G-pinions

The concept and goal of realism in videogames is fascinating to me. As technology improves at a pace we can hardly stop to appreciate, the desire to create reality, or the illusion of it, seems to have become a central goal of businesses and artists alike in many mediums. From the thousands of CG characters in the Lord of The Rings films to the movement of a player's clothes in NBA Live 2004, creating the depiction and illusion of reality in any sort of digital entertainment has become a central focus. In terms of how this is represented in videogames, it obviously varies drastically from game to game. A sports title will try to depict human muscle movement as accurately as possible, while the developers making a racing game will make sure that the weight and inner workings of a car is taken into consideration when making a turn; it's this difference in application that interests me, as does the philosophy behind such design decisions.

I have heard several people in my life, including Tom, say that they don't like simulation or realism in games. After all, what's the point of playing a fantasy game, if not to explore avenues and ideas not available in our physical and moral reality? Why play a racing simulation when you can roll around a giant maze in a plastic ball, as a monkey no less? For someone who has never touched a controller, the choice seems easy. But anyone who has played Need For Speed Underground will tell you that the feeling of speed and exhilaration is absolutely thrilling. I'm not saying which is better (I'll still take the monkeys any day of the week), but they both have their appeal, and for very different reasons.

I read a fairly good interview in the latest issue of OPM with Martin Edmonson, head of Reflections Interactive (Shadow of the Beast, Stuntman, the Destruction Derby and Driver series'). The part that intrigued me the most, and prompted this post, was his answer to the question "What inspires you as a developer?". His answer: "The pursuit of realism. Realistic visuals, physics. Anything that enables us to create games that are closer and closer to something that could be confused with live-action footage. We are not there yet - some way off it, in fact - and this is why we get excited by new hardware. It opens up new possibilities in that pursuit of ultimate realism." Now, this is coming from a guy currently wrapping up Driv3r, the third game in a driving series that has historically been one of the best at accurately simulating car physics, including damage modeling and everything else that goes along with it. And those kinds of things can always be improved (which he later goes into), almost infinitely.

What motivates me to play this game though? I could go outside right now and drive my car if I so desired. Well, I can only drive it so fast. And I really should stick to the streets, and avoid others cars. In a game, I can do whatever I want. I can burn by the police at 90 m.p.h., only to end up in a high-speed fruit market chase. And if it's a well-made game, I'll still feel like these are things I would be able to do in the game world. Game likes Burnout encourage smashing into other cars, and the damage that results, thanks to the physics, is supremely satisfying. But it extends beyond racing games. In a tennis game, I want to be able to dive for the ball at any degree of intensity. I want to be able to swing my racket at every possible increment of speed, and see the results of such decisions play out like they would in reality. In a spy game, I want to be able to scale any surface I could in real life, using real spy gear. I want to be able to shoot someone with a tranquilizer dart as I hang upside-down from a pipe, and watch their body convincingly slump to the ground. In a shooting game, I want every object in the world to react to my bullets as they would in reality. I want to be able to shoot someone in the arm, and watch them clutch it with a shaking hand as the blood spurts from every exposed artery. Some of the implications might sounds grotesque, but once again, I can't, and would never, do these things in real life. And these are the things that infest our everyday fantasies, even if we choose not to discuss them. I can't play tennis. I've never even tried. But I want to be able to pick up a controller and be a pro. I want every game world to be structured in such a way that I can do what I want (or what the developers give me to do), however I want. I want ultimate choice, based on rules that the game world has given me. I play a spy game because I want to feel like a spy. So why not do it as realistically as possible? This 'realism' doesn't mean people can't be creative in games though, as it should apply to the game world and it's rule set too, not just ours. If a developer wants my giant rabbit character to jump really high, fine. But make it so that I can land on top of the building I'm standing next to. Make it so that when I land the ground shakes a little. If you're going to develop a new engine with it's own laws of gravity, extend it to every facet in the game.

Fantasy is indeed important in a game. But a fantasy that I can relate to and understand? That would truly impress me. And that's why this 'realism' idea fascinates me so much. It's not so much about the pursuit of one specific imitation or realization, it's about the fleshing out of an entire idea, an entire universe. Whether you're making a car turn as it would in real life, or a dragon singe the grass around a hero's feet when it breathes fire, you're trying to make your game as realistic as possible. One of the reasons many of our dreams are so vivid and lifelike is because they take place in worlds that we understand fully in the context of the dreams, even if they're crazy, alternate universes that seem ridiculous when we wake up. And that's what I want to see in games, and what I think many developers strive for - the expression of ideas and new worlds in such a comprehensive way that I don't question the small imperfections, I don't question my place in the world. It's kind of a crazy thing to think about, but as technology evolves and molds itself around our lives, I think we'll see more and more immersiveness because of this 'realism' that many people strive for in their art and entertainment.

I dunno, maybe I'm crazy. But it seemed like a good thing to write about after four hours of sleep at seven in the morning.