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Role Playing (Games)

Richard Garriott on Richard Garriott 49

Posted by Zonk from the we-meet-again-lord-british dept.
bippy writes "I had a chance to shoot Richard "Lord British" Garriott a short list of questions for Kotaku. In the five question Q&A Garriott talks about his house, his favorite games and what he thinks the next big thing will be in MMOG."
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Richard Garriott on Richard Garriott More

Richard Garriott on Richard Garriott

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  • a Monty Python skit in this, somehow...

  • doh! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by BortQ ( 468164 ) on Sunday November 21, 2004 @05:45PM (#10883305) Homepage Journal
    His answer to "What is the next big thing in gaming?" are the two words Physics Simulation.

    I would have liked that answer to be fleshed out more. Unless he is trying to not give away the secrets of his next project...

    • Re:doh! (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Sounds like he's talking about a game where you roll a ball down an incline and have to guess where it'll land. Y'know, just like in high school physics, except this is a video game.

    • Re:doh! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by alphaseven ( 540122 )
      I would say physics simulation is the "current big thing". I'm guessing Garriot is talking about stuff like Havok physics, which games use to control how objects react when they're bumped into or shot or whatever. Half-Life 2 uses this a lot.

      Like before the big thing would be to make, say, a vase in a video game that was photo-realistic, reflected light the right way. Now the big deal is to have a vase that will roll around the floor realistically and will shatter into pieces when shot or dropped.

      • Re:doh! (Score:5, Interesting)

        by MMaestro ( 585010 ) on Sunday November 21, 2004 @09:04PM (#10884429)
        I think physics simulation could go even further than that when you consider what types of video games are made and played. What about how a bullet would affect and/or pierce a wall? TRUELY destroyable environments? Rag-doll physics where a dead human doesn't twist his back into a 90 degree angle with his feet bent backwards so far the dead guy could kiss his feet if he wanted to? Or how about gibs where a 300 pound human being doesn't turn into neat meat chunks the size of cinder blocks?

        Theres a lot of gameplay advantages to have physics simulation over graphics IMO. Some people are going to say its really memory limitations, but considering a lot of games have glass that can be shot through or can have grenades tossed through and not completely be destroyed, a few texture changes and some tweaking you got yourself a destroyable 'wall', albeit not a very thick one (yet).

        • "What about how a bullet would affect and/or pierce a wall? TRUELY destroyable environments? Rag-doll physics where a dead human doesn't twist his back into a 90 degree angle with his feet bent backwards so far the dead guy could kiss his feet if he wanted to? Or how about gibs where a 300 pound human being doesn't turn into neat meat chunks the size of cinder blocks?"

          Umm... Thanks for making me not want to play any FPS for a long time. Yea I want to see realistic disembowlment... No not really. Physics mo
          • All the things I mentioned are commonplace in FPS games lately. HL1 let you shoot through boxes (sorta), Red Faction had destroyable environments (crappy ones though), rag-doll physics were in UT2k3, and neatly shaped gibs have been around since... Soldier of Fortune? HL1? Quake? Doom 1?

            What I'm suggesting is hardly new. Hell, Thief 3 let you pick things up and throw them at people but I don't hear people saying it was 'innovative' or 'ground breaking' for doing so.

        • I feel very strongly that we are coming up against a graphics ceiling. A place where more powerful video cards or new consoles fail to yeild results that make it worth the effort to produce the superior eye candy.

          When (if) this happens I see three possible results:
          1) Crash to make the original video game crash of the 80's look tame.
          2) The spare CPU power that we have to play with, the CPU power that used to get shuffled into graphics gets shuffled into some sort of OS. Imagine if someone could create an

      • Re:doh! (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Quarters ( 18322 ) on Sunday November 21, 2004 @09:59PM (#10884671)
        There's no special type of physics called "Havok physics". Havok is just a company that makes a middle-ware product. Many many games used Havok before HL2 did. HL2 isn't even using Havok 2 (which is 2 years old now). HL2 is using the quite old Havok 1 libraries.

        There are myriad physics libraries, both commercial and free-ware out there. Havok is but one of them. Novadex, by Aegia, is, imho, much more interesting and easier to use than Havok. It's free too, which is a big plus over having to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a middle-ware package.

        • Novadex, by Aegia, is, imho, much more interesting and easier to use than Havok. It's free too, which is a big plus over having to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a middle-ware package.

          I'll point out here that Novodex is free for non-commercial use only. Anyone wanting to use their physics engine for a commercial project needs to contact them for licensing details. I imagine there's a charge and/or royalties involved there, but I'll bet my lunch it's not as expensive as Havok.
        • It's "NovodeX", actually. (novodex.com)

          A google search for "Aegia Novadex" returns exactly one hit -- your post. Congratulations on your googlewhack. ;-)

      • Re:doh! (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Like before the big thing would be to make, say, a vase in a video game that was photo-realistic, reflected light the right way.

        Now the big deal is to have a vase that will roll around the floor realistically and will shatter into pieces when shot or dropped.

        Pisses me off. I noticed this in HL2 and Vampire Bloodlines and was unimpressed and befuddled. Your character still can't meaningfully interact with the environment any more than characters could in FPS games made nearly a decade ago... but wow, all
        • but wow, all those realistic-looking cardboard boxes (and they are _everywhere_, real subtle guys) sure bounce nicely when tumbling. Progress?

          Scoff now, but once games like "Unreal Tournament: Cardboard Box Arena" hit the shelves, along with titles like "Post Office Worker 3D" and "Attack of the Man-Eating Alien Cardboard Boxes", I think the video game industry will prove you wrong.

  • Not that interesting (Score:5, Informative)

    by DuckofDeath87 ( 816504 ) on Sunday November 21, 2004 @05:46PM (#10883314)
    There were only 4 questions, and the last two had one sentence answers. So, to sum it up for those who don't want to RTFA, he thinks Abe's Odd World is the most creative game that he didn't make, and the next big thing in gaming will be physics simulation.

  • Where's the beef? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by richcoder ( 539438 ) on Sunday November 21, 2004 @06:48PM (#10883696)
    Richard never mentions MMOG once. I was excited to see what he had to say about it, and... nothing.

    This is one of those "thanks, but no thanks" interviews.

  • Though I have not read a really interesting interview from him since his character (Lord British) was assassinated during the UO beta test. Suffice to say that was my only real memorable experience from my time in UO.

  • what crappy questions (Score:5, Insightful)

    by PaganRitual ( 551879 ) <splaga&internode,on,net> on Sunday November 21, 2004 @07:13PM (#10883839)
    ... his favorite games and what he thinks the next big thing will be in MMOG.

    he didnt ever actually ask what his 'favourite' game was, only the most creative one. yawn. and the question says the next big thing in 'gaming', not MMOG. which presumably is why he said physics cause i cant see a whole lot of real time physics being put into MMORPGs at the moment.

    way to waste five questions. still, i wanna see more of his house.

  • Some REAL questions to Gariott (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MikShapi ( 681808 ) * on Sunday November 21, 2004 @07:34PM (#10883953) Journal
    Yes, the interviewer is pathetic, and the choice and wording of the questions is a waste of both gariott's time and ours.

    Why not pose some REAL questions here?
    Here's my go. Richard, if you're reading this, endulge us :-)

    1. Is single-player CRPG'ing a dead-end as far as you're concerned (and does your future lie in MMO) or do you see yourself involved in future major single-player titles?

    2. Are we going to see any future CRPG-games you are involved in with an ultima-*like* atmosphere? (never mind the brand) and are they going single-player or MMO?

    3. Are we going to see any future CRPG-games you're involved in with vast illinear worlds like Ultima 6/7 or Morrowind and are they going single-player or MMO?

    4. What's your favourite *CRPG* game you were not involved in?

    5. What's the coolest thing in the CRPG market you're looking forward to? (Other than Half-Life 2 you're obviously playing same as we all, judging by that 'physics engine' bit)

    • Why not pose some REAL questions here? Here's my go. Richard, if you're reading this, endulge us :-)

      Since we're having fun, let me play the part of an Imaginary Richard Garriott and see what he has to say.

      MikShapi: 1. Is single-player CRPG'ing a dead-end as far as you're concerned (and does your future lie in MMO) or do you see yourself involved in future major single-player titles?

      Imaginary Richard Garriott responds: I've been authoring them since Alkabeth, and have no intention of stopping now!
    • You ask your questions, just let me ask mine.

      1. Richard, can I please please please work for you?
  • Rarely spoken by me...but...I would have to give Richard the prize of 'Right guy at the Right time' award. Ultima 1-7 were nothing but the same game with better animations. They had the same interaction, etc. He had the money to try something 'different' (U8, U9) and they both kind of sucked (I played and finished them both) compared to other games of the same and previous times. I still think he is great for what he has done, and I just hope he has found a new direction, and Warren will do the same.

    • Re:Hmm.... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Haeleth ( 414428 ) on Friday November 26, 2004 @08:04PM (#10928416) Journal
      Ultima 1-7 were nothing but the same game with better animations. They had the same interaction, etc.

      I deduce you've never played any of them, or at least, not in close proximity and not recently. You certainly wouldn't say that if you'd ever compared them side by side.

      Summary: the earlier games are vastly different from Ultima 7. 1, 2, and 3 are similar to one another but far more primitive than the later games, and very different in style: 1 includes laser guns and a space-ship, while 2 is set on a recognisable Earth! 4 and 5 are the next level up; 4 is particularly innovative in its gameplay, and it's my second favourite of the series (after Serpent Isle). But they're all far less interactive, and far less story-driven, than 6 and 7.

      Were you to show 1 and 7 to someone unfamiliar with the series, they probably wouldn't guess there was any connection at all. They're about as similar as Catacomb Abyss is to Halflife 2.

  • Golly... (Score:2, Funny)

    by CodeWanker ( 534624 )
    Maybe if we hadn't pirated so many copies of Ultima with Ye Olde Commodore 64 and Hole Punch (to double our disk capacity) He'd have TWO awesome castles to gloat about! :) Of course, it's the mark of a TRUE Ubergeek that he built a bimbo-free version of the Playboy Mansion.
  • It started out so well - "I had a chance to shoot Richard "Lord British" Garriott... and then it went downhill...
  • It reminds me a lot of the serpent symbol from the Ultima series. (Ultima 7: Serpent Isle, anyone?)

  • ooh (Score:2)

    by nomadic ( 141991 )
    To get to the lower floor you must open a secret passageway via a clever magnetic puzzle. A secret stair case takes you up to the kitchen or down to the lower study (or the dungeon or the wine cellar). The lower study has numerous antique science and technology items including a bunch of quack medical devices.

    6789878767653

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