<html>

<head>
<title>loonygames presents: Beaker's Bent - game design 'rants</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<style type="text/css">
a { text-decoration: none; }
a:hover { color:000000;  text-decoration: underline; }


</style>
</head>

<body bgcolor="#FFF4D0" link="#3333FF" vlink="#000000" alink="#000000">
<center>
</center>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="58">
  <tr> 
    <td height="69" width="29%" align="left" valign="top"> 
      <div align="left"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><b><i><img src="../../images/logo_new.jpg" width="182" height="63" border="0" usemap="#logoa"> 
        </i></b></font></div>
    </td>
    <td height="69" width="29%" align="center" valign="top"> <center>
<script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2373963192914918";
/* 468x60 */
google_ad_slot = "3417104156";
google_ad_width = 468;
google_ad_height = 60;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script>
</center>
 
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="29">
  <tr> 
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../about.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><b><font size="2">about</font></b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../feedback.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>feedback</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../archives/index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>archives</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <b><a href="../../../submissions/index.html"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">submissions</font></a></b></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<div align="center"> <br>
</div>
<table width="100%" border="0">
  <tr> 
    <td width="72%"> 
      <h5><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">//<a href="../../../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">loonygames</font></a>://<a href="../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">issue 
        2.7</font></a>://<a href="index.html"><font color="#7C420E">beaker's bent</font></a>://1, 
        <a href="index2.php"><font color="#7C420E">2</font></a>, <a href="index3.php"><font color="#7C420E">3</font></a> 
        </font></b></h5>
    </td>
    <td align="right" valign="top" width="28%"> 
      <div align="right"> 
        <h5><a href="http://www.loonygames.com/includes/printme.pl?url=/2.7/bent/"><img src="../../images/icons/print01.gif" width="27" height="27" align="baseline" border="0" alt="switch to printer-friendly version"></a></h5>
      </div>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<br>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
  <tr> 
    <td align="center" valign="top" width="25%"> 
      <table border="0" width="99%" bgcolor="#D7B582" align="center" bordercolor="#E0E0E0">
        <tr> 
          <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> 
            <!--#exec
cgi="/includes/rand_quot.cgi"--> </font> <p><webdog><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0022A8"><b><font color="#693A0C">What's 
           new today:</font></b></font> 
          
<p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../../index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">New!!!</font></b></a><br></b>
  The archives have been cleaned up, dead links fixed, and the printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments on the main page!</font></p>

 
<p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../2.15/feat/index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">Livin' 
  With The Sims</font></b></a><br></b>
  theAntiELVIS explores the wild and wacky world that is Will Wright's <b>The Sims</b>, 
  asking the inevitable quesiton, &quot;is <b>The Sims</b> the first step toward a virtual 
  life where everyone is Swedish?&quot;</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../2.15/pixel/index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">Pixel 
  Obscura </font></b></a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
  Josh Vasquez on <b>Omikron: The Nomad Soul</b>.</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../rl/index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">Real 
  Life </font></b></a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
  Check out our newest comic strip, <b>Real Life</b>! Updated daily!</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../uf.1" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">User 
  Friendly</font></b></a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
  Updated daily!</font></p>
<p></webdog> </p>
 
            <p></p>
            <p> </p>
            <p></p>
            <!--#include virtual="/includes/includes/commerce_ssi.htm" --> 
            <!--#include virtual="/includes/includes/art_ssi.htm" --></td>
        </tr>
      </table>
      <br>
      <table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#D7B582">
        <tr bgcolor="#D7B582"> 
          <td> 
            <div align="center"> 
              <p align="left"><font size="-1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0022A8"><b><font color="#00025E">Random 
                Feature:</font></b></font> </font> </p>
              <p><!--#exec
cgi="/includes/rand_thumb.cgi"--><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"> 
                </font> </i></p>
            </div>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
      <br>
      <table width="99%" border="0" bgcolor="#D7B582">
        <tr> 
          <td> 
            <div align="center"> 
              <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" name="">
                <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><font color="#339900">Search 
                the Archives!</font></b></font> 
               
                 <INPUT TYPE=text name=q size=12 maxlength=255 value="">
 <INPUT type=submit name=sa VALUE="Google Search">
 <INPUT type=hidden name=cof 
VALUE="LW:216;L:http:/home/loonygames/loony.timedoctor.org/content/images/logo1.jpg;LH:55;AH:center;S:http://www.loonygames.com;AWFID:13a298c7abe84fd0;">
<input type=hidden name=domains value="loonygames.com"> 
<input type=hidden name=sitesearch value="loonygames.com">               
</div>
              </form>

              <p align="left"><i> </i></p>
            </div>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </td>
    <td width="75%" align="center" valign="top"> 
      <table width="90%" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center">
        <tr> 
          <td width="50%" valign="top"> 
            <div align="center"> 
              <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E"><img src="../../images/icons/bent_final.jpg" width="192" height="243" align="left"><loonystart>Vol. 
                2, Issue 7<br>
                December 22, 1999 </font></b></h5>
             <br>
              <div align="center">
                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="3">Beaker's 

                  Bent:</font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="6"> 
                  Making the Outdoors<br>
                  <font size="4">(part 1)</font></font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">by 
                  Rich &quot;<a href="mailto:rich@loonygames.com">Beaker</a>&quot; 
                  Wyckoff</font></p>
              </div>
              <script language="JavaScript">

<!--
       function gotoSite(obj)
          {
          var s;
          s=obj.options[obj.selectedIndex].value
                         location.href=s;
          }
// -->

</script>
              <!--#include virtual="/includes/includes/bent.htm" --> 
              <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="left"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="../../images/letters_new/s.jpg" width="22" height="39" align="left">adly 
                for me, the <b>Unreal</b> engine project I've been working on 
                since I joined <a href="http://www.knowledgeadventure.com/">Knowledge 
                Adventure</a> in March just got canned. I mention this not because 
                I'm going to go into the details of what happened to our game 
                (amazingly, every person who has ever seen our game, up to the 
                highest execs, has had nothing but praise for it), but to lead 
                into today's topic. In the eight months I worked on this project, 
                I've learned a lot more about building non-traditional 3D games. 
                Even if this particular project never resurfaces, I've gained 
                some valuable experience and come up with a whole bunch of new 
                ideas about how to make 3D games well, and I want to write about 
                some of that now.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Though 
                this project is cancelled it's probably good policy not to go 
                into any great detail about it. For this article, all that is 
                relevant is that the game was set in realistic outdoor environments. 
                I've been working with outdoor settings for my entire career, 
                from <b>Flight Unlimited</b> to <b>Terra Nova</b> to <b>Trespasser</b> 
                to my now-cancelled project, and at this point I've developed 
                an intense dislike for any game that takes place entirely indoors. 
                </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Even back 
                when engines were yet more terrible at doing outdoors environments 
                than they are now, games that stayed entirely indoors drove me 
                crazy. This was for the simple reason that it is very difficult 
                to come up with a reasonable setting for a game that includes 
                no outdoors areas. I think one of the most brilliant decisions 
                in <b>System Shock </b>was the inclusion of the four garden pods, 
                which brought an element of organic terrain to an environment 
                that was necessarily entirely indoors. If you read good hardcore 
                sci-fi, you'll see plenty of reference to the psychological necessity 
                of including simulating outdoors environments even in situations 
                like this.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Perhaps 
                part of the reason why I don't look back on <b>Doom</b> with any 
                great fondness was there was just about no attempt made to even 
                attempt to portray earthlike outdoors areas, nor was there any 
                real connecting theme between levels. There were some wide-ranging 
                spaces, but they were either literally bounded by walls or they 
                felt like they might as well be, and the <b>Doom</b> engine did 
                not even handle very large rooms well. Thus, the impression that 
                stays with me from that game (and from what I've heard, the impression 
                that most people have) is a succession of brownish-green corridors 
                and intricately crafted mazes that didn't pretend to be much more 
                than mazes.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It's certainly 
                not easy to craft a game that is both fun and aspires to something 
                more than the standard set by <b>Doom</b>. I've personally never 
                been satisfied with taking the easy way out, though, and <b>Half-Life</b> 
                was definitely the final nail in the coffin for the &quot;random 
                indoor maze levels&quot; style of first person games. It's not 
                coincidence that <b>Unreal Tournament</b> and <b>Quake III Arena</b>, 
                games clearly founded on this old-school style of level design, 
                threw out any pretense of relation between the levels in their 
                arcade-style backstory. There's nothing particularly wrong with 
                this style of design, either, but it really does nothing to advance 
                the state of game or level design.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Games 
                that do attempt to take gaming further are going to need to address 
                the outdoors in some way, and even indoor-oriented engines like 
                <b>Unreal </b>and <b>Quake II</b> or <b>III </b>are powerful enough 
                to do some justice to the sweeping majesty of outdoor environments. 
                Having worked extensively with Unreal and ended up with environments 
                that largely looked better than Trespasser yet ran at framerates 
                closer to those of a shooter, I know it is possible.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">There 
                are two different issues to be solved when creating an outdoor 
                level, or even just a level with outdoor components: looks and 
                playability. We'll talk about looks first. There are several defining 
                characteristics that make something feel like the real outdoors. 
                To achieve a pleasing outdoors environment, you need to both understand 
                these characteristics as well as the strengths and limitations 
                of the engine you are working with. There are a lot of aspects 
                to the looks of the level, but all I can cover in this installment 
                are the texturing and lighting aspects. There'll be more in the 
                next Bent. </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></loonystart></font></p>
              <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="index2.php"><font color="#7C420E"><b><font size="+1">Next 
                &gt;&gt;</font></b></font> </a></font></p>
              </DIV>
            </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<br>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="29">
  <tr> 
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../about.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>about</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../feedback.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>feedback</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../archives/index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>archives</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <b><a href="../../../submissions/index.html"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">submissions</font></a></b></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="29">
  <tr> 
    <td height="20" width="35%"><a href="../../../index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><b><i>loonygames</i></b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="65%"> 
      <div align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><!--#exec
cgi="/includes/rand_bot.cgi"--></font></div>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. Beaker's Bent is &copy; 1999 Rich Wyckoff. All other 
  content is &copy; 1999 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited, 
  so don't do it or we'll sick our lawyers on you. Muhahahahahahahah. ph3ar our 
  m@d l3gal sk1lz y0.</font></i></p>
 <map name="logoa">
  <area shape="rect" coords="52,47,112,59" href="http://www.bluesnews.com">
  <area shape="rect" coords="3,3,179,46" href="../../../index.html">
</map>
</body>
</html>
