.map file relation to EoC geography?

My point about the older games and their maps (no matter how restricted or contained) wasn't about size...or the whole scalability issue. It was about creating 'feel' which is ultimately about manipulating emotions.

Thats what I meant: the "feel" of the older games is imo based on the the fact that the games are focused on a specific game content. The maps focus on the story and support the story mood, while the story follows a consistent line the whole way through. imo the map is a focused, supportive work of art that conveys part of the message in the story. (Like the set in a movie.)

Custom code is quick, if not very reusable.

Custom code is focused. I think one of the problems that causes a lack of emotional identification in modern games is the wide used "object orientated" programming style . It can lead to a mix of stuff thats close but just not right on target. As a result, the code itself is fully satisfactory but the player is not emotionally linked in.

I think we should be carefull about "manipulating emotions". The use of conventions is fully ok but the emotion the player has should be left up to him. i.e a person who likes to take risks could feel joyfull anticipation when he's confronted with the conventions of a graveyard, (and not fear).
If one were to intentionally try to induce fear by adding a subjective (to the mapper) source of fear to the "standard" conventions of a graveyard map it would/could mess up the "normal" feeling a risk orientated person has, when confronted with a graveyard situation.
Extreme example: The jaws theme would not induce fear in most people, but be hilarious if played when Tom is running after Jerry)

Or, to over-exagerate, I once had a fear of saving in EOC. My mouse was broke and 50% of the time I entered the gui to save my game it crashed. (so I could not confront my frustration of getting shot down and having to start over, by saving constantly). A limited, but automated, save function would have actually reduced my "fear" and I wouldn't have considered it as a higher level of difficulty at all!

Speaking of sound, take for example the "Jaws" theme. It's really too bad we can't borrow some of the widely known musical conventions that are part of our emotional conventions nowadays. Or, can we?


Have Gun, Will Travel

It can lead to a mix of stuff thats close but just not right on target

Agreed, nothing is going to match careful handbuilt scenes. But handbuilt is not a choice when doing large universe freeform. And IMHO, improving the state of the art is what makes it an interesting research project. Still, building a few sets would be useful to all. Game?

Should we try implementing Hot4's idea for graveyards and see how it turns out? Then we can mix and match around bits.

Shane, could we use your space man spiff for dead bodies? We should be able to get around the INI issue by just making him an inert sim.

Hot4, would you be willing to cobble up a cryptic distress call?

Suggestions for creepy music?

We can try putting the wreck in different locations. Asteroids. Nebula. Just emptyness. Down near a planet (big overwhelming object feel).

It's really too bad we can't borrow some of the widely known musical conventions

It's worth looking into. I rented "The Abyss" to look for ideas. They do a pretty good job of sticking to internal sound during diving runs. There is a good early scene of exploring a wrecked submarine. Mostly what you hear is breathing gear and the background music.

The scene is visually set with wreckage - bent propeller, gashes in ships hull. Inside things are torn and tossed. It features two of the ideas from Hot4's graveyard suggestion: A Dead body floats unexpectedly against the camera. And later crabs scuttle out of the mouth of one body (like the cat suggestion).

The surprise events are accompanied by music changes to highlight them. (I was too caught up in the story to write down the exact music - I will play the scene again with video turned off).

Next up is rewatching the Aliens "exploring the lost colony" scene - which is pretty darn creepy.

-Gtrout

Shane, could we use your space man spiff for dead bodies? We should be able to get around the INI issue by just making him an inert sim.

Let me have a day or two to work on it and I believe I can send you some better stuff than that. Debris which actually looks like a large section of a ship and some more realistic bodies than Spiff.

Though, of course, I'll send the Spiff model too.

Send them to you (GT)?



<font size="1"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font color="black">"Never before in the history of the world had such a mass of human beings moved and suffered together. This was no disciplined march; it was a stampede-- without order and without a goal, six million people unarmed and unprovisioned, driving headlong. It was the beginning of the rout of Civilisation... of the massacre of Mankind."
--H. G. Wells The War Of The Worlds</font id="black"></font id="Book Antiqua"> </font id="size1">

Sure. No rush. I am looking forward to this.

-Gtrout

Originally posted by GrandpaTrout

Hot4, would you be willing to cobble up a cryptic distress call?

Suggestions for creepy music?

Sure I'll cobble together a distress message sound file or two, and see if I can't creep them up abit. I'll send the files along when they're ready. As for music suggestions...I just remembered that I have scads of music I'd prepared for the cluster (every factional region has its own set of themes, and a few choice systems have their own themes) ...I was editing the files down to get them to you and must have gotten sidetracked with writing, parenting, trying to stay employed and stuff like that. I'll do some digging and send along some music files as well.

Take another look at the Firefly episode called Bushwacked as well. It has the graveyard thing down pretty well, right down to the body slamming into the bridge window.

--
Hot4Darmat

Hot4: I have an mp3 file of some really creepy static. It unsettles one to listen to it... at least more so than any soundbyte of static I've heard.

Next time I'm at my office computer, I'll check the file size and send it to you if you like (and if the size permits).



<font size="1"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font color="black">"Never before in the history of the world had such a mass of human beings moved and suffered together. This was no disciplined march; it was a stampede-- without order and without a goal, six million people unarmed and unprovisioned, driving headlong. It was the beginning of the rout of Civilisation... of the massacre of Mankind."
--H. G. Wells The War Of The Worlds</font id="black"></font id="Book Antiqua"> </font id="size1">