Grey Alien and Sledge make a good point.
I think the problem is that modeling and texturing are simply too much work. You spend most of your resources creating a bunch of real-world items that are going to be used once, and never seen again. It's no wonder environments are so limited and repetitive.
I've read a lot of articles that say pretty much the same thing. The costs of production are so high, it takes so much work, and at the end, you just throw it all away when you are done.
A virtual VW bug costs about as much as a real one. If you go to the store and buy a hammer, do you pay $80 for a hand-crafted one, or do you buy one from a company that mass-produces them, so that you can pay $6? Virtual "goods" cost more than real items, because each one is "hand-crafted". Are they still virtual, or are they real objects that can be cloned instantaneously?
I wish there were more standardized techniques and content. I think eventually you will be able to just buy or download an object and place it in the virtual world, and have it follow the world's rules, but for now, every game company is going to keep building everything from the ground up, for each title.
What 3D games is a common library of ready made objects...
(non-linear progression) balloons the cost of asset generation...
I think the problem is that modeling and texturing are simply too much work. You spend most of your resources creating a bunch of real-world items that are going to be used once, and never seen again. It's no wonder environments are so limited and repetitive.
I've read a lot of articles that say pretty much the same thing. The costs of production are so high, it takes so much work, and at the end, you just throw it all away when you are done.
A virtual VW bug costs about as much as a real one. If you go to the store and buy a hammer, do you pay $80 for a hand-crafted one, or do you buy one from a company that mass-produces them, so that you can pay $6? Virtual "goods" cost more than real items, because each one is "hand-crafted". Are they still virtual, or are they real objects that can be cloned instantaneously?
I wish there were more standardized techniques and content. I think eventually you will be able to just buy or download an object and place it in the virtual world, and have it follow the world's rules, but for now, every game company is going to keep building everything from the ground up, for each title.