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Five new Moorestown-based MIDs announced at Computex
Pardon us while we take this opportunity to snag a nap, but seriously, we just cannot muster any excitement whatsoever about Mobile Internet Devices. Stuck somewhere between capable smartphones and these newfangled smartbooks, MIDs seem to be carving out a niche that precisely no one cares about. Though, we can say we're stoked about the forthcoming introduction of Moorestown -- the Atom needs a successor in the worst way. At any rate, those still hanging on in hopes of a turnaround have introduced new MIDs today at Computex, with EB, Quanta, Inventec, Aava Mobile and Compal (despite its recent skepticism) showcasing their wares. If you honestly think you could see yourself purchasing one of these unwanted devices in the next year or so, we've got plenty of images down there in the read link.[Via MIDMoves]
WoW Pod brings player housing to a different level
I know we've sometimes clamored for a player housing feature to make it into the World of Warcraft, but Blizzard has been adamant about it not being high on the list of priorities. A couple of artists decided that if Blizzard wasn't going to put player housing in the game, they were bringing player housing to players... in real life. Artists Cati Vaucelle, Steve Shada, and Marisa Jahn (Shada/Jahn) managed to con convince MIT's Council for the Arts and a few other gullible generous benefactors into funding a little project called the WoW Pod. The WoW Pod is described as an "immersive architectural solution for the advanced World of Warcraft player that provides and anticipates all of life's needs". Except, maybe, the need to bathe and not be the target of ridicule. Then again, that was probably the point of this exercise -- to create a self-sustaining gaming cubicle where a WoW player can eschew such gametime-consuming distractions such as bathroom breaks or sustenance. The glorified port-a-potty, patterned after an Orc hut, is equipped with a toilet, a kitchen, and a computer to play Warcraft on.
Georgetown Apple Store to move forward after redesign is approved
ifoAppleStore has an update on the battle between Apple and Washington D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission: A new design for the Georgetown Apple Store is close to approval, and includes a subtle Apple logo and trees growing inside the building. The ANC's objections, ranging from rejecting an all-glass storefront to requiring a two-story masonry facade had been the reason for so many design submissions from Apple. While Apple wanted to maintain consistency among all its stores, the ANC wanted to make sure the Apple Store fit in with the other, older buildings on that street. Most interestingly is the rear 20 feet of the store: It has a higher ceiling and skylights to accommodate two living trees inside the building. This isn't the final design, however: The ANC is requesting additional minor changes, and has wondered aloud why there isn't an actual second story behind the two-story facade. Even so, locals suggest the plan is likely to be approved today. If it is, the store will likely open in 2010. In other retail store news, MacNN notes that stores are planned or in progress for: Churchill Square in Brighton, UK Rideau Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada Hamburg, Germany (Thanks, Steffen!) and Greensboro, NC, which we mentioned in July. [Via MacNN.] Update: Commenters Brad and Chris noted that in a meeting last night, the Georgetown board rejected Apple's plans even after the ANC approved them. So much for that. Thanks, guys!
The supercomputers behind World of Warcraft
The New York Times has an intriguing story up about supercomputers around the world, and, as we've heard before, some of the most powerful computers ever created are being used... to run World of Warcraft. The9, which is the company that Blizzard has licensed the game to in Asia, runs more than 10 supercomputer systems, hosting at least a million players online at a time. Some of the other tasks listed for these supercomputers include flight simulations and animation rendering -- the same type of computer that designed the wing of the plane you're flying in might have calculated just how much gold you should have after repairs.I have a personal note to add to this one, too, though I have to be fairly vague.
Intel's Clarksfield to begin production in second half of 2009
Penryn-based Montevina just hit the streets a few months ago, but hardware geeks are fickle fellows, so Intel said today that Clarksfield, its Nehalem-based mobile CPU, will go into production in the second half of next year; sadly, there was no word on when the chips will actually be available to consumers in the Calpella platform, which (rumor has it) will have built-in WiMAX. Clarksfield will include an onboard memory controller and a bunch of other new techs like its desktop brethren, so the promise of performance gains comparable to what we've seen in the desktop benchmarks is there -- we'll just have to wait at least a year to enjoy them, so get comfy.
Breakfast Topic: Architectural wishlist
Lone of Bleeding Hollow asks when we'll see architecture, and immediately, a few other players pop up to shout out my answer: we already saw some Egyptian creatures and styles appear around Ahn'Qiraj. But his request for a specific type of architectural style is an interesting one: is there a kind of architecture you haven't seen in game yet that you'd like to?A few people say they want to see Asian architecture, and as we pointed out a little while back, Darnassus actually borrows a lot from Eastern architecture. I'd like to see a city or village in World of Warcraft with a Northeastern United States, Cape Cod kind of fishing town feel -- Booty Bay is a nice fishing town, but it's a little too far south for my personal tastes. We are heading north for Wrath, however, and since there are not one but two coastal areas open up there, I might just get my wish. Fans of Viking and Norse architecture will also get their fill in Wrath, I'll bet, and consdering the Forsaken, as Neth says in the thread, are getting their own architecture, Gothic style will also be a highlight.Are there any styles or cultures that you'd like to see represented in Azeroth that haven't been?
1,000-foot glass funnel could save London's Battersea Power Station
The Battersea Power Station in London has been defunct since 1983, and urban developers have been scratching their heads to come up with a way to preserve the largest brick structure in all of Europe. Some wily Irish developers have come up with a way to turn the empty building into what they're calling a "solar driven natural ventilation system" attached to shopping malls, 3,000 homes, and a boutique hotel. The 1,000-foot glass tower would use a funnel structure to force heat out of the complex using convection all the while providing a striking addition to the London skyline. All in all, developers say this would make the complex carbon neutral. If the plan goes through, the structure could be completed as soon as 2019.
ArchiCAD 12: Multi-core architectural powerhouse
I have several consulting clients who are architects, all of whom use ArchiCAD to create stunning designs and manage the process of documentation. They're going to be very happy architects in July, since Graphisoft is providing multi-core support in the upcoming release of ArchiCAD 12.In addition to divvying up those rendering duties to all 8 cores on your Mac Pro, ArchiCAD 12 has a slew of new features including: A new tool for designing and documenting curtain wall systems Partial structure display for sharing design info with engineers Enhancements in the StairMaker tool New fill management capability and translucent fills 3D "Nudge" feature for moving elements Align and distribute elements along a path or in a pattern Graphisoft and ARCHVISTA Building Technologies are hosting a webinar on June 18, 2008 to demonstrate the features of ArchiCAD 12. While you'll need to contact an ArchiCAD reseller for pricing details, you can slice $500 off of your next ArchiCAD license by ordering the new software before June 30, 2008.Thanks to Michael for the tip!
Studio Wikitecture takes award at AMD Open Architecture Challenge
Studio Wikitecture's entry for a tele-medicine facility in Western Nepal has won the Founder's Award in the AMD Open Architecture Challenge, a competition hosted by Architecture for Humanity on the Open Architecture Network. Edging out 565 other entries from 57 countries, Studio Wikitecture apparently owes its success to a 3D-Wiki 'plug-in' that allowed designs to be developed, trialed and evaluated by consensus in the virtual environment of Second Life.
SkinForm Project sees shape-shifting structure get its wiggle on
There's no shame in admitting that shape-shifting creatures are a touch frightening, but we'll go ahead and warn you -- those spooked by petite bots will be utterly terrified by this. The SkinForm Project has arisen from the University of Technology Sydney, and while there aren't any elaborate details available just yet, it's described as an "intelligent pneumatic structure that transforms dynamically in response to socio-physical context." Additionally, it seems to utilize a plethora of sensors and rely on a good bit of software programing in order to become the transforming architecture that it is. If all goes as planned, the initiative will be completed on June 12th, but you can take a look at a number of in-progress videos right down there in the read link below.
WoW locations based on real-life
This is something that I had never known before about World of Warcraft (and I've been studying this game for quite a while): some of the ingame locations are actually based on real-life buildings and environments. Tree of Life has a terrific post (based on one of our own Around Azeroth screenshots) up showing comparisons of the ingame reproductions and the real-world influences, and some of them are almost perfect recreations.Most of the dances I at least recognized as their real-life counterparts, but other than maybe the Stormwind Castle (and Stonehenge -- duh), I don't think I recognized any of these overtly. Of course, the influences are there -- you can definitely see the Oriental flavor in the Night Elf architecture, and Human buildings are definitely inspired by English and French architecture, but did you know that Durnholde's wreckage compares to a ruined castle in France, or that Zul'Farrak is a take on Macchu Picchu?Very cool finds. Definitely shows you how much Blizzard borrowed from the real world to make this fantasy setting as believable as possible.
One Shots: Bridging cultural differences
Now this is something you don't often see in MMOs every day! No, not the grass, trees and sky -- or even the perky little flowers. The odd thing in this Lord of the Rings Online image is the presence of two very markedly different architectural styles, which you perhaps don't often see close to one another. Finudir, Captain of Gondor, sent us this lovely screenshot and explained:When I walked across these two bridge just before getting to Duilond, I thought "whoa, I have to send this in to the good people at Massively!" In this shot we see two cultures, two architectural styles that don't often occur so close together. The bridge on the left is of Dwarven mastercraft, and the bridge on the right is of Elven make. Nice, eh?Indeed. It's always great to see "foreign" cultures working well side by side in games. Now if we could just get our PUGs to go that harmoniously....Do you have something that caught your attention in your normal game world? Something just a little bit off the beaten path? If so, send it to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com. We love to see what's going on in your game worlds!%Gallery-9798%
Cinemassively: Re-Imagining Boston City Hall Plaza Using Second Life
In 2007, a group of students from Emerson College entered Second Life for a project. Under a pilot program, Hub2, in Boston, to recreate Boston's City Hall Plaza. In an event on December 13th, they will be presenting the Mayor's office with the keys to their virtual city.Their City Hall has long been considered a failure in design, with one study naming it the worst plaza structure worldwide! In SL. the Emerson students call for art installations, a juried space, a place to submit their art for consideration, and a spotlight for the best art piece. While not much more is said in this video, I look forward to learning more about this project and how to city reacts to it!
Building a Better MMOusetrap: Buildings, barrens and beyond (Part 4)
Well it's been a month now that I've been going over this topic, so today will be the final part of the series. We have covered architecture, cities, and the landscapes that cover most of our virtual worlds, and today will be the final topic with raiding dungeons and instances.First I need to clarify something though, the instances I will be talking about will be the type found in games like World of Warcraft, which are used primarily for dungeon content. I will not be talking about the instanced zones found in games like Guild Wars or Tabula Rasa, which are used to filter population through the normal areas throughout the game.Raiding zones and dungeons are usually associated with end game content in MMOs where after you have made the grind to the top levels you can get together with 9 (or 39) of your friends and go hack and slash your way through a (usually) carefully designed area to take down either a single boss or a number of bosses. In WoW however, instances are used throughout the game to contain the five-man dungeons where higher quality equipment drops.
Building a better MMOusetrap: Buildings, barrens and beyond (Part 3)
Over the past two weeks I have gone over some of the base elements of architecture in massively multiplayer games. Touching on how architecture can influence a persons time inside a game, as well as how different types of players can actually begin to influence the environment.Once a player leaves the cities with the games, they will begin to encounter more diverse and interesting environments and landscapes. The largest percentage of available space in MMOs is simulated landscape and natural scenery. From toxic-hued forests and jungles, to vast dune seas, and rolling grasslands, all the way out into the vastness of space and although the landscapes in the games oftentimes reflect the vistas we know from the real world, sometimes they are as if they were plucked from the dreams or nightmares of the players. However something separates landscapes in reality from landscapes in video games, and that is the fact that at the end of the day, most of the areas outside the cities in online games, are structured just the same as the cities themselves are.Each area or "zone" is assigned it's own distinct character, and habitat and is assigned a specific level of difficulty. They often have only a few entries and exits, a handful of important landmarks and high walls surround the entire area. In this sense the areas function simply as an exaggerated room, with walls surrounding, one or two doors or windows to get out, and everything within set specifically to function only within that area. Espen Aarseth stated in his Allegories of Space about the game Myst:"What looks like an open area is really a closed labyrinth with a few possible directions..."
Cheyenne releases 11 new Stargate Worlds images
The slow but steady trickle of Stargate Worlds stuff continued today when Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment published 11 new concept art and screenshot images for the game in the gallery at its official website. The images include a screenshot of the Ancient planet Agnos, concept art for a Goa'uld player character, and screenshots and concept art for various buildings. It's not much, but we did say it was a "trickle," didn't we?It looks like Cheyenne is making pretty good use of the Unreal engine but these screenshots don't seem very game-play-ish so it's tough to say for sure. The concept art is definitely worth a look, though.
Building a better MMOusetrap: Buildings, barrens and beyond (Part 2)
Last week we started to look at the architecture of MMO cities, and how they can impact game play. How developers use areas like transit zones, to herd the players, even if they players aren't aware. This week we will take a deeper look into the cities themselves, the people that inhabit them, and why.Cities are often looked at in virtual worlds as a type of mall, where you can go and pick up the things you need, trade in or sell the things you don't, and maybe swing by the food court for a bite to eat. As such, players often treat cities very differently; just like malls you have different groups of people who want different things out of the environment. To some, it's a hangout place, the folks who sit around talking with their friends, using yell or in-city channels to spam their personal and most inner thoughts (WTS [Wang] x1 PST). You have those who look at it just like a pit stop, get in, do what you have to do, and get out. And those who abhor the cities entirely and would rather go out of their way to some small outpost just to avoid the unwashed masses, even if it means an extra twenty minutes.I think developers can change this though, making the cities more like the ones we are used to in the real world. Places to rest, refresh, and socialize. In games like FFXI, the cities feel barren and devoid of life, with only the most necessary NPCs around to give out the quest and vendor your unwanted loot. There are frequently more empty, inaccessible buildings than there are ones you can go in. Where the opposite can be said about WoW, where there are countless houses for you to explore (albeit most of them empty), NPCs wandering around with no function other than to sell pie, and more vendors than you can shake a stick at.
First Impressions: Flyff
Flyff is a play-for-free 3D MMO with that anime style that today's youth hungers for. In my quest to devour all MMOs in existence, I took it upon myself to give Flyff a shot. Akela: He plays weird stuff so you don't have to.Here's the immediate take-away: Even though their tagline is 'Fly for fun', it's not immediately clear how the flying will occur. A lot of their advertising features great-looking airships, people soaring through the air on their own, fabulous critters wafting along, etc. In my initial hour, though, Flyff gameplay followed the standard, whacking things with a sword until they dropped loot like so many naughty piñatas.%Gallery-10430%
Building a better MMOusetrap: Buildings, barrens and beyond (Part 1)
I spent the last two years living in the UK with an architecture enthusiast, and we often got into debates about the functionality and aesthetics about architecture and design. As such I began doing a bit of personal research on the topic, but filtered it down into a view on my own extra-curricular exploits. It was through this that I found a number of papers related to architectural choices in video games and virtual worlds, some are now a little outdated as they were written in the early days of true 3D gaming, but some hold true even to today. The main point, being that the decisions being made by developers are not simply held to aesthetics, but often have classical themes of architecture and planning intertwined into the building of our online cities. MMO architecture is something I think can define, both the enjoyment, and popularity of the game in the same way that the ease of use of its interface can cause people to love it or leave it. And I think designers and developers are starting to believe this as well, looking at the cities, towns, hamlets and mega-cities of games are starting to feel more like real places instead of just something that serves in game function. This isn't something that is only tied into a single MMO genre either, games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest and Final Fantasy XI all draw on well-known fantasy architectural schemes, City of Heroes/Villains uses a lot of real world and comic influences, and games such as Eve Online tie into popular sci-fi conventions. That being said, these games are not simply drawing from norms, but also are utilizing individual ideas and designs, there are influences of lore and unique design in all of the above mentioned games.
"The Image of the Undercity"
Terra Nova has a fascinating read up about architecture in World of Warcraft, and to an extent, all videogames. In the latest Wired (which appeared on my doorstep yesterday), there's a Clive Thompson piece about Halo 3, and in there, he compares creating videogames not to creating movies, but to designing architecture. There are all sorts of challenges in dealing with the flow of self-driven players, and those are directly related to the forms and format of architecture, and you can see that kind of design all over Azeroth. When players grouped around the bank and mailbox in Ironforge, designers spread out both in places like Silvermoon and Shattrath. And as the article Terra Nova quotes makes clear, sometimes Blizzard wants the architecture to work for the players (as in Undercity, where everything is laid out in a circle, with lots of clues as to where things are), and sometimes it wants the space to work against them-- Blackrock Depths is a challenge to get through, which is fitting for (well, what used to be) a higher level dungeon.Just as we "learn" the places we inhabit in real life, we also eventually learn virtual spaces as well-- tell me you weren't confused the first time someone had to show you how to get to UBRS, and yet now you could probably get there blindfolded, right?Very interesting stuff. And it brings up one more question: Most players, by now, have learned pretty much all of Azeroth. But eventually (and we've seen this hinted at in the supposed "events" that will kick off the next expansion), the world will change. What if you entered Ironforge one day, and things weren't where you expected them to be?
