Rise of Nations
This game features the idea of expanding territory similarly to Civilization IV, but employes a real-time mode of gameplay. Territory is expanding by building more cities and forts within the borders, which opens more options on a technology tree, through which options are selected to customize the territory. Cities support citizen units, which can be assigned to specific tasks, but will always look for tasks to do when idle if not assigned to anything specific. Rise of Nations specifies six different resources, food, timber, metal, oil, wealth and knowledge, which are used to create buildings, units, and to research technologies.
Any nation within the game is playable at any point in history, regardless of the actual historical timeline of that nation, but resources only become available in the age in which they were originally utilized. Keeping a balance between offensive and defensive forces is crucial to successful gameplay, as is the state of the economy. Rise of Nations is both rewarding and frustrating in turns, but always highly addictive.
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
This long awaited sequel to the original Starcraft has earned a spot on this list in its own right. Finally released in July of 2010, the story picks up four years after the events of the original Starcraft, and follows an insurgent group attempting to make its way across the Terran Dominion. Non-linear gameplay with regard to the campaigns keeps the game interesting, and is a minor departure from the original. However, the order in which the campaigns are done will not interrupt the narrative.
Units remain largely the same, with some additional specialized units available only for campaign play and not in regular multi-player, such as the Terran Wraith, Vulture, and Diamondback. There is also a map editor, similar to the original StarEdit, which allows for customization of terrain and campaigns.
A word of warning for players hoping to have a nostalgic evening of strategy gaming with local friends, though: Blizzard has killed LAN play with this release, so players can only play together online, and on the same server. Any players wishing to play together must ensure that they've signed up for the same server at the time of original registration, because the game is region-locked.
Warcraft III
Before it was an extremely popular (and often parodied) MMORPG, the "world" of Warcraft existed in a series of real-time strategy games. Standard resource-gathering and unit-building rules apply, with "black mask" covering unopened areas of the map. Once explored, the black mask is removed, but these areas must remain within sight of at least one unit, or they will be covered in the "fog of war".
With AI-controlled, universally hostile units called "creeps" guarding areas heavy in resources, there is a slight element of RPGs, especially since players win experience points, gold and items after defeating them. Also introduced in this game was the shifting from day to night, which provides more cover, but reduces the ability to see incoming attackers.
There are five total campaigns, which are broken up according the various character race factions, though some specific "hero" characters are retained across each race's campaigns. Warcraft III still has a devoted following, and in spite of the massive popularity of the MMORPG, remains a favorite among fans of Warcraft and strategy games alike.
Supreme Commander
Considered by many to be a spiritual successor to 1997's Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander begins with a single unit, which much be expanded and multiplied to aid in a war which has erupted in the future after humans developed portal technology, referred to as a "quantum gateway".
The three warring factions are the Cybran nation, comprised of cyborgs who wish to separate from the other two factions, and get out from under the thumb of the United Earth Federation, which represents a united government for all three factions, which of course would be based off of the planet Earth. Finally, there is the Aeon Illuminate, which wishes to emulate the so-called "Golden Age" of Earth, in which alien life was first discovered but soon went south due to xenophobia. Naturally, the thing to do when fighting xenophobia is to go out and wage war on anyone who doesn't share the same beliefs.
The critical moment comes when the UEF decides to use "Black Sun", a weapon which, if deployed, will wipe out both planets of the other factions. However, the Crybrans and the Aeon Illuminate have their own secret weapons as well, and one of these does involve use of the phrase "Monkeylord", which is reason enough to put any game on a top 10 list.
Company of Heroes
This release and subsequent expansions from Relic Entertainment takes place during WWII. Players are put in charge of two U.S. units during the Allied takeover of France from occupying Nazi forces.
Micromanagement skills are key in this game, and perhaps provide the tiniest degree of realism (minus the horrific violence, of course, as this is not typically depicted in strategy games) as to what it must have been like to actually "storm the beach at Normandy", considering that there were over 150,000 troops in reality, and each one had to know exactly what when and where in order for the mission to be successful.
Players take control of points on the campaign map, collect munitions, fuel and manpower, and can takeover civilian buildings to convert them to barracks, which will aid in the creation of new units.
Company of Heroes has been praised as one of the best real-time strategy games of all time, with several successful expansions and both LAN and online options available for multi-player.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Top 10 Best Strategy Games for PC
Strategy games, whether they are turn-based or real-time, occupy a unique niche within gaming. While there is not always the thrill of the fight, there is often a deep satisfaction achieved from outsmarting both other players and particularly AI. Here are some of the most favored titles in recent years, in no particular order.
Starcraft
This classic real-time strategy game, released in 1998 is still one of the most popular releases of all time. Three species duke it out in the 26th century to gain control of a faraway chunk of the Milky Way. Terrans are humans who've been exiled from Earth. Another humanoid species, the Protoss, who are fairly advanced and possess various psychic abilities, are trying to keep their culture safe from the insectoid Zerg, who are bent on assimilating everyone else.
Starcraft is largely considered a game that revolutionized real-time strategy gameplay, as well as providing a deeply engaging story. There is still a thriving community of professional competitors, particularly in Asia, complete with sponsorships and televised events. Zerg Rush!
Age of Empires III
This real-time strategy game, released in 2005, takes place largely during the colonial era, from the late 1400s to the 1850s. Players must choose to develop a colony of Europe, Asia, or North America from an initial settlement to a thriving empire. Development of the colony goes through various technological ages, but unlike other games about territorial conquest, such as the Civilization series, where it is technically possible to play an entire game without fighting, this game requires the player to destroy the enemy's colony. Emphasis is placed on the production of civilian units to collect resources to stimulate the economy, and the development of the military to defend against rival colonies.
Another feature unique to this game is the use of a "Politician System", where players must choose from among several politicians upon successful completion of each level, which grant various bonuses. Difficulty level is assigned to specific colonies, as opposed to a more customized method, which often serves as motivation to keep playing.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
This title, a sequel and marked improvement to the first Dawn of War is unique in that the multiplayer option involves co-op, as opposed to pitting players against one another. The campaigns, unlike those found in this game's predecessors are non-linear, and do not have base building elements. Units must be selected before a missions beings, and no new units are issued once it is progress.
Players are faced with decisions regarding the missions and locations chosen in which to fight, and consequences are based on these choices. Even after choices are made, missions can have multiple objectives which may be mutually exclusive depending on the further unfolding of events.
This game can be appealing to those who normally prefer RPGs, as players to level up, and some units can be equipped with scavenged weaponry and armor. This is a good crossover game for any die-hard RPG fans who are interested in experiencing a strategy game without completely unfamiliar elements.
World in Conflict
Many strategy games take place either in the distant past or future, but this title, released in 2007, is set in more recent times, during the collapse of the Soviet Union, but speculates as to what would have happened if Soviet forces had attempted to remain in power through aggressive action.
There is no resource collection or base building in this game, but rather reinforcement units are bought with a pre-determined amount of in-game points, and dropped into the battlefield. When units are dead, the points gradually return to the player's balance, so that new units can be acquired.
In multi-player games, players choose a specific role from among four preset roles, Air, Armor, Infantry, and Support. These have various abilities, such as unusually effective long ranged attacks, and the ability to hide easily, but are usually balanced with a weakness of some sort, like being vulnerable to attack on open ground, or being useless in short-range skirmishes.
Players will enjoy the small user interface, as it provides a more open view of the battlefield and the ability to manage individual units more effectively.
Civilization IV
Like the other titles in this series, Civilization IV is a turn-based game in which the player takes on the role of the leader of an empire that must be built from scratch from a single city, built by a settler in 4000 B.C. As the building expands, so do the options for infrastructure, military fortification and training, study of science and art, religion, and all the other stuff that empires have. Build "wonders" around the empire, and experience the birth of historical figures who can enhance various aspects of cities within the empire.
This game, like many turn-based strategy games can feel slow for the first few turns, but things get interesting once contact is made with neighboring cultures, and the potential for trade, aid, and war arises. Bonus: Leonard Nimoy congratulates the you overtime you attain a new technology or hit a milestone within your empire.
Next : Part 2
Starcraft
This classic real-time strategy game, released in 1998 is still one of the most popular releases of all time. Three species duke it out in the 26th century to gain control of a faraway chunk of the Milky Way. Terrans are humans who've been exiled from Earth. Another humanoid species, the Protoss, who are fairly advanced and possess various psychic abilities, are trying to keep their culture safe from the insectoid Zerg, who are bent on assimilating everyone else.
Starcraft is largely considered a game that revolutionized real-time strategy gameplay, as well as providing a deeply engaging story. There is still a thriving community of professional competitors, particularly in Asia, complete with sponsorships and televised events. Zerg Rush!
Age of Empires III
This real-time strategy game, released in 2005, takes place largely during the colonial era, from the late 1400s to the 1850s. Players must choose to develop a colony of Europe, Asia, or North America from an initial settlement to a thriving empire. Development of the colony goes through various technological ages, but unlike other games about territorial conquest, such as the Civilization series, where it is technically possible to play an entire game without fighting, this game requires the player to destroy the enemy's colony. Emphasis is placed on the production of civilian units to collect resources to stimulate the economy, and the development of the military to defend against rival colonies.
Another feature unique to this game is the use of a "Politician System", where players must choose from among several politicians upon successful completion of each level, which grant various bonuses. Difficulty level is assigned to specific colonies, as opposed to a more customized method, which often serves as motivation to keep playing.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
This title, a sequel and marked improvement to the first Dawn of War is unique in that the multiplayer option involves co-op, as opposed to pitting players against one another. The campaigns, unlike those found in this game's predecessors are non-linear, and do not have base building elements. Units must be selected before a missions beings, and no new units are issued once it is progress.
Players are faced with decisions regarding the missions and locations chosen in which to fight, and consequences are based on these choices. Even after choices are made, missions can have multiple objectives which may be mutually exclusive depending on the further unfolding of events.
This game can be appealing to those who normally prefer RPGs, as players to level up, and some units can be equipped with scavenged weaponry and armor. This is a good crossover game for any die-hard RPG fans who are interested in experiencing a strategy game without completely unfamiliar elements.
World in Conflict
Many strategy games take place either in the distant past or future, but this title, released in 2007, is set in more recent times, during the collapse of the Soviet Union, but speculates as to what would have happened if Soviet forces had attempted to remain in power through aggressive action.
There is no resource collection or base building in this game, but rather reinforcement units are bought with a pre-determined amount of in-game points, and dropped into the battlefield. When units are dead, the points gradually return to the player's balance, so that new units can be acquired.
In multi-player games, players choose a specific role from among four preset roles, Air, Armor, Infantry, and Support. These have various abilities, such as unusually effective long ranged attacks, and the ability to hide easily, but are usually balanced with a weakness of some sort, like being vulnerable to attack on open ground, or being useless in short-range skirmishes.
Players will enjoy the small user interface, as it provides a more open view of the battlefield and the ability to manage individual units more effectively.
Civilization IV
Like the other titles in this series, Civilization IV is a turn-based game in which the player takes on the role of the leader of an empire that must be built from scratch from a single city, built by a settler in 4000 B.C. As the building expands, so do the options for infrastructure, military fortification and training, study of science and art, religion, and all the other stuff that empires have. Build "wonders" around the empire, and experience the birth of historical figures who can enhance various aspects of cities within the empire.
This game, like many turn-based strategy games can feel slow for the first few turns, but things get interesting once contact is made with neighboring cultures, and the potential for trade, aid, and war arises. Bonus: Leonard Nimoy congratulates the you overtime you attain a new technology or hit a milestone within your empire.
Next : Part 2
Sunday, November 28, 2010
World Wide Web Consortium
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web (abbreviated WWW or W3).
Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the World Wide Web. As of 8 September 2009, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has 356 members.
W3C also engages in education and outreach, develops software and serves as an open forum for discussion about the Web.
History
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was founded by Tim Berners-Lee after he left the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in October, 1994. It was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT/LCS) with support from the European Commission and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which had pioneered the Internet.
W3C was created to ensure compatibility and agreement among industry members in the adoption of new standards. Prior to its creation, incompatible versions of HTML were offered by different vendors, increasing the potential for inconsistency between web pages. The consortium was created to get all those vendors to agree on a set of core principles and components which would be supported by everyone.
It was originally intended that CERN host the European branch of W3C; however, CERN wished to focus on particle physics, not information technology. In April 1995 the Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique (INRIA) became the European host of W3C, with Keio University becoming the Japanese branch in September 1996. Starting in 1997, W3C created regional offices around the world; as of September 2009, it has eighteen World Offices covering Australia, the Benelux countries (Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium), Brazil, China, Finland, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and Ireland.
In January 2003, the European host was transferred from INRIA to the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM), an organization that represents European national computer science laboratories.
Recommendations and Certifications
In accord with the W3C Process Document, a Recommendation progresses through five maturity levels:
A Recommendation may be updated by separately published Errata until enough substantial edits accumulate, at which time a new edition of the Recommendation may be produced (e.g., XML is now in its fifth edition). W3C also publishes various kinds of informative Notes which are not intended to be treated as standards.
W3C leaves it up to manufacturers to follow the Recommendations. Many of its standards define levels of conformance, which the developers must follow if they wish to label their product W3C-compliant. Like any standards of other organizations, W3C recommendations are sometimes implemented partially. The Recommendations are under a royalty-free patent license, allowing anyone to implement them.
Unlike the ISOC and other international standards bodies, the W3C does not have a certification program. A certification program is a process which has benefits and drawbacks; the W3C has decided, for now, that it is not suitable to start such a program owing to the risk of creating more drawbacks for the community than benefits.
Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the World Wide Web. As of 8 September 2009, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has 356 members.
W3C also engages in education and outreach, develops software and serves as an open forum for discussion about the Web.
History
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was founded by Tim Berners-Lee after he left the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in October, 1994. It was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT/LCS) with support from the European Commission and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which had pioneered the Internet.
W3C was created to ensure compatibility and agreement among industry members in the adoption of new standards. Prior to its creation, incompatible versions of HTML were offered by different vendors, increasing the potential for inconsistency between web pages. The consortium was created to get all those vendors to agree on a set of core principles and components which would be supported by everyone.
It was originally intended that CERN host the European branch of W3C; however, CERN wished to focus on particle physics, not information technology. In April 1995 the Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique (INRIA) became the European host of W3C, with Keio University becoming the Japanese branch in September 1996. Starting in 1997, W3C created regional offices around the world; as of September 2009, it has eighteen World Offices covering Australia, the Benelux countries (Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium), Brazil, China, Finland, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and Ireland.
In January 2003, the European host was transferred from INRIA to the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM), an organization that represents European national computer science laboratories.
Recommendations and Certifications
In accord with the W3C Process Document, a Recommendation progresses through five maturity levels:
- Working Draft
- Last Call Working Draft
- Call for implementation
- Call for Review of a Proposed Recommendation
- W3C Recommendation (REC)
A Recommendation may be updated by separately published Errata until enough substantial edits accumulate, at which time a new edition of the Recommendation may be produced (e.g., XML is now in its fifth edition). W3C also publishes various kinds of informative Notes which are not intended to be treated as standards.
W3C leaves it up to manufacturers to follow the Recommendations. Many of its standards define levels of conformance, which the developers must follow if they wish to label their product W3C-compliant. Like any standards of other organizations, W3C recommendations are sometimes implemented partially. The Recommendations are under a royalty-free patent license, allowing anyone to implement them.
Unlike the ISOC and other international standards bodies, the W3C does not have a certification program. A certification program is a process which has benefits and drawbacks; the W3C has decided, for now, that it is not suitable to start such a program owing to the risk of creating more drawbacks for the community than benefits.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Augmented Reality Applications
Current applications
Advertising: Marketers started to use AR to promote products via interactive AR applications. For example, at the 2008 LA Auto Show, Nissan unveiled the concept vehicle Cube and presented visitors with a brochure which, when held against a webcam, showed several versions of the vehicle. In August 2009,discrepancies Best Buy ran a circular with an augmented reality code that allowed users with a webcam to interact with the product in 3D. In 2010 Walt Disney used mobile augmented reality to connect a movie experience to outdoor advertising.
Support with complex tasks: Complex tasks such as assembly, maintenance, and surgery can be simplified by inserting additional information into the field of view. For example, labels can be displayed on parts of a system to clarify operating instructions for a mechanic who is performing maintenance on the system. AR can include images of hidden objects, which can be particularly effective for medical diagnostics or surgery. Examples include a virtual X-ray view based on prior tomography or on real time images from ultrasound and microconfocal probes or open NMR devices. A doctor could observe the fetus inside the mother's womb. See also Mixed reality.
Navigation devices: AR can augment the effectiveness of navigation devices for a variety of applications. For example, building navigation can be enhanced for the purpose of maintaining industrial plants. Outdoor navigation can be augmented for military operations or disaster management. Head-up displays or personal display glasses in automobiles can be used to provide navigation hints and traffic information. These types of displays can be useful for airplane pilots, too. Head-up displays are currently used in fighter jets as one of the first AR applications. These include full interactivity, including eye pointing.
Industrial Applications: AR can be used to compare the data of digital mock-ups with physical mock-ups for efficiently finding discrepancies between the two sources. It can further be employed to safeguard digital data in combination with existing real prototypes, and thus save or minimize the building of real prototypes and improve the quality of the final product.
Military and emergency services: AR can be applied to military and emergency services as wearable systems to provide information such as instructions, maps, enemy locations, and fire cells.
Prospecting: In the fields of hydrology, ecology, and geology, AR can be used to display an interactive analysis of terrain characteristics. Users could use, and collaboratively modify and analyze, interactive three-dimensional maps.
Art: AR can be incorporated into artistic applications that allow artists to create art in real time over reality such as painting, drawing, modeling, etc. One such example of this phenomenon is called Eyewriter that was developed in 2009 by Zachary Lieberman and a group formed by members of Free Art and Technology (FAT), OpenFrameworks and the Graffiti Research Lab to help a graffiti artist, who became paralyzed, draw again.
Architecture: AR can be employed to simulate planned construction projects.
Sightseeing: Models may be created to include labels or text related to the objects/places visited. With AR, users can rebuild ruins, buildings, or even landscapes as they previously existed.
Collaboration: AR can help facilitate collaboration among distributed team members via conferences with real and virtual participants. The Hand of God is a good example of a collaboration system.
Entertainment and education: AR can be used in the fields of entertainment and education to create virtual objects in museums and exhibitions, theme park attractions (such as Cadbury World), games (such as ARQuake) and books.
Music: Pop group Duran Duran included interactive AR projections into their stage show during their 2000 Pop Trash concert tour. Sydney band Lost Valentinos launched the world's first interactive AR music video on 16 October 2009, where users could print out 5 markers representing a pre-recorded performance from each band member which they could interact with live and in real-time via their computer webcam and record as their own unique music video clips to share via YouTube.
Future applications
It is important to note that augmented reality is a costly development in technology. Because of this, the future of AR is dependent on whether or not those costs can be reduced in some way. If AR technology becomes affordable, it could be very widespread but for now major industries are the sole buyers that have the opportunity to utilize this resource.
Expanding a PC screen into the real environment: program windows and icons appear as virtual devices in real space and are eye or gesture operated, by gazing or pointing. A single personal display (glasses) could concurrently simulate a hundred conventional PC screens or application windows all around a user
Virtual devices of all kinds, e.g. replacement of traditional screens, control panels, and entirely new applications impossible in "real" hardware, like 3D objects interactively changing their shape and appearance based on the current task or need.
Enhanced media applications, like pseudo holographic virtual screens, virtual surround cinema, virtual 'holodecks' (allowing computer-generated imagery to interact with live entertainers and audience)
Virtual conferences in "holodeck" style
Replacement of cellphone and car navigator screens: eye-dialing, insertion of information directly into the environment, e.g. guiding lines directly on the road, as well as enhancements like "X-ray"-views
Virtual plants, wallpapers, panoramic views, artwork, decorations, illumination etc., enhancing everyday life. For example, a virtual window could be displayed on a regular wall showing a live feed of a camera placed on the exterior of the building, thus allowing the user to effectually toggle a wall's transparency
With AR systems getting into mass market, we may see virtual window dressings, posters, traffic signs, Christmas decorations, advertisement towers and more. These may be fully interactive even at a distance, by eye pointing for example.
Virtual gadgetry becomes possible. Any physical device currently produced to assist in data-oriented tasks (such as the clock, radio, PC, arrival/departure board at an airport, stock ticker, PDA, PMP, informational posters/fliers/billboards, in-car navigation systems, etc.) could be replaced by virtual devices that cost nothing to produce aside from the cost of writing the software. Examples might be a virtual wall clock, a to-do list for the day docked by your bed for you to look at first thing in the morning, etc.
Subscribable group-specific AR feeds. For example, a manager on a construction site could create and dock instructions including diagrams in specific locations on the site. The workers could refer to this feed of AR items as they work. Another example could be patrons at a public event subscribing to a feed of direction and information oriented AR items.
AR systems can help the visually impaired navigate in a much better manner (combined with a text-to-speech software).
Computer games which make use of position and environment information to place virtual objects, opponents, and weapons overlaid in the player's visual field.
Advertising: Marketers started to use AR to promote products via interactive AR applications. For example, at the 2008 LA Auto Show, Nissan unveiled the concept vehicle Cube and presented visitors with a brochure which, when held against a webcam, showed several versions of the vehicle. In August 2009,discrepancies Best Buy ran a circular with an augmented reality code that allowed users with a webcam to interact with the product in 3D. In 2010 Walt Disney used mobile augmented reality to connect a movie experience to outdoor advertising.
Support with complex tasks: Complex tasks such as assembly, maintenance, and surgery can be simplified by inserting additional information into the field of view. For example, labels can be displayed on parts of a system to clarify operating instructions for a mechanic who is performing maintenance on the system. AR can include images of hidden objects, which can be particularly effective for medical diagnostics or surgery. Examples include a virtual X-ray view based on prior tomography or on real time images from ultrasound and microconfocal probes or open NMR devices. A doctor could observe the fetus inside the mother's womb. See also Mixed reality.
Navigation devices: AR can augment the effectiveness of navigation devices for a variety of applications. For example, building navigation can be enhanced for the purpose of maintaining industrial plants. Outdoor navigation can be augmented for military operations or disaster management. Head-up displays or personal display glasses in automobiles can be used to provide navigation hints and traffic information. These types of displays can be useful for airplane pilots, too. Head-up displays are currently used in fighter jets as one of the first AR applications. These include full interactivity, including eye pointing.
Industrial Applications: AR can be used to compare the data of digital mock-ups with physical mock-ups for efficiently finding discrepancies between the two sources. It can further be employed to safeguard digital data in combination with existing real prototypes, and thus save or minimize the building of real prototypes and improve the quality of the final product.
Military and emergency services: AR can be applied to military and emergency services as wearable systems to provide information such as instructions, maps, enemy locations, and fire cells.
Prospecting: In the fields of hydrology, ecology, and geology, AR can be used to display an interactive analysis of terrain characteristics. Users could use, and collaboratively modify and analyze, interactive three-dimensional maps.
Art: AR can be incorporated into artistic applications that allow artists to create art in real time over reality such as painting, drawing, modeling, etc. One such example of this phenomenon is called Eyewriter that was developed in 2009 by Zachary Lieberman and a group formed by members of Free Art and Technology (FAT), OpenFrameworks and the Graffiti Research Lab to help a graffiti artist, who became paralyzed, draw again.
Architecture: AR can be employed to simulate planned construction projects.
Sightseeing: Models may be created to include labels or text related to the objects/places visited. With AR, users can rebuild ruins, buildings, or even landscapes as they previously existed.
Collaboration: AR can help facilitate collaboration among distributed team members via conferences with real and virtual participants. The Hand of God is a good example of a collaboration system.
Entertainment and education: AR can be used in the fields of entertainment and education to create virtual objects in museums and exhibitions, theme park attractions (such as Cadbury World), games (such as ARQuake) and books.
Music: Pop group Duran Duran included interactive AR projections into their stage show during their 2000 Pop Trash concert tour. Sydney band Lost Valentinos launched the world's first interactive AR music video on 16 October 2009, where users could print out 5 markers representing a pre-recorded performance from each band member which they could interact with live and in real-time via their computer webcam and record as their own unique music video clips to share via YouTube.
Future applications
It is important to note that augmented reality is a costly development in technology. Because of this, the future of AR is dependent on whether or not those costs can be reduced in some way. If AR technology becomes affordable, it could be very widespread but for now major industries are the sole buyers that have the opportunity to utilize this resource.
Expanding a PC screen into the real environment: program windows and icons appear as virtual devices in real space and are eye or gesture operated, by gazing or pointing. A single personal display (glasses) could concurrently simulate a hundred conventional PC screens or application windows all around a user
Virtual devices of all kinds, e.g. replacement of traditional screens, control panels, and entirely new applications impossible in "real" hardware, like 3D objects interactively changing their shape and appearance based on the current task or need.
Enhanced media applications, like pseudo holographic virtual screens, virtual surround cinema, virtual 'holodecks' (allowing computer-generated imagery to interact with live entertainers and audience)
Virtual conferences in "holodeck" style
Replacement of cellphone and car navigator screens: eye-dialing, insertion of information directly into the environment, e.g. guiding lines directly on the road, as well as enhancements like "X-ray"-views
Virtual plants, wallpapers, panoramic views, artwork, decorations, illumination etc., enhancing everyday life. For example, a virtual window could be displayed on a regular wall showing a live feed of a camera placed on the exterior of the building, thus allowing the user to effectually toggle a wall's transparency
With AR systems getting into mass market, we may see virtual window dressings, posters, traffic signs, Christmas decorations, advertisement towers and more. These may be fully interactive even at a distance, by eye pointing for example.
Virtual gadgetry becomes possible. Any physical device currently produced to assist in data-oriented tasks (such as the clock, radio, PC, arrival/departure board at an airport, stock ticker, PDA, PMP, informational posters/fliers/billboards, in-car navigation systems, etc.) could be replaced by virtual devices that cost nothing to produce aside from the cost of writing the software. Examples might be a virtual wall clock, a to-do list for the day docked by your bed for you to look at first thing in the morning, etc.
Subscribable group-specific AR feeds. For example, a manager on a construction site could create and dock instructions including diagrams in specific locations on the site. The workers could refer to this feed of AR items as they work. Another example could be patrons at a public event subscribing to a feed of direction and information oriented AR items.
AR systems can help the visually impaired navigate in a much better manner (combined with a text-to-speech software).
Computer games which make use of position and environment information to place virtual objects, opponents, and weapons overlaid in the player's visual field.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Augmented Reality Technology
Hardware
The main hardware components for augmented reality are: display, tracking, input devices, and computer. Combination of powerful CPU, camera, accelerometers, GPS and solid state compass are often present in modern smartphones, which make them prospective platforms for augmented reality.
Display
There are three major display techniques for Augmented Reality:
Head Mounted Displays
Handheld Displays
Spatial Displays
Head Mounted Displays
A Head Mounted Display (HMD) places images of both the physical world and registered virtual graphical objects over the user's view of the world. The HMD's are either optical see-through or video see-through in nature. An optical see-through display employs half-silver mirror technology to allow views of physical world to pass through the lens and graphical overlay information to be reflected into the user's eyes. The HMD must be tracked with a six degree of freedom sensor.This tracking allows for the computing system to register the virtual information to the physical world. The main advantage of HMD AR is the immersive experience for the user. The graphical information is slaved to the view of the user. The most common products employed are as follows: MicroVision Nomad, Sony Glasstron, Vuzix AR and I/O Displays.
Handheld Displays
Handheld Augment Reality employs a small computing device with a display that fits in a user's hand. All handheld AR solutions to date have employed video see-through techniques to overlay the graphical information to the physical world. Initially handheld AR employed sensors such as digital compasses and GPS units for its six degree of freedom tracking sensors. This moved onto the use of fiducial marker systems such as the ARToolKit for tracking. Today vision systems such as SLAM or PTAM are being employed for tracking. Handheld display AR promises to be the first commercial success for AR technologies. The two main advantages of handheld AR is the portable nature of handheld devices and ubiquitous nature of camera phones.
Spatial Displays
Instead of the user wearing or carrying the display such as with head mounted displays or handheld devices; Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR) makes use of digital projectors to display graphical information onto physical objects. The key difference in SAR is that the display is separated from the users of the system. Because the displays are not associated with each user, SAR scales naturally up to groups of users, thus allowing for collocated collaboration between users. SAR has several advantages over traditional head mounted displays and handheld devices. The user is not required to carry equipment or wear the display over their eyes. This makes spatial AR a good candidate for collaborative work, as the users can see each other’s faces. A system can be used by multiple people at the same time without each having to wear a head mounted display. Spatial AR does not suffer from the limited display resolution of current head mounted displays and portable devices. A projector based display system can simply incorporate more projectors to expand the display area. Where portable devices have a small window into the world for drawing, a SAR system can display on any number of surfaces of an indoor setting at once. The tangible nature of SAR makes this an ideal technology to support design, as SAR supports both a graphical visualisation and passive haptic sensation for the end users. People are able to touch physical objects, and it is this process that provides the passive haptic sensation.
Tracking
Modern mobile augmented reality systems use one or more of the following tracking technologies: digital cameras and/or other optical sensors, accelerometers, GPS, gyroscopes, solid state compasses, RFID, wireless sensors. Each of these technologies have different levels of accuracy and precision. Most important is the tracking of the pose and position of the user's head for the augmentation of the user's view. The user's hand(s) can be tracked or a handheld input device could be tracked to provide a 6DOF interaction technique. Stationary systems can employ 6DOF track systems such as Polhemus, ViCON, A.R.T, or Ascension.
Input devices
This is a current open research question. Some systems, such as the Tinmith system, employ pinch glove techniques. Another common technique is a wand with a button on it. In case of a smartphone, the phone itself could be used as 3D pointing device, with 3D position of the phone restored from the camera images.
Computer
Camera based systems require powerful CPU and considerable amount of RAM for processing camera images. Wearable computing systems employ a laptop in a backpack configuration. For stationary systems a traditional workstation with a powerful graphics card. Sound processing hardware could be included in augmented reality systems.
Software
For consistent merging real-world images from camera and virtual 3D images, virtual images should be attached to real-world locations in visually realistic way. That means a real world coordinate system, independent from the camera, should be restored from camera images. That process is called Image registration and is part of Azuma's definition of Augmented Reality.
Augmented reality image registration uses different methods of computer vision, mostly related to video tracking. Many computer vision methods of augmented reality are inherited from similar visual odometry methods.
Usually those methods consist of two parts. First interest points, or fiduciary markers, or optical flow detected in the camera images. First stage can use Feature detection methods like Corner detection, Blob detection, Edge detection or thresholding and/or other image processing methods.
In the second stage, a real world coordinate system is restored from the data obtained in the first stage. Some methods assume objects with known 3D geometry(or fiduciary markers) present in the scene and make use of those data. In some of those cases all of the scene 3D structure should be precalculated beforehand. If not all of the scene is known beforehand SLAM technique could be used for mapping fiduciary markers/3D models relative positions. If no assumption about 3D geometry of the scene made structure from motion methods are used. Methods used in the second stage include projective(epipolar) geometry, bundle adjustment, rotation representation with exponential map, kalman and particle filters.
The main hardware components for augmented reality are: display, tracking, input devices, and computer. Combination of powerful CPU, camera, accelerometers, GPS and solid state compass are often present in modern smartphones, which make them prospective platforms for augmented reality.
Display
There are three major display techniques for Augmented Reality:
Head Mounted Displays
Handheld Displays
Spatial Displays
Head Mounted Displays
A Head Mounted Display (HMD) places images of both the physical world and registered virtual graphical objects over the user's view of the world. The HMD's are either optical see-through or video see-through in nature. An optical see-through display employs half-silver mirror technology to allow views of physical world to pass through the lens and graphical overlay information to be reflected into the user's eyes. The HMD must be tracked with a six degree of freedom sensor.This tracking allows for the computing system to register the virtual information to the physical world. The main advantage of HMD AR is the immersive experience for the user. The graphical information is slaved to the view of the user. The most common products employed are as follows: MicroVision Nomad, Sony Glasstron, Vuzix AR and I/O Displays.
Handheld Displays
Handheld Augment Reality employs a small computing device with a display that fits in a user's hand. All handheld AR solutions to date have employed video see-through techniques to overlay the graphical information to the physical world. Initially handheld AR employed sensors such as digital compasses and GPS units for its six degree of freedom tracking sensors. This moved onto the use of fiducial marker systems such as the ARToolKit for tracking. Today vision systems such as SLAM or PTAM are being employed for tracking. Handheld display AR promises to be the first commercial success for AR technologies. The two main advantages of handheld AR is the portable nature of handheld devices and ubiquitous nature of camera phones.
Spatial Displays
Instead of the user wearing or carrying the display such as with head mounted displays or handheld devices; Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR) makes use of digital projectors to display graphical information onto physical objects. The key difference in SAR is that the display is separated from the users of the system. Because the displays are not associated with each user, SAR scales naturally up to groups of users, thus allowing for collocated collaboration between users. SAR has several advantages over traditional head mounted displays and handheld devices. The user is not required to carry equipment or wear the display over their eyes. This makes spatial AR a good candidate for collaborative work, as the users can see each other’s faces. A system can be used by multiple people at the same time without each having to wear a head mounted display. Spatial AR does not suffer from the limited display resolution of current head mounted displays and portable devices. A projector based display system can simply incorporate more projectors to expand the display area. Where portable devices have a small window into the world for drawing, a SAR system can display on any number of surfaces of an indoor setting at once. The tangible nature of SAR makes this an ideal technology to support design, as SAR supports both a graphical visualisation and passive haptic sensation for the end users. People are able to touch physical objects, and it is this process that provides the passive haptic sensation.
Tracking
Modern mobile augmented reality systems use one or more of the following tracking technologies: digital cameras and/or other optical sensors, accelerometers, GPS, gyroscopes, solid state compasses, RFID, wireless sensors. Each of these technologies have different levels of accuracy and precision. Most important is the tracking of the pose and position of the user's head for the augmentation of the user's view. The user's hand(s) can be tracked or a handheld input device could be tracked to provide a 6DOF interaction technique. Stationary systems can employ 6DOF track systems such as Polhemus, ViCON, A.R.T, or Ascension.
Input devices
This is a current open research question. Some systems, such as the Tinmith system, employ pinch glove techniques. Another common technique is a wand with a button on it. In case of a smartphone, the phone itself could be used as 3D pointing device, with 3D position of the phone restored from the camera images.
Computer
Camera based systems require powerful CPU and considerable amount of RAM for processing camera images. Wearable computing systems employ a laptop in a backpack configuration. For stationary systems a traditional workstation with a powerful graphics card. Sound processing hardware could be included in augmented reality systems.
Software
For consistent merging real-world images from camera and virtual 3D images, virtual images should be attached to real-world locations in visually realistic way. That means a real world coordinate system, independent from the camera, should be restored from camera images. That process is called Image registration and is part of Azuma's definition of Augmented Reality.
Augmented reality image registration uses different methods of computer vision, mostly related to video tracking. Many computer vision methods of augmented reality are inherited from similar visual odometry methods.
Usually those methods consist of two parts. First interest points, or fiduciary markers, or optical flow detected in the camera images. First stage can use Feature detection methods like Corner detection, Blob detection, Edge detection or thresholding and/or other image processing methods.
In the second stage, a real world coordinate system is restored from the data obtained in the first stage. Some methods assume objects with known 3D geometry(or fiduciary markers) present in the scene and make use of those data. In some of those cases all of the scene 3D structure should be precalculated beforehand. If not all of the scene is known beforehand SLAM technique could be used for mapping fiduciary markers/3D models relative positions. If no assumption about 3D geometry of the scene made structure from motion methods are used. Methods used in the second stage include projective(epipolar) geometry, bundle adjustment, rotation representation with exponential map, kalman and particle filters.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated sensory input such as sound or graphics. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality.
In the case of Augmented Reality, the augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, such as sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable. Artificial information about the environment and the objects in it can be stored and retrieved as an information layer on top of the real world view. The term augmented reality is believed to have been coined in 1990 by Thomas Caudell, an employee of Boeing at the time.
Augmented reality research explores the application of computer-generated imagery in live-video streams as a way to expand the real-world. Advanced research includes use of head-mounted displays and virtual retinal displays for visualization purposes, and construction of controlled environments containing any number of sensors and actuators.
Definition
There are two commonly accepted definitions of Augmented Reality today. One was given by Ronald Azuma in 1997 [2]. Azuma's definition says that Augmented Reality
combines real and virtual
is interactive in real time
is registered in 3D
Additionally Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino defined Milgram's Reality-Virtuality Continuum in 1994 [3]. They describe a continuum that spans from the real environment to a pure virtual environment. In between there are Augmented Reality (closer to the real environment) and Augmented Virtuality (is closer to the virtual environment).
This continuum has been extended into a two-dimensional plane of "Virtuality" and "Mediality". Taxonomy of Reality, Virtuality, Mediality. The origin R denotes unmodified reality. A continuum across the Virtuality axis V includes reality augmented with graphics (Augmented Reality), as well as graphics augmented by reality (Augmented Virtuality). However, the taxonomy also includes modification of reality or virtuality or any combination of these. The modification is denoted by moving up the mediality axis. Further up this axis, for example, we can find mediated reality, mediated virtuality, or any combination of these. Further up and to the right we have virtual worlds that are responsive to a severely modified version of reality. (at right) Mediated reality generalizes the concepts of mixed reality, etc.. It includes the virtuality reality continuum (mixing) but also, in addition to additive effects, also includes multiplicative effects (modulation) of (sometimes deliberately) diminished reality. Moreover, it considers, more generally, that reality may be modified in various ways. The mediated reality framework describes devices that deliberately modify reality, as well as devices that accidentally modify it.
More recently, the term augmented reality has been blurred a bit due to the increased interest of the general public in AR.
Examples
Commonly known examples of AR are the yellow "first down" lines seen in television broadcasts of American football games using the 1st & Ten system, and the colored trail showing location and direction of the puck in TV broadcasts of ice hockey games. The real-world elements are the football field and players, and the virtual element is the yellow line, which is drawn over the image by computers in real time. Similarly, rugby fields and cricket pitches are branded by their sponsors using Augmented Reality; giant logos are inserted onto the fields when viewed on television. In some cases, the modification of reality goes beyond mere augmentation. For example, advertisements may be blocked out (partially or wholly diminished) and replaced with different advertisements. Such replacement is an example of Mediated reality, a more general concept than AR.
Television telecasts of swimming events also often have a virtual line which indicates the position of the current world record holder at that time.
Another type of AR application uses projectors and screens to insert objects into the real environment, enhancing museum exhibitions for example. The difference from a simple TV screen for example, is that these objects are related to the environment of the screen or display, and that they often are interactive as well.
Many first-person shooter video games simulate the viewpoint of someone using AR systems. In these games the AR can be used to give visual directions to a location, mark the direction and distance of another person who is not in line of sight, give information about equipment such as remaining bullets in a gun, and display a myriad of other images based on whatever the game designers intend. This is also called the head-up display.
In some current applications like in cars or airplanes, this is usually a head-up display integrated into the windshield.
The F-35 Lightning II has no head-up display. This is because all targets are tracked by the aircraft's situational awareness and the sensor fusion is presented in the pilot's helmet mounted display. The helmet mounted display provides an augmented reality system that allows the pilot to look through his own aircraft as if it wasn't there.
In the case of Augmented Reality, the augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, such as sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable. Artificial information about the environment and the objects in it can be stored and retrieved as an information layer on top of the real world view. The term augmented reality is believed to have been coined in 1990 by Thomas Caudell, an employee of Boeing at the time.
Augmented reality research explores the application of computer-generated imagery in live-video streams as a way to expand the real-world. Advanced research includes use of head-mounted displays and virtual retinal displays for visualization purposes, and construction of controlled environments containing any number of sensors and actuators.
Definition
There are two commonly accepted definitions of Augmented Reality today. One was given by Ronald Azuma in 1997 [2]. Azuma's definition says that Augmented Reality
combines real and virtual
is interactive in real time
is registered in 3D
Additionally Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino defined Milgram's Reality-Virtuality Continuum in 1994 [3]. They describe a continuum that spans from the real environment to a pure virtual environment. In between there are Augmented Reality (closer to the real environment) and Augmented Virtuality (is closer to the virtual environment).
This continuum has been extended into a two-dimensional plane of "Virtuality" and "Mediality". Taxonomy of Reality, Virtuality, Mediality. The origin R denotes unmodified reality. A continuum across the Virtuality axis V includes reality augmented with graphics (Augmented Reality), as well as graphics augmented by reality (Augmented Virtuality). However, the taxonomy also includes modification of reality or virtuality or any combination of these. The modification is denoted by moving up the mediality axis. Further up this axis, for example, we can find mediated reality, mediated virtuality, or any combination of these. Further up and to the right we have virtual worlds that are responsive to a severely modified version of reality. (at right) Mediated reality generalizes the concepts of mixed reality, etc.. It includes the virtuality reality continuum (mixing) but also, in addition to additive effects, also includes multiplicative effects (modulation) of (sometimes deliberately) diminished reality. Moreover, it considers, more generally, that reality may be modified in various ways. The mediated reality framework describes devices that deliberately modify reality, as well as devices that accidentally modify it.
More recently, the term augmented reality has been blurred a bit due to the increased interest of the general public in AR.
Examples
Commonly known examples of AR are the yellow "first down" lines seen in television broadcasts of American football games using the 1st & Ten system, and the colored trail showing location and direction of the puck in TV broadcasts of ice hockey games. The real-world elements are the football field and players, and the virtual element is the yellow line, which is drawn over the image by computers in real time. Similarly, rugby fields and cricket pitches are branded by their sponsors using Augmented Reality; giant logos are inserted onto the fields when viewed on television. In some cases, the modification of reality goes beyond mere augmentation. For example, advertisements may be blocked out (partially or wholly diminished) and replaced with different advertisements. Such replacement is an example of Mediated reality, a more general concept than AR.
Television telecasts of swimming events also often have a virtual line which indicates the position of the current world record holder at that time.
Another type of AR application uses projectors and screens to insert objects into the real environment, enhancing museum exhibitions for example. The difference from a simple TV screen for example, is that these objects are related to the environment of the screen or display, and that they often are interactive as well.
Many first-person shooter video games simulate the viewpoint of someone using AR systems. In these games the AR can be used to give visual directions to a location, mark the direction and distance of another person who is not in line of sight, give information about equipment such as remaining bullets in a gun, and display a myriad of other images based on whatever the game designers intend. This is also called the head-up display.
In some current applications like in cars or airplanes, this is usually a head-up display integrated into the windshield.
The F-35 Lightning II has no head-up display. This is because all targets are tracked by the aircraft's situational awareness and the sensor fusion is presented in the pilot's helmet mounted display. The helmet mounted display provides an augmented reality system that allows the pilot to look through his own aircraft as if it wasn't there.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Mortal Kombat (Game)
Mortal Kombat, commonly abbreviated MK, is a series of fighting games created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The first four renditions and their updates were developed by Midway Games and initially released on arcade machines. The arcade titles were later picked up by Acclaim Entertainment for the home console conversions. Beginning with Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Midway Games exclusively created home versions of Mortal Kombat up until Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Following Midway's bankruptcy, the franchise was picked up by Warner Bros. in July 2009 and became a part of the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Branch.
The series began originally as a game based on the popular actor martial artist, Jean-Claude Van Damme. The idea fell through and Mortal Kombat was born instead. As a result of its success, Mortal Kombat has spawned many sequels and has been spun off into several adventure games, films (animated and live-action with its own sequel), and television series (animated and live-action). Other spin-offs include various comic book series, a card game and a live-action tour.
The original three games and their updates, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, were styled in a 2-D fighting fashion with gameplay consisting of six buttons that were high punch, low punch, high kick, low kick, block, and run (run was added in "Mortal Kombat 3"). Reviewers have stated that because of this the characters are only differentiated by their special moves. In fact, some reviewers have criticized that the "bewildering array" of special moves in comparison to other fighting games has resulted in too little focus on regular moves.
The series is especially noted for its realistic digitized sprites (which differentiated it from its contemporaries' hand-drawn sprites), and its high levels of blood and gore, including, most notably, its graphic Fatalities—finishing moves, requiring a sequence of buttons to perform, which, in part, led to the creation of the ESRB. The series name itself is also known for using the letter "K" in place of "C" for the hard C sound, thus intentionally misspelling the word "combat," as well as other words with the hard C sound within later games in the series. Early games in the series were infamous for the prominent use of palette swapping to create new character sprites.
Gameplay
According to 1UP.com, the early Mortal Kombat characters played virtually identical to one another with the only major differences being special moves. In an interview with Computer and Video Games, Ed Boon stated, "[...] since the beginning, one of the things that's separated us from other fighting games is the crazy moves we've put in it, like fireballs and all the magic moves, so to speak." When asked if Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat would do a crossover, Street Fighter producer, Yoshinori Ono, called Mortal Kombat a very different game from Street Fighter. The Capcom Senior Director of communications compared Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat in an interview with Gamasutra by asking if the interviewer preferred the "precision and depth" of Street Fighter or the "gore and comedy" of Mortal Kombat; he also stated that the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat rivalry was considered similar to the Coke and Pepsi rivalry in the 1990s. In an interview with Video Games Daily, Senior Producer of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Hans Lo, called Street Fighter a little more technical fighter in comparison to Mortal Kombat.
Midway would keep their single styled fighting moves with four attack buttons which were a different array of punches and kicks and block until they changed this in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance by differentiating characters normal moves and even giving them multiple fighting styles. Beginning in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and until Mortal Kombat: Deception, the characters would have three fighting styles per character: two unarmed styles, and one weapon style. Few exceptions to this arose in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, such as monster-like characters like Onaga and Moloch who would have only one fighting style. Most of the fighting styles featured are based on real martial arts, though a few of them are not. Goro's fighting styles, for example, are designed to take advantage of the fact that he has four arms. For Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, fighting styles were reduced to a maximum of two per character (generally one hand-to-hand combat style and one weapon style) due to the sheer number of playable characters.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe dropped the multiple fighting style trend altogether in favor of giving each character a much wider variety of special moves, however some characters still had multiple fighting styles Baraka, utilizing the retractable blades in his arms (called the "Blade Stance"), and Deathstroke who also possessed the ability to use another fighting style in the form of a sword (called the "Sword Stance").
Finishing Moves
Mortal Kombat introduced Fatalities, finishing moves that allow players to end a fight by killing their opponent in a gruesome manner. It was developed in order to give gamers a free hit at the end of the fight. Finishing moves in later games included:
Friendship, in Mortal Kombat II, "which includes giving opponents a present or a bouquet of flowers, instead of killing them",
Animality, in Mortal Kombat 3: turning into an animal to violently finish off the opponent,
Mercy, where the victor gives a little health to the opponent,
Brutality, in Mortal Kombat Trilogy: bashing an opponent into pieces with a long combination of hits or combo
Babality "[where] your opponent turns into a baby."
Deception added the Hara-Kiri (as described by GameSpot, "[...] the hara-kiri, or self-fatality. Basically, players who have lost a match have the ability to punch in a command to perform a self-fatality"), to allow the losers to engage in a suicide-based finishing move, creating a race between both players to see if the winning player can finish off the losing player before the losing player can kill himself.
The Babality and Friendship moves were created as a satirical non-violent finishing move, a sarcastic swipe at the U.S. congressional Investigation for Violence in Videogames who came down harshly on the Mortal Kombat games.
Graphics
The original Mortal Kombat was developed with digitized sprites based on actors, as opposed to animated cartoon graphics. Mortal Kombat 4 brought the series into 3D, replacing the digitized fighters of previous games with polygon models.
More so than other fighting games at the time, Mortal Kombat was famous for re-coloring certain sprites to appear as different characters. This was most prominent with the series' various ninja/assassin characters. Many of the more popular characters were spawned from these palette swaps.
In the very first game, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Reptile were essentially the same character. The colors of their attire, fighting stance, and special techniques indicated the difference. Sub-Zero wore blue attire, Scorpion wore yellow, and Reptile wore green. Later games added other ninjas based on the same model: Noob Saibot (fully black), Smoke (gray with an attire that emitted clouds of smoke), Ermac (red), and Rain (purple). Chameleon was a hidden character who would cycle the palette colors of the other ninja.
Development
Mortal Kombat started development in 1991 with only four people; Ed Boon, John Tobias, John Vogel, and Dan Forden. As Ed Boon stated in an interview with Major Nelson "The first Mortal Kombat game was 4 guys, literally, one programmer, myself (Boon), two graphics guys (Tobias and Vogel), and a sound guy (Forden) was the entire team, literally" Originally, Boon and Tobias wanted to create a video game starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, with a digitized version of the action star fighting villains. In a podcast interview with the Official Xbox Magazine, Ed Boon stated for six out of the eight months while they were in production of Mortal Kombat, "...nobody could come up with a name nobody didn't hate." Some of the names suggested were Kumite, Dragon Attack, Death Blow, and even at one point, Fatality. Someone had written down "combat" on the drawing board for the names in Ed Boon's office and someone wrote a K over the C, according to Ed Boon, "...just to be kind of weird..." Steve Ritchie, a pinball designer at that time, was sitting in Ed Boon's office and saw the word "Kombat" and said to Ed Boon, 'Why don't you name it Mortal Kombat?' and according to Ed Boon, that name "just stuck."
The series itself commonly uses the letter "K" in place of "C" for words containing the hard C sound, thus misspelling them. According to an interview with CraveOnline, Ed Boon stated that during game development they usually spell the words correctly and change them later when the developers recognize an opportunity.
As outlined in an article by TIME in 2001, the team switched from digitized actors to motion capture technology stating, "To make the characters in video games more realistic, actors are being recruited to serve as models. Acclaim, the video-game company that made Mortal Kombat, has created a special 'motion capture studio' for this purpose. A martial-arts expert with as many as 100 electronic sensors taped to his body sends precise readings to a camera as he goes through his moves—running, jumping, kicking, punching. The action is captured, digitized and synthesized into a 'naked' wire-frame model stored in a computer. Those models can then be 'dressed' with clothing, facial expressions and other characteristics by means of a computer technique called texture mapping."
Easter Eggs and Secrets
Mortal Kombat included secret characters, secret games, and other Easter eggs. Mortal Kombat 3, for example, included a hidden game of Galaga as well a hidden game of Pong in Mortal Kombat II. Many extras in the series have only been accessible through very challenging, demanding, and sometimes coincidental requirements.
The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis versions had some unique eggs: in Mortal Kombat, a head shot of the President of Probe Software, Fergus McGovern, flew in front of the moon in the Pit stage, while in Mortal Kombat II, Raiden could perform a "Fergality" on the Armory stage.
In the 1992 arcade original when fighting on The Pit stage, the player can qualify for a fight at the bottom of The Pit with the hidden character Reptile, who has the powers of Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
Some Easter eggs originated from in-jokes between members of the development team. One example is "Toasty", which found its way into the game in the form of a small image of sound designer Dan Forden, who would appear in the corner of the screen during gameplay (after performing an uppercut) and yell the word "Toasty". This egg was also the key to unlocking the hidden character Smoke when it happened in the Portal stage. Another note of interest is in Mortal Kombat 4, Forden would say "Toasty! 3D!" after Scorpion did his burn fatality, a reference to the fact that it is the first 3D game of the series.
"Toasty" is also found in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, appearing randomly after the character pulls off a chain of hits, though the picture of Forden was removed for that version.
Yet another private joke was the hidden character "Noob Saibot", who appeared in various versions of the game. The character's name derived from two of the series' creators' surnames, Ed Boon, and John Tobias, spelled backwards. In addition, the character Ermac's name came from the first Mortal Kombat, which had "ERMAC5" on its diagnostics screen; players presumed this dealt with some secret character. The development team decided to turn this rumor into an actual character, who was introduced in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. The character Mokap is based upon Carlos Pesina who leads the motion capture team for modern MK games (and previously played Raiden in the first and second games).
The series began originally as a game based on the popular actor martial artist, Jean-Claude Van Damme. The idea fell through and Mortal Kombat was born instead. As a result of its success, Mortal Kombat has spawned many sequels and has been spun off into several adventure games, films (animated and live-action with its own sequel), and television series (animated and live-action). Other spin-offs include various comic book series, a card game and a live-action tour.
The original three games and their updates, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, were styled in a 2-D fighting fashion with gameplay consisting of six buttons that were high punch, low punch, high kick, low kick, block, and run (run was added in "Mortal Kombat 3"). Reviewers have stated that because of this the characters are only differentiated by their special moves. In fact, some reviewers have criticized that the "bewildering array" of special moves in comparison to other fighting games has resulted in too little focus on regular moves.
The series is especially noted for its realistic digitized sprites (which differentiated it from its contemporaries' hand-drawn sprites), and its high levels of blood and gore, including, most notably, its graphic Fatalities—finishing moves, requiring a sequence of buttons to perform, which, in part, led to the creation of the ESRB. The series name itself is also known for using the letter "K" in place of "C" for the hard C sound, thus intentionally misspelling the word "combat," as well as other words with the hard C sound within later games in the series. Early games in the series were infamous for the prominent use of palette swapping to create new character sprites.
Gameplay
According to 1UP.com, the early Mortal Kombat characters played virtually identical to one another with the only major differences being special moves. In an interview with Computer and Video Games, Ed Boon stated, "[...] since the beginning, one of the things that's separated us from other fighting games is the crazy moves we've put in it, like fireballs and all the magic moves, so to speak." When asked if Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat would do a crossover, Street Fighter producer, Yoshinori Ono, called Mortal Kombat a very different game from Street Fighter. The Capcom Senior Director of communications compared Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat in an interview with Gamasutra by asking if the interviewer preferred the "precision and depth" of Street Fighter or the "gore and comedy" of Mortal Kombat; he also stated that the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat rivalry was considered similar to the Coke and Pepsi rivalry in the 1990s. In an interview with Video Games Daily, Senior Producer of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Hans Lo, called Street Fighter a little more technical fighter in comparison to Mortal Kombat.
Midway would keep their single styled fighting moves with four attack buttons which were a different array of punches and kicks and block until they changed this in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance by differentiating characters normal moves and even giving them multiple fighting styles. Beginning in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and until Mortal Kombat: Deception, the characters would have three fighting styles per character: two unarmed styles, and one weapon style. Few exceptions to this arose in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, such as monster-like characters like Onaga and Moloch who would have only one fighting style. Most of the fighting styles featured are based on real martial arts, though a few of them are not. Goro's fighting styles, for example, are designed to take advantage of the fact that he has four arms. For Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, fighting styles were reduced to a maximum of two per character (generally one hand-to-hand combat style and one weapon style) due to the sheer number of playable characters.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe dropped the multiple fighting style trend altogether in favor of giving each character a much wider variety of special moves, however some characters still had multiple fighting styles Baraka, utilizing the retractable blades in his arms (called the "Blade Stance"), and Deathstroke who also possessed the ability to use another fighting style in the form of a sword (called the "Sword Stance").
Finishing Moves
Mortal Kombat introduced Fatalities, finishing moves that allow players to end a fight by killing their opponent in a gruesome manner. It was developed in order to give gamers a free hit at the end of the fight. Finishing moves in later games included:
Friendship, in Mortal Kombat II, "which includes giving opponents a present or a bouquet of flowers, instead of killing them",
Animality, in Mortal Kombat 3: turning into an animal to violently finish off the opponent,
Mercy, where the victor gives a little health to the opponent,
Brutality, in Mortal Kombat Trilogy: bashing an opponent into pieces with a long combination of hits or combo
Babality "[where] your opponent turns into a baby."
Deception added the Hara-Kiri (as described by GameSpot, "[...] the hara-kiri, or self-fatality. Basically, players who have lost a match have the ability to punch in a command to perform a self-fatality"), to allow the losers to engage in a suicide-based finishing move, creating a race between both players to see if the winning player can finish off the losing player before the losing player can kill himself.
The Babality and Friendship moves were created as a satirical non-violent finishing move, a sarcastic swipe at the U.S. congressional Investigation for Violence in Videogames who came down harshly on the Mortal Kombat games.
Graphics
The original Mortal Kombat was developed with digitized sprites based on actors, as opposed to animated cartoon graphics. Mortal Kombat 4 brought the series into 3D, replacing the digitized fighters of previous games with polygon models.
More so than other fighting games at the time, Mortal Kombat was famous for re-coloring certain sprites to appear as different characters. This was most prominent with the series' various ninja/assassin characters. Many of the more popular characters were spawned from these palette swaps.
In the very first game, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Reptile were essentially the same character. The colors of their attire, fighting stance, and special techniques indicated the difference. Sub-Zero wore blue attire, Scorpion wore yellow, and Reptile wore green. Later games added other ninjas based on the same model: Noob Saibot (fully black), Smoke (gray with an attire that emitted clouds of smoke), Ermac (red), and Rain (purple). Chameleon was a hidden character who would cycle the palette colors of the other ninja.
Development
Mortal Kombat started development in 1991 with only four people; Ed Boon, John Tobias, John Vogel, and Dan Forden. As Ed Boon stated in an interview with Major Nelson "The first Mortal Kombat game was 4 guys, literally, one programmer, myself (Boon), two graphics guys (Tobias and Vogel), and a sound guy (Forden) was the entire team, literally" Originally, Boon and Tobias wanted to create a video game starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, with a digitized version of the action star fighting villains. In a podcast interview with the Official Xbox Magazine, Ed Boon stated for six out of the eight months while they were in production of Mortal Kombat, "...nobody could come up with a name nobody didn't hate." Some of the names suggested were Kumite, Dragon Attack, Death Blow, and even at one point, Fatality. Someone had written down "combat" on the drawing board for the names in Ed Boon's office and someone wrote a K over the C, according to Ed Boon, "...just to be kind of weird..." Steve Ritchie, a pinball designer at that time, was sitting in Ed Boon's office and saw the word "Kombat" and said to Ed Boon, 'Why don't you name it Mortal Kombat?' and according to Ed Boon, that name "just stuck."
The series itself commonly uses the letter "K" in place of "C" for words containing the hard C sound, thus misspelling them. According to an interview with CraveOnline, Ed Boon stated that during game development they usually spell the words correctly and change them later when the developers recognize an opportunity.
As outlined in an article by TIME in 2001, the team switched from digitized actors to motion capture technology stating, "To make the characters in video games more realistic, actors are being recruited to serve as models. Acclaim, the video-game company that made Mortal Kombat, has created a special 'motion capture studio' for this purpose. A martial-arts expert with as many as 100 electronic sensors taped to his body sends precise readings to a camera as he goes through his moves—running, jumping, kicking, punching. The action is captured, digitized and synthesized into a 'naked' wire-frame model stored in a computer. Those models can then be 'dressed' with clothing, facial expressions and other characteristics by means of a computer technique called texture mapping."
Easter Eggs and Secrets
Mortal Kombat included secret characters, secret games, and other Easter eggs. Mortal Kombat 3, for example, included a hidden game of Galaga as well a hidden game of Pong in Mortal Kombat II. Many extras in the series have only been accessible through very challenging, demanding, and sometimes coincidental requirements.
The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis versions had some unique eggs: in Mortal Kombat, a head shot of the President of Probe Software, Fergus McGovern, flew in front of the moon in the Pit stage, while in Mortal Kombat II, Raiden could perform a "Fergality" on the Armory stage.
In the 1992 arcade original when fighting on The Pit stage, the player can qualify for a fight at the bottom of The Pit with the hidden character Reptile, who has the powers of Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
Some Easter eggs originated from in-jokes between members of the development team. One example is "Toasty", which found its way into the game in the form of a small image of sound designer Dan Forden, who would appear in the corner of the screen during gameplay (after performing an uppercut) and yell the word "Toasty". This egg was also the key to unlocking the hidden character Smoke when it happened in the Portal stage. Another note of interest is in Mortal Kombat 4, Forden would say "Toasty! 3D!" after Scorpion did his burn fatality, a reference to the fact that it is the first 3D game of the series.
"Toasty" is also found in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, appearing randomly after the character pulls off a chain of hits, though the picture of Forden was removed for that version.
Yet another private joke was the hidden character "Noob Saibot", who appeared in various versions of the game. The character's name derived from two of the series' creators' surnames, Ed Boon, and John Tobias, spelled backwards. In addition, the character Ermac's name came from the first Mortal Kombat, which had "ERMAC5" on its diagnostics screen; players presumed this dealt with some secret character. The development team decided to turn this rumor into an actual character, who was introduced in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. The character Mokap is based upon Carlos Pesina who leads the motion capture team for modern MK games (and previously played Raiden in the first and second games).
