but it doesn't solve the visual problem. Players can't 'see' density, so a cardboard hammer and Mjolnir look the same, until some interaction occurs. Is there a way to represent density so the player doesn't have to look up the number or go around smashing things?

Actually, in writing this paragraph it's sort of note that Minecraft does this: it has no sense of leveling, but there is a progression of tools you have to develop that lets you get through/work with a progression of world materials: fists->wood->stone->metal->rare metals->obsidian.

[vastin]

Yeah, the idea is to keep the numbers out of sight - for the most part. The moment you try to pick up a object, you'd probably get a good sense for it's 'level' via its comparitive heft.

That doesn't mean that such a game couldn't include other cues, such as glasses that overlay colored auras - or outright stats - on objects you are looking at when you want more detail, or a distant vantage.

What interested me in the mechanic primarily is that it seemed to encompass quite a few concepts in a single relatively easy to model value that lent itself to the sort of RPG progression.

And yes, in a manner of speaking minecraft does do things this way a bit, though they don't have any actual physics model behind it.

[wahlstromn]

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