By virtual world I am referring to a genre of computer games.
Quake, Doom, HalfLife, Unreal Tournament consist of 3d environments and the player’s move around and shoot each other.
The actions in these games generally consist of running, jumping and shooting. As well as the ability to look around. Half-Life offers ladders, and boxes that can be pushed around. There is also the ability to swim and pick up objects.
Chatrooms simulate a virtual room. People are able to talk to each other. The visibility of messages can be restricted. Within chatrooms there can be avatars that can move around a generally simple environment.
Mud’s are text-based role playing games. There is an abundance of them around. The environment consists of a large map which the players can move around. There are monsters and items to interact with.
There are many actions available in mud’s.
An evolution of Mud’s has been the online RPG. Graal, Diablo, Ultima Online, Everquest and Ragnarok fall into this category. People can group together to go on quests in a similar way to single player rpg’s. Many actions available.
Games such as Age of Empires/Age of Mythology, Red Alert/Command and Conquer make this group. The players have an army to fight opposing armies. Computer controlled armies are available.
Most often available at websites. Usually consist of a Java Applet. Games such as Poker, Chess, Monopoly can be found. There are drawing games, that allow people to share a canvas. Word games. Actions vary largely depending on game.
Pokemon’s multiplayer features are the ability to trade pokemon with other players. Trading was also mentioned in Final Fantasy 10. These are single player games generally RPG-related with an online trading facility.
Online racing games enable players to compete racing around a track. Examples include Live-For-Speed, Gran Turismo and Need for Speed. Actions are car-driving related.
|
Genre |
Environment |
Actions |
Examples |
|
3D Shooter |
3D World |
Shooting, Jumping, Manuvering |
Quake, Doom, HalfLife, Unreal Tournament |
|
Chatroom |
Non-Existant/Map |
Message Posting, Walking |
Yahoo, IRC |
|
MUD |
Map |
Many |
Adventures Unlimited |
|
Online RPG |
Map, Building Interiors |
Many |
Graal, Diablo, Ultima Online, Everquest and Ragnarok |
|
Strategy/War |
Map |
Army Management |
Age of Empires/Age of Mythology, Red Alert/Command and Conquer |
|
Puzzle/Card/Board |
Game-Specific |
Game-Specific |
Poker, Chess, Monopoly |
|
Trading |
Game-Specific |
RPG-like |
Pokemon |
|
Racing/Sports |
Racing Track, Sports-Ground |
Car-Driving, Athlete control |
Live-For-Speed, Gran Turismo and Need for Speed, EA Sports Range |
Travel
Many people enjoy travel. Long train rides can give everyone accomodation, as if it were a hotel. Travel in role-playing games can consist of crossing continents.
Creation
If a player wants to build a staff, it would be nice to allow this. A tree-branch can be broken off. It can be crafted into a staff. The staff can be sold. The staff can be fought with. If a building is available a staff-shop could be established. Players could be hired to create staff’s and take them to the shop’s store room. Players could be hired as marketers to travel the land and inform of the staff’s available.
Television
There could be a television broadcast centre which can be received on televisions throughout the land. Marketers could buy a slot on the television program.
Mixed Genre’s
All the genre’s described above could be combined into one large multiplayer world. In Natural Selection War/Strategy was combined with 3D Shooter. Communication was also available, ie chatrooms. Sports could be implemented as simply as adding a ball object. Non-playable characters could keep track of scoring. Racing would mean creating racing car objects akin to the tanks in operation flashpoint/jeeps in counter-strike. A map would be MUD-like. Sections of the map could be created as a sports ground or racing track. Puzzle Games/Card games could be created to be played between players. All war objects could be created.
