Idea: unintended MMO/bg syncing of interesting things

[hendu]

So I saw this great idea in a mindfuck thread elsewhere, and sharing is caring


The point is to use the network in games it usually isn't used in (single player, etc, anything but a MMO). Making the actions of one player visible for some other player, delayed.

For example, you moved some object. For the next player that object could be in its new place. Or maybe you broke a window...


It wouldn't have to be limited to eye candy either; it could affect NPC behavior or the placing of critical items too, within sane limits. Nor would it require a network connection, it could work optionally, when a connection was available.

I think it would create a feeling of a dynamic world much better than randomness or AI ever could. In that thread it was also mentioned that it could be used to make you visible to someone else as a NPC.

[ACE247]

Idea: Intentional LAG
Yay and then record everyones moves on a server so over a while we can replay everyones movements at once and have ghosts all over the place
Would make one hell of a cool experiment.

[hendu]

Why would it lag? Having one query on level load (or every X minutes, depending on game type) would be quite fast.

Sending one event every X min would be completely async, as there is no need to get a reply from the server for that.

[ACE247]

Sorry maybe I misunderstood what you wrote, but from first read It seams like you want to delay player actions across the network?
Is that correct?

[hendu]

Yes, but only some actions. Maybe an example?

Consider SuperTuxKart. Maybe I do a nice curve and leave long braking traces. This is the type of event I mean, it would be sent to the server at some timeout.

Then Joe in another country loads up the same level. And sees those braking traces in that curve, even though he's first and nobody's driven there yet in that race.

[ACE247]

Ahh, clever! You want players to extend levels as they play/ build them.
It would be like making a landscape and letting erosion take over sculpting it, with here erosion being the player. So the more played a level becomes the more the players actions improve it making it look more real.
Albeit, i do see a problems with this. What is there to keep players from absolutely devastating the levels over time since its not their home they don't really care for it and just look how battlefield 3 levels end up after one match so and wont we then need to rebuild levels from time to time?

[hendu]

The changes are not permanent; each time a client requests one event it is removed from the server.

This way each playthrough is fresh and dynamic. No complete devastation, and things change for each playtime.


edit: Of course some sort of persistence can be done, all depends on the game. But as you say it would need to be limited to not produce wasteland

[Cube_]

this gave me an interesting idea.....
I will refine it a bit and share what my mind created

[Dareltibus]

lol such server will be quite complex. What if memory leaks inside? . Nice idea anyway

[hendu]

Hm, I'd bet this kind of server could be less than 100 loc. It's not rocket science to store and serve say 10k strings.

[ACE247]

AND rocket science isn't very complicated either...