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Introduction and Theory |Advent and Progression of the Gaming Engine

implementing the game engine would then allow it to “govern the relations between these [modeled] objects to build the game space,”[12] allowing the creation of increasingly dynamic simulations and visualizations.

Of course, this becomes even more compelling in the consideration of occupancy dynamics, which has been a recurring theme from the visualization studies of the previous chapter (1.2). This factor is particularly relevant within the game design industry since most games rely on the player interacting with NPCs (non-player characters) in one form or another, which, in most cases, are simulated people or forms of people. Although early games such as Grand Theft Auto 3 (GTA 3) lacked adequate crowd dynamics, much like current architectural visualizations, (Fig. 1.3.8) newer games such as The Witcher 3 are beginning to alleviate this by utilizing better artificial intelligence (AI) tools and computational hardware to add more depth and complexity to simulated beings. (Fig. 1.3.9) While the quality of these crowds depends on the type of game, the budget of the project, and the studio that makes them, it still offers a valid confirmation as to what it is possible to create with game engines.

Within the book Game Engine Architecture, Jason Gregory describes games as “what computer scientists would call soft real-time interactive agent-based computer simulations.”[13] He then notes on the game engine’s ability to approximate and simplify reality, specifying the various aspects of this description:

“In most video games, some subset of the real world—or an imaginary world—is modeled mathematically so that it can be manipulated by a computer. The model is an approximation to and a simplification of reality (even if it’s an imaginary reality), because it is clearly impractical to include every detail down to the level of atoms or quarks. Hence, the mathematical model is a simulation of the real or imagined game world. […] An agent-based simulation is one in which a number of distinct entities know as ‘agents’ interact. This fits the description of most three-dimensional computer games very well, […] Given the agent-based nature of most games, it should come as no surprise that most games nowadays are implemented in an object-oriented, or least loosely object-based, programming language. […] All interactive video games are temporal simulations, meaning that the virtual game world model is dynamic […] most video games present their stories and respond to player input in real time, making them interactive real time simulations. […] A “soft” real-time system is one in which missed deadlines are not catastrophic. Hence, all video games are soft real-time systems.”[14]

Grand Theft Auto 3, DMA Design, 2001

From AndromedaDude, trimmed by Author, “Grand Theft Auto III Gameplay (Playstation 2),” YouTube, 10:39, accessed December 19, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jONTvpvj7DM.

The Witcher 3, CD Projekt, 2015

From Im Qith, trimmed by Author, “The Witcher 3, Entering Novigrad (No Commentary),” YouTube, 8:09, accessed December 19, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTrxkDLi6sg.