• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

5th Cell's new game of HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE revealed - Scribblenauts (DS)

E

EmCeeGramr

Member
Hey Jackson, if I make a sack, can I put things in the sack and then swing the sack around or throw the sack?

Because I was also thinking about making a bunch of doorknobs.
 
D

DeadFalling

Member
DeadFalling said:
Jackson. Answer these two questions please.

What about toboggans? To some people that is a sled and to others it is a type of hat.

You claim that Every mundane object imaginable will be spawnable? I.E. Towelette, Doorknob, Bark, Headset, Floppy, Picture Frame, Rubberband, Toenail, etc.?
Click to expand...

Quoted for the new page. Get on this Jackson!
 
L

Lyude77

Member
Do multiple word concepts work? That wasn't answered in the interview. For instance: nuclear bomb, cell phone, sniper rifle, etc. I'm sure there were better examples, but those were the first things that came to mind.

Edit: Beaten, sorry. I have examples though. :D
 
E

EmCeeGramr

Member
Oh no. If I can write things like "puppies" and "kittens," then this game will allow people to set them on fire or throw them to sharks. :(
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
I added Jackson's concise explanation to the first post... not that it makes any of this easier to swallow :lol
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
This sounds ridiculous, I'm intrigued.

So if I input "brush" and "pony", I could have my own pony to brush?

Not that I would want one, but could I?
 
G

Gaborn

Member
Death_Born said:
I might as well get this out of the way then:

LIGER!
Click to expand...

Which is obviously the second thing I'm going to try. LOVE ligers, so fascinating, so deadly (now that they have the taste of blood...)
 
E

eznark

Banned
Okay, so I am wrapping my head around the "every object" thing, but how does the character know how to interact with each object? Like throwing the football?

My mind...blown.
 
E

EmCeeGramr

Member
can I write girlfriend and then have a girlfriend
35chlyx.gif
 
B

batbeg

Member
My girlfriend wants to know if this is possible: making a tie appear, then tying said tie to a squirrel, then swinging said squirrel at the starite with the tie.

IS THIS POSSIBLE?
 
A

arne

Member
you know, i've posted in a thread before and said that cliched "mind blown"

but really. totally seriously. like SRSLY.



MIND BLOWN
 
Allan Holdsworth

Allan Holdsworth

Member
Hmm, so there is only one possible interaction with each object, or several? Wouldn't it be better if at least some objects (weapons/vehicles) were controlled by the buttons?
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
Seriously I think this is the first time I've ever seen a developer hype a "new original concept" and actually meet and exceed expectations. It always has some hook :lol
 
C

clockradiospeakers

Member
I'd like to say that I'm as completely baffled by this as Amir0x, tho less vocal about it. And I hope the puzzles are good enough to not be broken by this system.
 
O

Opiate

Member
Jackson,

I'd like you to know that I do not own a DS. I have been very interested in Professor Layton, Castlevania, and a few other games, but I've never been a handheld gamer, so I had simply held off.

I am now going to buy a DS and I will buy your game. Well done.
 
D

dragonlife

Member
If there is a .jpg out there of a brain getting sucked off, I would totally post it--MIND BLOWN!

Seriously, OMG...this game sounds amazing. I read that interview in its entirety (some of you seriously should, too) and my hype level has gone through the roof.

So, is Jackson the guy from the interview? Jackson/5th Cell, please let me have your babies!

Oh, and the "your imagination's the limit" is obviously aimed at everyone who's not a member of GAF, amirite? :lol

Seriously, holy shit...I skipped out on Drawn to Life, and have yet to buy Locke's Quest (But I will), but with this one, it's a definite Day One for me!

I really liked the approach to some of the levels! I was like, "Aw, they're timed? :(" But then they mentioned that if you play them enough, you can play it freely and just go wild, which made me ":D" big time. I also like the replayabilty--it certainly seems that it will get much harder.
 
J

justchris

Member
I haven't picked up Lock's Quest yet (it came during a particularly busy time for me), but I'll be preordering this, I am a huge english language geek.
 
Y

Ydahs

Member
Wait, how is this game going to get a PAL release? It needs to be translated into half a dozen different languages, and I doubt all those words multiplied by the amount of languages will fit on a single cart (prove me wrong)!
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Ydahs said:
Wait, how is this game going to get a PAL release? It needs to be translated into half a dozen different languages, and I doubt all those words multiplied by the amount of languages will fit on a single cart (prove me wrong)!
Click to expand...

the problem isn't the words, it's the objects the the words represent.

assuming two-byte characters and ten characters a word (realistically if the game is using ascii, it's seven bit or one byte characters and few words are going to be ten characters), you're looking at twenty bytes per word. that's fifty words per kilobyte, or fifty thousand words per megabyte. multiply by five languages, and you're looking at five megabytes per fifty thousand objects, conservatively.

now, consider how much space the art assets for 50,000 objects would take up.
 
C

charlequin

Banned
So as mentioned this is totally awesome, but it's not quite as impossible as amir0x says. :lol

Based on the interview, the way this system works is something like this:

  • You have a list of properties that can apply to objects (what it's made of, how much it weighs, whether it has any actions, whether it's alive, what it wants to do, etc.)
  • You define a basic taxonomy of objects more or less based on Twenty Questions, starting from something like "animal vegetable or mineral?" and working your way down to specific objects
  • You define as many of these properties as possible in the taxonomy: all animals are alive and made of meat, all wood objects are flammable, etc. -- this is a big project but not ludicrously so
  • You make a list of nouns pulled out of the dictionary, grouping all the synonyms together (this gets rid of like 75% of the nouns in English)
  • You assign all your groups of synonyms to spots in the taxonomy -- this will probably already take care of like 50% of your objects with no extra work
  • Go through the rest of the objects and just add whatever qualities are missing
  • Remember that like 65% of your dev time or something is just going to be making all the objects work because your engine is probably pretty straightforward and/or based on DtL code

Things like this are totally possible, it's just mind-blowing to me that someone is actually, in fact, doing it. :D
 
N

Nicktals

Banned
Stumpokapow said:
the problem isn't the words, it's the objects the the words represent.

assuming two-byte characters and ten characters a word (realistically if the game is using ascii, it's seven bit or one byte characters and few words are going to be ten characters), you're looking at twenty bytes per word. that's fifty words per kilobyte, or fifty thousand words per megabyte. multiply by five languages, and you're looking at five megabytes per fifty thousand objects, conservatively.

now, consider how much space the art assets for 50,000 objects would take up.
Click to expand...

I know very little about stuff like this, but couldn't each pixel of the object have a property? Start with a box (the area the object will be drawn onto) pixel1.color = red, pixel2.visible = false, pixel1.burnable = true....You just have different sized boxes for different objects. Something like a tsunami has the full screen box, whereas a match would have the extra small box. This would greatly increase the number of properties for each object, but I think it might save space overall? Again, I know very little about stuff like this and have no idea if it would work...But it's interesting (to me) to think about, at least.


Yeah, this is blowing my mind.

ThaiGrocer said:
I'm guessing flamethrower is never going to happen.
Click to expand...

Why wouldn't it be? Or you could do torch + fan...That might be more fun!
 
C

Camwi

Member
If they actually make this work (and work well), then I imagine this being one of the friggin' coolest games of all time.
 
J

Jackson

Member
Ydahs said:
Wait, how is this game going to get a PAL release? It needs to be translated into half a dozen different languages, and I doubt all those words multiplied by the amount of languages will fit on a single cart (prove me wrong)!
Click to expand...

Of course it'll be out EU, fully localized.
 
M

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
You know, that was a really good interview.
It seems like there were hints of a level editor. That would be amazing.
To be able to set up our own scenarios, goals, rules, and par values, then share them with friends (online?)... that would be sick.
 
J

Jive Turkey

Unconfirmed Member
Amir0x said:
You can write anything, and it'd come to life?

This shit sounds too good to be true, I can't even imagine just what is going on here mechanically. Even after reading the interview I don't get it :lol
Click to expand...
That's my thing...Anything? ANYTHING? So if I write "J. Edgar Hoover" J. Edgar Hoover will come and knock that Starite out of the tree?
 
P

platypotamus

Member
And when it can't read my handwriting, or the word isn't something it knows:


"I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a bunny with a pancake on its head"
 
Y

Ydahs

Member
Camwi said:
If they actually make this work (and work well), then I imagine this being one of the friggin' coolest games of all time.
Click to expand...
I think it all depends on the puzzles. If they spend enough time making many superb puzzles, it should be a gem. What would be even better is if they made a puzzle editor and allowed us to share puzzles online, similar to Blastworks.

edit: beaten by Mejilan...

Jackson said:
Of course it'll be out EU, fully localized.
Click to expand...
It's going to be a pain translating...
 
N

Nicktals

Banned
Jive Turkey said:
That's my thing...Anything? ANYTHING? So if I write "J. Edgar Hoover" J. Edgar Hoover will come and knock that Starite out of the tree?
Click to expand...

I'd assume no proper nouns.

EDIT: Maybe you can write "president" though, and have some stereotyped president knock it out of the tree!
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
Jive Turkey said:
That's my thing...Anything? ANYTHING? So if I write "J. Edgar Hoover" J. Edgar Hoover will come and knock that Starite out of the tree?
Click to expand...

No, no.

Jackson clarified, and if you add to that the things the interview excludes...

No vulgarities, no phrases, no copyrighted terms.

Just objects/nouns.

Which "just" makes it about 50~60,000 words. My mind is so fucking blown at this shit :lol
 
G

Game-Biz

Member
Jackson knows not what he's getting himself into. The trek for word magic is a long a treacherous journey filled with danger and mystery...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Swen Vincke interview: Larian Studio size sustainable for a good number of years, new games not going to "dwarf" BG3, and more
7
446
amigastar replied
Xbox CFO Discusses Opportunities with AI, How Microsoft Measures Its Success in Games, and More
News Business 2
84
5K
SimTourist replied
Peter Moore: The Final Console Generation, MS going Third Party, and MS debated putting the original Halo on PlayStation
2 3
140
10K
Astray replied
Eternal Strands - Official Reveal Trailer
Trailer
39
2K
March Climber replied
EA Hopes to Use Generative AI to Drive Monetization and Make Development 30% More Efficient
Opinion Business Game Dev
27
2K
radewagon replied
Top Bottom