Ra.One, the game-changer | ||||
SANTANU BASU | ||||
Shah Rukh Khan, thank you. Hollywood has made scores of movies on gamers and games but for mainstream Bollywood we did not exist. That was untilRa.One brought our world to the big screen. For this alone, we gamers will remain grateful to King Khan. In the film, gaming is not a mere prop that allows Shah Rukh to do the superhero thing: it is integral to the story. The making of the game that gives the film its name is shown realistically on screen. Shah Rukh, playing game developer Shekhar Subramanium, and his assistant are shown hooked-up with a machine through various wires so that their body movements can be recorded. Having been involved with game making, I know that is how real games are developed. For example, if a character in a game moves like a dog, the movement of a real dog has to be studied this way to render the character graphically. The realism unfortunately stops with the process. Belying credulity, the game in the film is developed within days by a team of two. In the top gaming studios in the US and Europe, large teams take months, if not years, to make a game. One of the most critical steps is making a game artificially intelligent. A game's artificial intelligence determines how realistic the interactions between the characters are. In a racing game, if I suddenly veer into the wrong lane, whether the cars coming from the opposite direction will avoid me or stupidly smash into me depends on how developed the game's artificial intelligence is. Ra.One has artificial intelligence in abundance. So much so that the game comes to life in the film. The way Ra.One is played till then, standing in front of a flat screen, is also exactly how we play a game on Xbox Kinect or Playstation Move. Shah Rukh's son in the film, Prateek, uses the screen name Lucifer. Real gamers too have interesting screen names. For example, a well-known German gamer goes by the handle skhero. G.One's suit seems a simpler, friendlier version of the nanosuit in the Crysis series. Whereas the nanosuit conferred powers on the wearer, such as the ability to become invisible, leap a long way and get an energy boost, the uniqueness of the G.One suit was not clear to me. In the film, the suit did not matter as much as the person wearing it. On the Ra.One website though, the intricacies of the suit are explained well. G.One takes on Ra.One over three levels. Most current action games are spread over at least 20 levels. However, there are instances of one-to-one fight games with only a handful of levels, such as Mortal Kombat and Takken. Unlike in a real game, G.One can settle his thing with Ra.One using weapons only in the final, or the bossfight, level. The locations though keep changing from level to level like in real games. G.One's H.A.R.T. (Hertz Advanced Resonance Transmitter, a glowing circle on his chest) seems to be inspired by Ironman's artificial heart, which is actually an electromagnet that was fixed to his suit after a shrapnel pierced his body. While Ironman could not take off his suit without weakening himself, G.One could do so at will. However, he or Ra.One could not be destroyed without H.A.R.T. The graphics in Ra.One, the game in the film, is very good, almost on a par with modern action games. Children who have watched the film might even be scared to play theRa.One game, lest the characters walk straight out of the screen. They need not be, since good triumphs over evil in the end, true to the superhero tradition. In the dark and violent world of modern first-person shooters, there is no such certainty. (Santanu Basu has represented India in World Cyber Games) | ||||
Monday, November 7, 2011
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111101/jsp/calcutta/story_14692896.jspRa.One, the game-changer SANTANU BASU
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111101/jsp/calcutta/story_14692896.jsp
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Followers
Blog Archive
-
▼
2011
(8499)
-
▼
November
(1134)
- रीटेल एफ डी आई से कारोबार पर विदेशी पूंजी काबिज और...
- ‘MINDCONTROL’ AND ELECTRONIC WEAPONS - VICTIMS' OR...
- Welcome to the world of corporate psychopaths
- Financial 'vultures' poised to swoop on Africa thr...
- MEDVEDEV: RUSSIA SERVES NOTICE November 28, 2011 B...
- Nepal Updates
- Statement Condemning Repression Against Anti POSCO...
- he GOP’s Middle Class Tax Increase
- F-22s Gobble Up More Billions
- Adivasi Bounded Labour Killed,No Justice yet.-Than...
- US war against Pakistan?
- PIL to Register FIR Against Mukesh Ambani, RIL
- The lawsuit that could end the gangster rule of We...
- Throw These Cooking Oils in the Trash
- Retail FDI: The Calculations and Compulsions..
- Manual scavengers poster -READ
- Irula Tribe women sexualy abused by Police - Tiruk...
- Sr. Valsa case with the National Commission for Women
- Oh The aggressors! Oh The killers of the Innocent ...
- MY AUSTRIA VISIT AND PROJECT OF HOPE Asghar Ali En...
- Fwd: BAMCEF & RMS 28TH N.C. 24TH TO 28TH DEC 2011,...
- Fwd: [OrissaConcerns] Statement on the Repression ...
- Fwd: declare aadhaar illegal, pleads suit - bangal...
- Fwd: [bangla-vision] FD News and an important action
- Fwd: हस्तक्षेप.कॉम चल अन्ना घर आपने रेन भई यह देश…
- Fwd: Tom Burghardt: Target Iran - Washington's Cou...
- Fwd: Kanimozhee bhee Kaanee ho Gayee!
- Fwd: Truth behind the appeal to Hindus - One secon...
- Fwd: (Desiyatra)-- Sharad slap unites Indian polit...
- Fwd: Today's Exclusives - Controversial stock oper...
- In Tamil Nadu’s southern districts, prisoners are ...
- Fishy Friends By Nigar Ataulla
- Rapid Haramikaran Of India - Growth Rate Food 2%, ...
- Dalit labourer dies, nephew alleges he was beaten
- Water politics in the Jordan River basin
- Dr. Bhupen Hazarika honoured in London - 1999
- declare aadhaar illegal, pleads suit - bangalore, ...
- DGP Mr. BR Lall – Crusader Against ‘Black Money’ N...
- The glimpses of Post FDI in retail
- Anand Sharma writes to parties clarifying FDI stance
- The Miqati Government in Lebanon – Continued Subju...
- Miami-protest spokesman led 'Nuke Israel' rally
- Why not open debate on Holocaust?+Capitalism under...
- Discussion on Karnataka Guarantee of Services to C...
- Statue of Liberty – an Egyptian Peasant Lady?
- Moroccan opposition warns of silent majority
- De Jager talks tough as he heads to Berlin for tal...
- Debt Crisis Belgium under the tutelage of Brussels?
- Eurobond talk should not be 'taboo', Monti tells V...
- Will Global Financial Demolition Lead To New World...
- Would uranium sales to India breach a key Labor tr...
- Fwd: [Occupy Kolkata] i know casteism in india is ...
- Fwd: [Marxistindia] CPI(M) Supports Traders Call f...
- Fwd: Julie Lévesque: Protest in Syria: Media Lies ...
- Fwd: [Occupy Delhi] IN 1886-94, DURING THE SANTHAL...
- Fwd: [Occupy Delhi] PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATIC STUDENT...
- Bangladesh: International anti-imperialism conference
- 5,000,000 North East Indian Migrations Expected in...
- Prosecutor: Reagan, Bush not criminally liable
- LIVING IN GERMANY
- Occupy Everywhere: Michael Moore, Naomi Klein on N...
- The People's Surveillance State
- Washington's $8 Billion Shadow
- Where Does Occupy Wall Street Go From Here? ...a p...
- Israel's technology or its politics that the minis...
- Targeted Individual due for execution unless we dr...
- FDI in Retail for 99% Indians – Vendors, Farmers, ...
- HUNDREDS RALLY IN MUZAFFARABAD AGAINST MFN STATUS ...
- KSA: Thousands in Eastern Province Chant Death to ...
- LIBYA: Thousands accused of Gaddafi links held by ...
- RSS A pure religion- LIKE SIKHS/Jaina/ BUDHA/= wit...
- Dead Man Talking: More Fake Encounters in Gujarat
- 21st Greatest Sikh Traitor Parkash Chand Badal ina...
- Up to 25 Pak soldiers dead in NATO chopper attack
- Abhay Sahu, leader of anti-POSCO movement arrested
- login immediately Meshram saheb speaking
- Nuclear emergency in Japan: lessons for India
- DRUM- Desis Rising Up & Moving
- World's Largest and Longest Invisible War
- Regards to PIL- Chinese expert praises Indian courts-
- Non-discrimination and Equality in India Contestin...
- Akal Takht, SGPC condemn slapping of Sharad Pawar
- Urbanization key to speedy growth: RBI governor
- Egypt's economy slumps under weight of unrest
- FDI decision taken to help Rahul's foreign friends...
- Kishenji's body identified by niece
- aviation crisis News Stories
- KISHENJI SPECIAL Calcutta Corner Why is Mamata Ban...
- Bring the spice back The men have left the Sunderb...
- Maoists allege fake encounter PRONAB MONDAL
- Blunted: Maoist peril & CPM slur - CM scores twin ...
- Hunt for Suchitra yields purse NARESH JANA
- State to fly Kishan’s body home if identified by n...
- http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111126/jsp/frontpag...
- Egg on the face of fake Tagore champions - All 20 ...
- State steps up border vigil Police escort for fore...
- Kishan wily, govt wilier Parivartan and penetratio...
- Reforms Drive is in Topmost Gear Now in Absence of...
- Fog effect: 28 trains to remain cancelled for two ...
- ISHRAT JAHAN: MURDER IN COLD BLOOD Ram Puniyani
-
▼
November
(1134)
No comments:
Post a Comment