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Gaming/Hardware climax


SpotSD
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Will there ever be an end to the new hardware on the market? Where will the gaming/hardware industry go after they reach photo realistic graphics and near instantaneous clock and RAM speeds?

Will there be no end? Once we reach the aforementioned standards what could possibly be the next best thing?

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Check out the movie eXisTAcE or something like that...

If not to predict the future, see the movie for that hot programmer. Currently the best we have for full immersiveness is the lousy and bulky VR helmet. Once they've figured out hot to actually jack into your brain and let you "feel" the surroundings and stimulus for the game, people like me and Blades, especially Blades will be running the "special" software 24/7.

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Seriously. After clock speeds get faster,faster,faster,faster,faster,faster, Till they seem instantaneous.

Graphics get better,better,better,better,better,better,

Till they literally look at least as good as Final Fantasy (the movie)

When this happens will anyone have to upgrade/buy new computers? What would be the point?

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quote:

Originally posted by Scrivener:

eXistenZ, actually. It's definately one strange movie. Not very good, IMHO... just strange.

Nah how could you go wrong with guns made from chicken bones eh?

Anyway SpotSD, computer clock speed goes faster exponentially. The minute it reaches a Terahertz, I'll buy one and I guess we'll definately get the Final Fantasy movie quality like game.

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[q]Anyway SpotSD, computer clock speed goes faster exponentially. The minute it reaches a Terahertz, I'll buy one and I guess we'll definately get the Final Fantasy movie quality like game.[/q]

Duh... My question is what the heck will come next?

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quote:

Originally posted by SpotSD:

Duh... My question is what the heck will come next?

Sorry I didn't get much sleep last night....

The point of upgrading is no matter how fast a computer would go, there's always a developer that would somehow need more processing power. Remember many years ago when you saw the minimmum requirements for a game was only 90Mhz or something? Some people complained because it ran slow and sluggish on their brand new P133.

Even now on my 1.4 gig athlon, i can imagine BCM would grind into a halt if there were more than 2000 cruisers at one time like in the Babylon5 series. In a computer that runs at 5 Gigahertz/s, this might be possible. The point I'm trying to make is that you can never have too much power when it comes to processing speed.

Anyway I guess the next level is to have a neural plug in the back of your neck where you can jack up to a gamings console ala eXistenZ.

The holy grail would be as $ilk said, the holodeck...

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quote:

The point of upgrading is no matter how fast a computer would go, there's always a developer that would somehow need more processing power. Remember many years ago when you saw the minimum requirements for a game was only 90Mhz or something? Some people complained because it ran slow and sluggish on their brand new P133.


True very true, but what I was thinking when I started this thread was that game requirements have pretty much only increased because of graphics, there are a few exceptions such as BCM which requires allot of processing for AI and keeping the whole game universe running.

So my point is when graphics simply can't get any better because they've reached photo realism it seems that there won't be much of a need for faster processing.

It almost seems like the hardware industry is fixing to bury itself just because there has to be a limit to how fast, compact, and useful something can get.

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The Hardware manufacturers have already buried themselves. Corporate is the BIGGEST purchaser, and who needs a 1.5gig P4 with 512mb RAM to run Microsoft Word. Most of the Home users simply check email, maybe a few stock quotes. The Hardware market is flooded. Few except for the Hobbyists(Gamers) need that powerful of a computer.

The "Power" Computers are for Hobbyists, there will always be a Market for that. It's just not that Large of a market in the grand scheme of things.

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True, but that's why the hw manuf.'s are now pushing home video editing. it's a market that has apeal for both home and corp. types. Also, it's something that requires some pretty expensive equipment to do in real-time, so this will keep hw's busy selling faster machines to dad's and mom's and budding directors for at least another 3 years. Then Congress will pass this stupid copyright protection crap and all our machines will be made illegal if hooked to the iternet. Hw's will make new systems and the cycle will start anew.

Soon, though, because of the new laws, none of us will have computers like we know them today. They'll be more akin to the x-box with limited funcions. However, everything you have, from your toilet bowl to your fridge will have a net connected computer. But, don't worry, it won't be for you to use, it'll be for the corp's to tell how you spend your money so they can be sure to get more of it.

Nope, don't worry about hw's. They'll be busy building things for a long time. Long past the time any of our grandchildren's grandchildren are even taught about what and why a personal computer existed in the later 20th and early 21st centuries

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Interesting thread, but do any of you really appreciate how much computing power and graphics power would be necessary to produce a perfect simulation of the real world, and any circumstance that could happen?

Frankly, I don't.

Something on the order of 100 times the CPU power we have today, with god knows how much wider data pipeline.

And frankly, I've heard numbers bounced around for number of polys needed per second to make you think "you're there" but really we don't know what it's going to take. The geforce3 is impressive, but it's not even remotely "photo realistic" in it's capabilities.

All I'm saying is, there's no end to it. At least no inside our lifetimes, or just to protect myself, not in the next 30 years.

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quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

I dunno, but as far as I'm concerned, the
minimum
sys requirements for BCTC due out at Christmas 2003 (all things being equal), will be 1Ghz, 512MB, 32MB video card. And the minimum supported res will be 800x600x32

heh

OUCH! thats gonna hurt better start bargaining with the better half for that upgrade for my PIII 600 now then.

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quote:

...at least not until they conquer the speed of light.

Exactly! There simply must be a limit, why on earth would we need to go beyond the processing speed that is so fast that in our minds it might as well be instantaneous? Of course once you get into the higher numbers (speed of light) there would be no recognizable difference between 1/2 the speed of light and the speed of light. To our minds they would both be instantaneous.

quote:

And frankly, I've heard numbers bounced around for number of polys needed per second to make you think "you're there" but really we don't know what it's going to take. The geforce3 is impressive, but it's not even remotely "photo realistic" in it's capabilities.

Look at the amazing strides that graphics have gone through... In the past 6 years we have seen First Person Shooters advance from having all their entities sprite based, to incredible games such as Max Payne.

Judging by the current rate of advancement I think photo-realism is right around the corner.

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quote:

Originally posted by SpotSD:

Exactly! There simply must be a limit, why on earth would we need to go beyond the processing speed that is so fast that in our minds it might as well be instantaneous? Of course once you get into the higher numbers (speed of light) there would be no recognizable difference between 1/2 the speed of light and the speed of light. To our minds they would both be instantaneous.

It almost makes me sad to think about it. I'm probably alone on this, but perfection just annoys me. I like feeling like my computers are imperfect, that with a bit more money there's some way I can make them work better or faster. Be it tweaking and overclocking or just installing new hardware. When everything is perfect everything is the same - that's part of the reason that the idea of a "home entertainment center" combining a computer, video game console, dvd player, and any other number of gadgets worries me.

It's the same reason people modify their cars. It's just more fun to feel like even though what you have isn't perfect, it's still unique and better in some way. Sigh... maybe I just don't like change.

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quote:

It almost makes me sad to think about it. I'm probably alone on this, but perfection just annoys me.

I do partaly agree, the antisipation of something better is something I'll miss. The price I won't

However I believe that once photo realism becomes the new standerd, gameplay and story line will improve. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's a sound theory. Once photo realism is the acepted standard then devolpers will have to *gasp* rely on good gameplay and story line to make their game a sucess.

I'll use Max Payne as an example. Max Payne has freaking great graphics but gameplay (despite bullet time) got old really quick. Why did it get rave reviews??... GRAPHICS! Once great graphics come to be expected then to make a profits developers will just have to start putting more work into game play.

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quote:

It's infinitely easier, I'm sure, to create photo-realistic graphics than it is to simulate actual physics

But now you’re forgetting something. From Duke Nukem 3D to Half Life there hasn’t been much significant advancement in game physics. (Sure they got a little closer to real world but not much) What's my point you ask? There hasn’t been significant advancement in game physics... Simply because real world physics are not required to make a game fun.

I doubt real world physics will be a big part of future gaming, just because it's totally unnecessary for an enjoyable experience.

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The next step will be home gaming systems that include hydraulics and 360 degree view monitors. True simulators.

At present, cost is the only blocking factor.

I can cite the current equipment that is being used by the U.S. Army to train M1 tank drivers. The sensory effect is so realistic that many recruits become ill while operating them. I found it a real hoot watching an instructor send the Joes through the "Over The Cliff" scenario. BAAARF!

One has to admit that there is no substitute for being plastered against the plexiglass in a 7g turn.

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