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Starting from Scatch
An Exclusive GDC 2006 Interview with Richard Garriott
Richard Garriott: I started with the goal of [developing] something that would truly be the universal language. Of course that turned out to be exceptionally difficult. There were certain things I had to decide that were universal principles [or archetype symbols] - like an hourglass. Its reasonable for me to say all cultures going through evolution with the same physics you and I understand probably had a time where sand clocks and water clocks were part of it.
It may not be literally true for the universe, but its close enough.
But an even bigger slight I had to agree to was stick figure people [archetype symbol for people]. I actually don't think most sentient life would be in human form, but to not have that from a gameplay standpoint made the problem basically improbable.
There are about a dozen symbols that are used as root words throughout the language system.
Question: I found the topic of the 'globally developed MMO' you discussed in your lecture today interesting. Basically, with so many outsourced partners in coding Tabula Rasa, what are the pros and cons of such a strategy?
Richard Garriott: We have to manage the whole process from Austin obviously. We have not been very successful in outsourcing character animations. Because they're so technical, they have blend with one another and work with so many parts and pieces that even though we've done a little bit of that, the amount of after work we have to do is so noteworthy that we generally don't [outsource that element].
The thing that we've found that's worked the best [is our outsourced concept group]. We have a concept group in LA and a concept group in Austin. Those guys are close enough to Austin - even though they're remote - they work great.
We build the first archetypical model. So lets suppose you're going to create the buildings for the human military bases. We always build one or maybe two of those actual buildings in Austin where we can set not only the general flavor and framework. We also develop all the foundational texture maps to be used so the archetypes are set in Austin.
Once we have some archetypes - we ship it all to China. But it doesn't have to be China, there's a group we work in San Francisco and there's even an out of house group in Austin we work with - all those guys do a great job once that foundational piece is set.
Question: As you know, Square is porting Final Fantasy XII and the console market has taken a big chunk of the gaming market away from the PC over the last few years. Do you see MMOs migrating to consoles in the near future?
Richard Garriott: The short answer is no. But let me give you a deeper answer - because there is a no and a yes. There's no question consoles are a great gaming platform. There's no question that online will be a great portion of your entertainment value on consoles. But online and MMO I'm now going to differentiate between in a way that's important for this question.
I think there's something fundamentally important about where a console lives in your house and what it does well versus where a PC lives and what it does well. Consoles sit in your living room, in a place where you have a couch and a simple controller and where five other people can sit with you all participating concurrently with this fight in the room with you. But it is by virtue of its location in the house and its physical interface perfect for "I put the CD in, I turn the thing off, all memory is erased, I put a new CD in, I'm instantly in the world, I can be there for instant gratification for 30 minutes and then I can turn it off and be free of want or obligations."
I think PCs do something better. There a thing were you up in a chair, which is usually a better place to stay for extended periods, you have a keyboard which is a higher bandwidth interface device, you're sitting very close to the screen. The very nature of engaging other people, to build relationships beyond killing, means you need to be conversant, you need time and relationships take time to develop. I just mean social time spent together doing something jointly enjoyable activity.
I think the machine and its location are conducive to where social games will be supported in a superior way on PCs. Combat oriented games will do at least as well on consoles. So the online console games like Battlfield 2 will be great. Its jump in, sit down, and the depth of your engagement with other people is "Quick, check over there, go get the guys coming in from the south! " You're going to be there to mostly kill people.
That's where I think those two platforms will synch. So for deep immersive MMOs, I actually don't think consoles will be the primary platform, ever.
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