MUSHes and Graphics
This is not a post about bringing graphics to MUSHes in the way of 3D virtual worlds or MMOs... but rather how graphics are used to supplement MUSH resources, in particular on webpages.
Obviously text is the primary mode of communication on MU*... it allows our imaginations to run wild and create an individual representation of what we've read. In a very real sense each player has a completely different world in their mind while experiencing the same MUSH. However, humans are very visual creatures and we love visual representations of the things in our imaginations. I would say the vast majority of us have at least attempted to capture the images in our heads on paper. Unfortunately, artistic ability is not always something that comes naturally to many of us.
So... I am curious, how many of those who frequent c.p.o have found themselves wishing they had a resource for acquiring good looking graphical resources for their game or character websites? (read on)
I've been toying with various ideas of ways to provide people with the opportunity to get the kind of graphics they want to add that little extra something to the websites dedicated to their passions. This ranges from detailed digital maps of game worlds to artistic portraits of game characters, races, or scenes from the game or character history.
For those of you who don't know much about my RL, I work for a 3D graphics company, and as such interact with a number of graphic artists. I also personally have an interest in cartography and digital art and have spent far too much on building my library of software and assets to work with. So, it has always been an idea in the back of my mind to create a site where MUSHers, and gamers in general, can commission the type of artwork they either don't have the time or talent to do on their own. Would there be enough interest in MUSHers commissioning this type of work for a low fee or in some cases for free?
Along with this, I have also been thinking about gauging the general interest in creating these types of graphics and trying to put together a group of people to do some basic classes with and help people get started with the necessary software and tutorials. This would be entirely free. So... if you're interested in digital art and how to get started in it, feel free to comment as well.
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I am liking the sound of
I am liking the sound of this, I must admit. I think it can help create deeper immersion in a game world to have maps and illustrations available. A site focused on creating and sharing graphical resources for MU*s (and other games) sounds pretty neat to me.
I tend to be a bit of a control-freak myself, so from an Admin point of view I'd probably lean more towards being interested in trying to learn more about it myself. Not sure if that would hold true for most Admin, but even so I would guess there are a lot of players who might be interested in character portraits. We had someone doing character portraits using the Sims for a while and it was quite popular even with the limits that that entailed.
On a closely related note,
On a closely related note, something similar has been on my mind for a while. The idea being to utilize a java based mu* client in a web page and with some hacks to said client and some javascript, have the rest of that same page change as desired to switch visuals in and out based on the status of the game (ie: Have a room send a specified trigger as a player enters and change the page background, etc.).
Back when Adobe still had their Atmosphere platform I had something similar where the popup with the 3D environment would trigger the parent window to change pages as I went through different rooms.
Though, sadly, I don't know a lick of java so wouldn't know where to start. But I think something like this would be a step in the right direction without overwhelming one with too much flashy graphics.
Interpretive Dance in Text
I tried my best to put a subject on this message which reflected the overall issue you're addressing - visually interpretting the text description of a world.
When I saw Gandalf drive his buggy into Hobbiton for the first time, I was overwhelmed by the familiarity of the scene (right up until the less than perfect scene of Frodo leaping into the buggy)... almost as if the directors/producers of the movie had somehow tapped into my neural synapses and extracted that scene from my own imagination.
This is no small feat. And it will be no small feat for any other artist, no matter how experienced, to do the same for MU* worlds. With all of the various quirks of personal artistic style (for both the author of the text and the graphic artist attempting to interpret that text), such a project as this will surely encounter many obstacles (along the lines of disappointments and hurt feelings).
Nonetheless, I think it's an idea which has tremendous potential... as long as it is willing to start small and/or humbly. An example suggestion might be to have a competition, periodically, for the artists to do 'fast and furious' renditions of some set scene in a limited frame of time (48hrs? for a single page of text describing a static scene?). This would serve two purposes: 1) To let the artists get some idea for what's involved in satisfying a potential 'customer'; and 2) To let the 'customers' see how well/poorly they are providing descriptions and what to expect in the way of artistic styles from the various artists competing for webspace.
That said, I'm planning to rework PIGLet as part of the scripting package I announced yesterday. This path (the ASCII/ANSI character art path) will be opening similar avenues of expression WITHIN games, especially in MUX which now supports extended character sets (for all kinds of pretty pictures). It'll be interesting to see if these two projects can find a happy meeting ground somewhere out there in the middle of the text-based gaming ethers.
In favour.
I would be interested in the basic classes start to get me started in some kind of 3D graphics design. It'd be nice if a group of people thought the same so we could support each other on a forum or some such. *nod*
Agreed on this. If 3D is
Agreed on this. If 3D is where the collective M*U*S*Hers mind is trailing off to, I'd definitely be willing and interested in jumping in to any (hopefully) collective and collaborative projects. I'm pretty moderately educated in Autodesk 3D Studio Max and Autocad to the point that architecture/environment related material would be my strong suit that I could help with.
And if indeed a 3D evolution is in the cards, one possible application that already exists that could be used as one major stepping stone is an open source second life server that uses existing SL compatible clients. Basically the same mechanics but in a semi-private environment without the garbage. I can't remember where it was, but should be fairly easy to locate in a google search.
I could definitely see though a M*U*S*H focused SL server in the image of M*U*S*H as it is now and offer up different pieces of grid for people to do up their own mushes as they wish.