The Next Wii Zelda

[Sqrl]

kn said:

Sqrl said:
I think the Zelda series is overdue for a good mix'em'up title that changes the dynamic. But I doubt they would be willing to do it considering the success of the formula they have been using for oh so long.

At the very least I think the 1:1 sword play would be very popular and it would be a huge benefit to the Wii overall. It basically would act as a proof of concept and I think could ultimately result in a number of interesting games and possibly a new genre...I know everyone has been anticipating Light Saber duals since E306! Or at least I have =P

Though I like my Wii and enjoy the controller experience, I don't think the technology found in the Wii controller is capable of doing 1:1 response. It is pretty easy to move your arm/hand faster than the Wii controller can update the screen. I think two things are going to be needed for true 1:1 gameplay: First, more processing power in the Wii itself. Though the unit is technically pretty solid, that's a drastic amount of real-time physics to update and they'll have to be updated with a staggering refresh rate to keep up with a rapidly moving controller. The second is the wireless technology in the Wii controller. I don't believe the inherent lag time will allow for true 1:1 even if the Wii hardware can handle the physics. It will probably take a much higher quality accelerometer/gyroscope to have the precision that is going to be needed for mind boggling 1:1 gameplay control in 3D space. I do believe we will see it in the second generation Wii. The controller has proven the merits of it's design and the 1.0 has exceeded even Nintendo's wildest dreams...

 Just to be clear I have worked with some of the developement tools out there for the Wiimote, so I am not just talking out of my ass here.  I actually know first hand what the thing is capable of.

 So with that in mind, let me say the remote is far far more than sensitive enough to register 1:1 movement.  Subtle movements and large whipping motions are all registered with accuracy.  The only problem thus far has been that nobody has sat down and coded the interface.  Once again to be clear this isn't a simple task, there are a lot of problems in maintaining a natural look and feel for when people do odd things (ie drop/throw their remote).  Up until now most efforts have been simply detecting when one of the accelerometers exceeds a certain speed in a certain direction and triggering an interface event corresponding to that action.  But the Wii-mote is capable of much much more, of that you can be sure.

You would think it is a simple situation of having 3 vectors and tracking the resulting change in position from an arbitrarily defined origin.  But in reality this is only a part of the puzzle. You still have to maintain orientation and that involves properly detecting rotation, tilt, maintaining a sense of up/down (ie gravity),  and more...

But the hardest part is not detecting the movements, it actually comes with melding the movements you are detecting onto the character and having it look, feel, and act fluidly.  As I said there are number of things a player can do that the Wii-mote would probably find unnatural for a body to be able to do, and it needs to have ways of detecting and dealing with these motions such that it doesn't completely break you away from the immersion they are working so hard to create.  

So in short, while everyone thinks this is a simple case of math that just needs to be worked out, that is only part of the puzzle.  There is a great deal of math involved in detections, but there is a great deal of ingenuity required in taking what is detected and making it look and feel "just right".