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Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets
  Blog \Blôg\, n. [Jrg, fr. Jrg. "Web-log".
     See {Blogger, BlogSpot, LiveJournal}.]
     A stream-of-consciousness Web journal, containing
     links, commentary, and pointless drivel.


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Friday, March 28, 2003
21:55 - Realism
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/391/391500p1.html

(top) link

So there's a new game from Capcom-- "Auto Modellista"-- that lets you make your own VR rice-rockets and race them. And it's cel-shaded. Now that we've mastered fully realistic racing games, now we're doing cel-shaded.

Which is fine, really. I'm a big believer in the idea of stylization in virtual worlds, of not trying to achieve the absolute greatest humanly possible amount of realism. Once we can do fully immersive interactive VR worlds and walk around in holodeck-like towns and historical situations like Lileks has rooted for, that'll be one thing; but there will always be the need for video games that don't instill any more of a sense of realism than Super Mario Bros. does.

Sure, today's more realistic VR simulation games can come dang close to the real experience. But lemme tell you something:

Today, as I was driving back from the house up the Death Star trench that is Interstate 85, I heard up ahead of me an odd, high-pitched buzzing noise, the frequency wavering up and down. I cranked my window down a bit to listen harder. Was it some kid blasting his way between lanes at 90 mph, sweeping for cops? No, it wasn't pulling any further ahead of me as I drove. I recognized the telltale throatiness, under the needling whine, of what had to be a high-revving, unmuffled V-8. Either someone was barreling down the freeway in third gear in a truck, or...

Then the car ahead of me jumped aside into the carpool lane, and right in front of it was a Ferrari F355 F1 coupe. Ahhh, now I remembered that sound.

There were enough cars and few enough lanes on that freeway that he couldn't scoot out and pass everybody, so I pulled up close behind him and rolled my window down all the way. Ahhh, that sound. Having driven one of these once before (CapLion can attest to this), I know what it's like having that engine sound right up close to you, right behind you. I know what it's like to be going highway speed and sounding like you're revving at about 8K. I know what it's like to be eye-level with everyone else's door handles. I know why the balding guy in the driver's seat had that mysterious little smile, even with nobody in the passenger place.

So I trailed him for some five miles, pulling up alongside for some of it, dropping back again, just enjoying the sight and the sound. The F355 is not, in my opinion, the best-looking Ferrari ever; but it's one of the redheaded greats, and I was sorry to see it go when I peeled off at my exit.

Striving for realism in a video game is a great thing; but I'll quite honestly take a fleeting real-life experience on a chance once-in-a-year encounter over the most realistic always-available game any day.


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© Brian Tiemann