Wil Wright gave a presentation at last year\'s Game Developer\'s Conference of his new title, Spore. The video of that presenation has been around for some time now, but it was often low quality or hard to find. Now the video has been posted on Google Video, and it is available for viewing in a variety of ways. This is something that shouldn\'t be missed: Spore is set to become one of the defining moments in gaming history.
Check out the video here.
Wright addresses the issue of generating content in the age of next-gen systems with gigantic data storage capacities. Modern games have grown larger and larger, and the issue of creating content for games as detail and resolution increases, as well as overall length and size of narrative games, has become a matter of much debate. Wright identifies procedural content creation as a solution to this problem.
By creating systems that allow players to build elements of the game, and then creating other systems that draw on the full body of created content to populate everyone\'s games, Spore manages to (literally) encompass a universe\'s worth of varied content. Beginning as a small amoeba-like organism, players develop their creatures into sentient beings living in tribes, then warring cities, and finally launch into outer space to explore faraway worlds.
All along, players are creating creatures, technologies and buildings that is used by the game\'s centralized data servers to populate other players\' worlds. The result is a gameplay experience that is at once solitary and affected by the actions of other players.
Spore has received a lot of good talk, and for a good reason. It quite simply looks unlike anything we\'ve ever seen, while at the same time feeling entirely comfortable. Wright is a likeable speaker, and presents his latest project with a degree of humility that belies the genius of the endeavor.
Watch the video, as it, too, is likely to go down in the annals of gaming history.