Used and Abused
By sweep 27 Comments
The only thing more enjoyable than creating your own computer game content is knowing that people are out there enjoying it.
The appeal of user created content is so broad that it extends from the simplistic level creation tools of Super Smash Bro's Brawl right up to the infinite creation of the PC modding scene. Giving people a set of tools to work with, be it Garry's Mod or LittleBigPlanet, and there will always be a select few who transcend the expectations of the entire gaming community. I have always marvelled at how little is required for a person to express themselves with such capability. Look at the artwork that can be created on Microsoft Paint, or even the Facebook Graffiti application. The potential is seemingly limitless.
The following was written by William Calvin, a neurophysiologist professor at Washington School Of Medicine in Seattle.
When we look at the History of Invention - by studying the archaeological record of tools and processes that humans have developed over the past several million years - a surprising fact emerges: the brain is growing steadily; tool-making progress is not. Up until 50,000 years ago the innovations of new tools were punctuated by million-year long periods of stasis where there was no new technology. This violates two popular ideas about innovation. Firstly, that constant innovation in tool-making drives the growth of the brain, and secondly that the bigger brain improves tool-making.
Human creativity is limited to the potential of the tools we use to further create.
Someone with Photoshop can perform easier photo editing than someone with MS paint. However this notion of accessibility within creation is by no means limiting of creativity itself. The Egyptians may have used tools we consider to be primitive but they still built the Pyramids.Within the gaming community the truly fantastic creations are honoured appropriately. The Galaga and Mirrors Edge recreations on LBP featured on this very site. The modding scene seems content creating Master Chief skins in Unreal Tournament 3. I myself confess to perfecting the layout of N64's Goldeneye Facility level on Timesplitters 2. While these are all wonderfully novel to play and experience its a real shame that the content could not be more imaginative in its conception. True innovation lies in creating new content, new tools, new experiences. So far the only LBP levels that have been brought to my attention are tacky mushroom kingdoms.
Call me a cynic, but I suspect abstract corporative heresy at every turn. But Sony's apparent trend of "WE DON'T WANT TO OFFEND ANYONE, ANYWHERE!!" is perhaps more honest than it may initially appear. Sony does not want LBP to turn into a game where you can recreate other games that dont belong to Sony. In an ideal world LBP would be a game where you create LBP levels not Super Mario levels (Or even regular Mario levels). It must be very frustrating to see people squandering the potential of the tools they have been given - even if it really is an awesome Galaga level.
But then, for every 1000 useless morons, there is one or two people who take the time to create something really awesome using the apparently limited tools they have been given. It could be as simple as creating a shopping mall layout for a popular zombie game, or an epic guide on a website. If 2008 was the year of moral choices - the future should be about User Created Content. LBP and Forge Mode in Halo 3 have laid a precedent for how easy to use and accessible this design process can be. If developers provide the tools, we will provide the content. Now I want too see people getting out there and making a name for themselves as innovators, not copycats.
2009. Make it happen.
Thanks For Reading.
Love Sweep