Crunching polygons with a purpose

As technology evolves and unlocks new possibilities in the creative media, the onus lies on content creators to use it meaningfully and take their craft to the next level. Hollywood's dalliance with CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery), however, has had a chequered history. Over the years, it has seen expensive post-process effects squandered away on resurrecting dead historical figures, airbrushing out nipples and genitals, and let's not forget the horror that was Jar Jar Binks. However, when CGI was used well, it delivered an unprecedented potency to the horror and sci-fi genre. These modern genres pivot around this technology to provide compelling experiences, which would otherwise be impossible.As opposed to film, the video game industry is fundamentally limited by technology. Since this is a medium that's completely procedural in nature, games don't merely rely on technology to enrich experiences. Unlike in films, technology in video games is a fundamental building block that dictates the scope and complexity of the content that's invariably created from scratch. Any advancement in this basic foundation therefore can potentially enable profound and fundamental improvements to what developers can achieve with their games.The result can be seen in the medium over the years. We have moved on from the 8-bit era, where games were punishingly difficult to prolong gameplay because the cartridges weren't large enough to store enough data. When video game developers finally managed to nail compelling gameplay experiences, they moved onto the next logical milestone—delivering a deep and complex narrative that's on par with the medium's celluloid counterpart. Click here for full story