'Non-linear progression through a gameworld is not something you're likely to see nurtured outside of text adventures any time soon'
But we are seeing it, or at least a simulcrum of it - and have done so starting with Elite.
'because a healthy proportion of whatever you generate won't be seen'
I agree that open ended games usually require more assets than a linear FPS, but I think the major drawback to developers is the effort required to balance and play test an open-ended game - there's many more variables involved than a linear FPS.
Also there's the whole idea of content being created, organised and combined through mathematical functions. I don't think that's ever been fully exploited. I'd pick that that's going to be an emerging 'hot thing' in games over the next 5 years. Spore will possibly be the start of a push in that direction.
But we are seeing it, or at least a simulcrum of it - and have done so starting with Elite.
'because a healthy proportion of whatever you generate won't be seen'
I agree that open ended games usually require more assets than a linear FPS, but I think the major drawback to developers is the effort required to balance and play test an open-ended game - there's many more variables involved than a linear FPS.
Also there's the whole idea of content being created, organised and combined through mathematical functions. I don't think that's ever been fully exploited. I'd pick that that's going to be an emerging 'hot thing' in games over the next 5 years. Spore will possibly be the start of a push in that direction.