Warren Spector Interview

There's a new interview with Warren Spector of ION Storm Austin on NextGame.it. The guy behind such games as Thief, System Shock and more recently Deus Ex. The interview isn't specifically about Deus Ex, or the new titles in development at ION, but rather about general gaming issues.

Nextgame.it: Technology: are we near or far to the creation of credible worlds, not only visually, but on the "structure" point of view (AI, environment simulation, etc.). Which direction the tech development should take, in your opinion to achieve this sort of credibility? How will you take advantage of new and powerful hardware? Warren Spector: I think we're doing pretty well already when it comes to creating "credible" worlds and things can only get better. Frankly, visuals are about the least important part of creating more believable worlds. What we need are worlds that are more fully realized -- worlds filled with interactive objects and more intelligent NPC's capable of making more sophisticated decisions than Shoot/Don't Shoot. We need to create game-worlds that allow players to exercise real-world common sense in dealing with problems, something more and more developers are beginning to realize. ...