Yeah I always get pushed back on that, but honestly, I’ll “die on that hill”. Also, speaking of games not just in the 2000s, but even earlier.
Back then corporations had to sell cartridges and ship them, and if they shipped with any bugs, that was the death of the game.
At the end of the day, usually when I’m debating this topic with someone, they can only point to a few examples of bugs in cartridge games or in PC games back then, which was a very small ratio to all the ones that shipped correctly.
My point is basically the ratio of good games to buggy games was a lot better back in the day than it is today, because developers are time-pressed and semi-lazy, and they just figured they could fix bugs in post-production.
And funny enough, the pushback I usually get seems to be from astroturfers trying to hide that fact, of not doing as much due diligence before shipping, because it could just be fixed after the fact, regardless if the customer gets a worse product at first or not (not saying that of you, just generally).
We didn’t need online access back then, we had LAN parties.
Most of the time you didn’t need updates, because back then they were much more diligent about making sure a game released without bugs. Yes a few existed, but much less than what you see in today’s games. A showstopper bug was death for sales, since it couldn’t be fixed inexpensively.
And those instruction books, especially if you are into the artistry that they put into them, is sorely missed, truly.
My brother in christ, what the fuck do you think i’ve been describing then?
Algorithms that use the models/meshes/etc., and not the models/meshes data themselves. Algorithms take up allot less space on the hard drive.
What I see is that you don’t understand how procedural generation works.
I’m a computer programmer. I’ve written that kind of code before (gotta love some Perlin noise). /sigh
Also, you’re not quoting me on that part, but someone else. I didn’t make any mention about a ‘Damaged Helmet in gitf format’ (or anything else in that text you quoted).
As is today, how do you think planetary terrain is generated?
It mixes/matches models (that have meshes, etc.) like Lego pieces to assemble the landscapes/things. If you want more new/varied worlds, you need more models/meshes. The algorithms are not going to create them, its going to just assemble the ones that already exist as files on the hard drive.
Edit: Funny enough, I’m currently downloading the update, all 7.48GB of it. The whole game takes up 14.69GB on my hard disk. I’m going to bet most of the update is the new stations look/variety, and not the logic code for mix-and-matching ship parts.
“because having all those media resources as files makes the startup faster, memory usage down and is easier to modify and replace”
None of that matters, because you can load them in the background/parallel wise, as needed, which is what the game already does today.
But all of that takes space on the hard drive, which brings me back to the point I keep making.
My original comment…
You’re not wrong, but also the space that they would need on your hard drive to make the game really non-repetitive visually would be out of this world (pardon the pun)
, and what I keep replying back to comment on, is specifically about visuals, and variety in the planets, the areas of the planets, and the star systems, and the aliens. 3D models and meshes.
What you been describing is not 3D models and meshes, which is what takes up the majority of the hard drive space.
So, can you describe for me how the hard drive space for 3D models and meshes would be?
I’m speaking about the 3D models and meshes, visuals.
Variety of planets/systems and various areas on planets is very poor just because of the amount of hard drive space needed for all of the models and meshes.
You can procedurally generate textures, sounds and geometry
Does any game do that today? I’m not aware of any. ??
Today? No, I don’t think any game does it.
Well, my comment that you replied to was about a specific game that is already out, today. Hence, my point still stands.
Let’s hope that future hardware and games are aligned more with what you described, but today’s games do have limitations, based on the day and age they’re created in.
You can procedurally generate textures, sounds and geometry
Does any game do that today? I’m not aware of any. ??
Another thing that compounds on the lack of planetary variation
That’s the same problem again, you need hard drive space for all that 3D variation.
As far as I know all the 3D stuff is what takes up the most space on the hard drive, and that stuff is never procedurally created. /shrug Maybe someday with AI??
You’re not wrong, but also the space that they would need on your hard drive to make the game really non-repetitive visually would be out of this world (pardon the pun). Also not so sure how that would work out on the consoles.
I get what you mean, but 99.9% of the time I’m buying it day one anyway
Well, no one is saying you can’t buy it on day one, just don’t buy it on day minus one.
On the day it comes out you can just check some reviews first and then reaffirm your decision to buy, or you may hear about something you weren’t aware of, and then decide not to buy.
Also by doing this, you help all your other fellow gamers, by diminishing the importance of the pre-order and the shenanigans that go with it.