Biggest problem with these games (I've found, anyway) is that your sword controller cannot magically stop in mid air when your virtual sword hits another sword or a wall or whatever. It really ruins the immersion.
Cameo by Gabe Newell <a href="http://i.imgur.com/6vDza.png" rel="nofollow">http://i.imgur.com/6vDza.png</a>, who is swordsmithing a crowbar :)<p><pre><code> Neal: "Hey is that about ready?"
Gabe: "These things, they take time..."</code></pre>
I don't mind putting a bit of cash towards projects where those involved really don't have the resources to pull it off otherwise, but does Neal Stephenson really not have enough cash to bootstrap this himself?
Anyone remember Die by the Sword? Admittedly it was more sword flailing than sword fighting, but it's the only game I've played that had a semblance of direct control. It was also the first game to use IK for everything from sword fighting to rope swinging and ladder climbing. Even nowadays it's rare to see IK used in games for anything except relatively minor pose fix-ups (blending canned poses offers better control, and IK fix-ups can then be applied on top to get perfect alignment for aiming, etc).
Real swordfighting is not about the sword, it's about the footwork. Just physically do not be where the opponent's sword is heading.<p>See: relatively little blade contact in extremely high level fencing.
As someone who just finished reading Snow Crash today (great stuff btw, can't wait for another Stephenson's book) I'd be thrilled to see this and try it in action.<p>As someone who's been into martial arts for some time I'm very sceptic about this. There's a lot more to realistic fighting than just swinging and clashing swords: footwork, body movement, weight transfer...<p>Nevertheles, even if it won't turn out to be perfect it could stil be a lots of fun. I'll be watching their progress.
I'm surprised there was no mention of the Mount and Blade[1] series, which took a serious look at this sort of combat through the use of contextual mouse movements for parries and attacks. I wonder if he's unaware of the franchise, or just didn't feel the need to mention it.<p>I'm also not convinced that today's odometry based controllers will give you high enough fidelity to model swords convincingly. Any sort of wiimote or kinect based sword/lightsaber game has always seemed very waggle centric without any deliberate movement. Also, I'm not really thrilled about the thought of having to buy plastic swords to swing in my room.<p>[1]:<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psLA87SgZcw" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psLA87SgZcw</a>
One of the most interesting games I've ever played was Bushido Blade 2. The best thing about it was realistic vulnerability: get stabbed once and you die (or maybe lose use of an arm). The disappointment was made up for by lots of quick rounds.<p>I always thought it was silly to have games where you'd get shot 20 times and keep fighting exactly the same, just lose some of your energy meter, then suddenly flop over and die when it reached zero.
I wish him luck. Various projects have come along with backing from people outside the video game industry with the goal of being more realistic, more revolutionary and so on. But it's a lot harder to make a playable fun game. Realism often isn't fun. Modern Warfare 3 is the culmination of 20 years of evolution from Wolfenstein, and still is nothing like being a real soldier.
I'm curious how they plan to implement actual medieval / early Renaissance combat tactics with a controller like the one in the video - how would you do half-swording or something like the Mordhau?<p>For people who aren't medieval geeks - half-sword is when you hold the sword halfway up the blade with your left hand, in order to deliver a more accurate, powerful thrust; perhaps after trapping your opponent's sword between your arm and body. Mordhau ("murder-strike") is when you invert the sword and use it as a mace. These things came about because swinging a sword into an armored opponent isn't actually going to do much to him.<p>It seems like the kind of combat you could simulate might potentially be fun, but wouldn't actually simulate a real fight from the period - not enough grappling / bashing.
It's going to be difficult to get right. They seem to emphasize on the hand work, the swing, parry, thrust. Sword fighting is as much foot work as hand work, as I've learned in my fencing days way back. There are only a few hand actions, the lounge, parry/return, and indirect attack, on different zones, but the foot work is the major part of the game. Keeping and judging the distance is a tough skill. Close in suddenly, retreat and lounge, counter lounge, lounge and crouch, .etc. All these will be difficult to replicate in the game.<p>I wish them luck.
Ok. So a famous author decides to make a sword fighting video game. Awesome. But.... I feel from the video that what they are really trying to create is a sword fighting <i>simulator</i>. Big difference, playability is incredibly important, we're all familiar with 'arcade modes' where realism is suspended to create an engaging, fun game. So I'm wondering how successful this 'game' will actually be.
Reminds me of that Incantor wand controller<p><a href="http://incantor.com/" rel="nofollow">http://incantor.com/</a><p><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moveablecode/incantor-magic-made-real-a-real-world-mobile-based" rel="nofollow">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moveablecode/incantor-ma...</a><p>Maybe you'd want a difference in heftiness of the controller, but a similar swinging/waving api?
Clang getting some The Verge coverage <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/10/3076307/neal-stephenson-clang-sword-fighting-game" rel="nofollow">http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/10/3076307/neal-stephenson-cl...</a> - I hope these guys hit mainstream. I would love it if Neal could pull this off in a big way.
When the Wii appeared, sword games was the first thing that came to my mind, but I don't there have been too many of them on the Wii. I was also hoping we'd see some martial arts fighting (or training) games for the Kinect by now, although the Kinect needs to dramatically increase its accuracy for that.
If you want to sword fight "realistically", go out, buy a sword and join a sword-fighting club.<p>Darn, why do people try to solve everything with technology when there is a simple solution in the physical world!?<p>No matter how they dice it or slice it (ah ah), it's not going to end up "realistic" for anyone who has used a sword before.
>in a much more intuitive way than pulling a plastic trigger or pounding a key on a keyboard<p>A bit unfair to make that comparison. At the very least, the Wii Motion Plus in games such as Sports Resort fencing offers a better experience than that.
Thinking about comparative advantage, and being the selfish sort, I think I'd rather see him do something closer to home. I don't play video games, and even a Neal Stephenson game isn't going to change that, but I love his writing.
What are the technical challenges involved with building a high quality, low-latency bit of hardware? Even small lags in response are really annoying and kill enjoyment of the game for me.
Rune! Was awesome. The way you could make your sword move with the mouse was amazing. Accuracy is what it is about. If this game could capture that feeling I am aboard.
I absolutely adore the video, but the video should CLEARLY explain what the money is going to be used for. There is no mention (only allusion) to hardware development in the video at all.<p>Also, it's not clear from the video if the game will be playable _without_ the special hardware...
he copied my realization!
<a href="http://www.riturajsatpute.com/2010/08/where-are-real-role-playing-games.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.riturajsatpute.com/2010/08/where-are-real-role-pl...</a>
I have to say; sword fighting is perhaps the least interesting subject I could imagine, but since it's Neil Stephenson, he can have my money. I also enjoyed the part where he threw the cookbook at Sir Dumbass.
TLDR: In a parallel thread ( <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4086805" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4086805</a> ) multiple posters note how Pixar's 22 tips for storytelling apply to computer programming. Obviously AAPL took note, because Neal Stephenson is working on Clang now. The enterprise became the hot topic of yet another front-page thread ( <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4090845" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4090845</a> ). They soon might find this handy: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4085318" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4085318</a><p>;)