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Are there any innovators out there?

Submitted by Sertan on

We (as in, my DT class) recently got an assessment task to complete whereby we investigate an innovation with Australian origins. Naturally, I wanted to write up something about computer games, but I can't think of any innovations that were introduced through an Australian games company.

So far, I was thinking along the lines of System Shock 2...

Anyway, if any of you can think of any, I'd be very grateful if you could post it up here.

Thanks

- Sertan

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

Submitted by souri on Tue, 11/02/03 - 9:24 AM Permalink

Try going a bit further back, with Melbourne House.. they did some innovative stuff with adventure games like Lord of the Rings, and also did the first karate beatem up on home computers - Way of the Exploding Fist.. I did an interview on the site about that game. [;)]

Submitted by Sertan on Tue, 11/02/03 - 9:38 AM Permalink

I forgot to mention one eency-weency bit of detail... the innovation has to be fairly recent (around 5 years old max.)... and the only reason I can think of for doing that is simply to make the case study harder (damn Board of Studies...).

Yeah, uhh, so any other ideas or should I stick to System Shock 2 because of the depth of play and atmosphere introduced into the genre?

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

Submitted by Daemin on Tue, 11/02/03 - 11:24 AM Permalink

Apparently Ratbag games innovated with the Difference (sp?) engine, where it was the first 3d engien to handle an infinite number of textures or something...

Maybe DEADBEEF or something might be able to answer this better?

Submitted by souri on Tue, 11/02/03 - 1:12 PM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by Sertan

I forgot to mention one eency-weency bit of detail... the innovation has to be fairly recent (around 5 years old max.)..

Something recent - I would suggest Microforte's Big World technology..

quote:John DeMargheriti - The BigWorld Technology client engine is a high performance software platform for developing 3D Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs).

BigWorld Technology is a unique approach to massively multiplayer gaming that not only allows millions of people to play in the same world without sharding, but also solves the challenges of typical online gaming: bandwidth, load balancing and level of detail.

.. that was from a recent interview at http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=11932 .. I'm sure there's plenty of places where you can find more about Bigworld tech..

Submitted by Sertan on Tue, 11/02/03 - 7:17 PM Permalink

Thanks guys.

I'll check back here from time to time.

As a way of gratitude, I'll post the final case study on these forums for all to read. [:D]

EDIT: BigWorld Tech seems to be the way to go! Thanks a lot! [:D]

Now, I hope I can find all the info I need (which is not my way of asking for help [;)])!

Submitted by Daemin on Tue, 11/02/03 - 11:45 PM Permalink

What about some of the cool GBA technologies that (can't remember developer name, could be torus?) developed.

Submitted by souri on Wed, 12/02/03 - 12:12 AM Permalink

http://www.bigworldgames.com/ is the website for Bigworld tech.. and you're more than welcome to have it as an article on the site than a forum message post. [:)]

Submitted by Sertan on Wed, 12/02/03 - 2:42 AM Permalink

quote:What about some of the cool GBA technologies that (can't remember developer name, could be torus?) developed.

I'll look into that as an alternative if I can't find enough on BigWorld Tech. Thanks anyway. [^]

quote:and you're more than welcome to have it as an article on the site than a forum message post.

I'd love that! Thanks! [:)]

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

Submitted by souri on Wed, 12/02/03 - 8:44 AM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by Daemin

What about some of the cool GBA technologies that (can't remember developer name, could be torus?) developed.

That would be Torus and voxel technology on the GBA?

Posted by Sertan on

We (as in, my DT class) recently got an assessment task to complete whereby we investigate an innovation with Australian origins. Naturally, I wanted to write up something about computer games, but I can't think of any innovations that were introduced through an Australian games company.

So far, I was thinking along the lines of System Shock 2...

Anyway, if any of you can think of any, I'd be very grateful if you could post it up here.

Thanks

- Sertan

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.


Submitted by souri on Tue, 11/02/03 - 9:24 AM Permalink

Try going a bit further back, with Melbourne House.. they did some innovative stuff with adventure games like Lord of the Rings, and also did the first karate beatem up on home computers - Way of the Exploding Fist.. I did an interview on the site about that game. [;)]

Submitted by Sertan on Tue, 11/02/03 - 9:38 AM Permalink

I forgot to mention one eency-weency bit of detail... the innovation has to be fairly recent (around 5 years old max.)... and the only reason I can think of for doing that is simply to make the case study harder (damn Board of Studies...).

Yeah, uhh, so any other ideas or should I stick to System Shock 2 because of the depth of play and atmosphere introduced into the genre?

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

Submitted by Daemin on Tue, 11/02/03 - 11:24 AM Permalink

Apparently Ratbag games innovated with the Difference (sp?) engine, where it was the first 3d engien to handle an infinite number of textures or something...

Maybe DEADBEEF or something might be able to answer this better?

Submitted by souri on Tue, 11/02/03 - 1:12 PM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by Sertan

I forgot to mention one eency-weency bit of detail... the innovation has to be fairly recent (around 5 years old max.)..

Something recent - I would suggest Microforte's Big World technology..

quote:John DeMargheriti - The BigWorld Technology client engine is a high performance software platform for developing 3D Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs).

BigWorld Technology is a unique approach to massively multiplayer gaming that not only allows millions of people to play in the same world without sharding, but also solves the challenges of typical online gaming: bandwidth, load balancing and level of detail.

.. that was from a recent interview at http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=11932 .. I'm sure there's plenty of places where you can find more about Bigworld tech..

Submitted by Sertan on Tue, 11/02/03 - 7:17 PM Permalink

Thanks guys.

I'll check back here from time to time.

As a way of gratitude, I'll post the final case study on these forums for all to read. [:D]

EDIT: BigWorld Tech seems to be the way to go! Thanks a lot! [:D]

Now, I hope I can find all the info I need (which is not my way of asking for help [;)])!

Submitted by Daemin on Tue, 11/02/03 - 11:45 PM Permalink

What about some of the cool GBA technologies that (can't remember developer name, could be torus?) developed.

Submitted by souri on Wed, 12/02/03 - 12:12 AM Permalink

http://www.bigworldgames.com/ is the website for Bigworld tech.. and you're more than welcome to have it as an article on the site than a forum message post. [:)]

Submitted by Sertan on Wed, 12/02/03 - 2:42 AM Permalink

quote:What about some of the cool GBA technologies that (can't remember developer name, could be torus?) developed.

I'll look into that as an alternative if I can't find enough on BigWorld Tech. Thanks anyway. [^]

quote:and you're more than welcome to have it as an article on the site than a forum message post.

I'd love that! Thanks! [:)]

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

Submitted by souri on Wed, 12/02/03 - 8:44 AM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by Daemin

What about some of the cool GBA technologies that (can't remember developer name, could be torus?) developed.

That would be Torus and voxel technology on the GBA?