Electronic Arts is preparing for the future, and one that is increasingly focused on streaming and cloud technology."At EA, we envision a future in which games go even further beyond the immersive experiences players enjoy today," Moss said. "I'm talking about games that offer living, breathing worlds that constantly evolve. You'll play them one day, and when you come back the next, things have changed based on inputs from other players, AI, and even the real world. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-has-1000-people-working-on-a-ridiculously-ambit/1100-6462918/?ftag=GSS-05-10aab8e&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5bda490a1adf640001f82c03&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Glad their preparing for cloud tech. That's a better way of saving our games.

Oh yay, more always-online stuff that people didn't ask for. As if the Olympus and Simcity debacles weren't enough.If the next Sims game focuses heavily on other players making changes to my game, at least I'll know to save my money

Thanks for sharing the article @simgirl1010 :) The engine aspect of Project Atlas will see EA further unify its engine work to focus even more on the Frostbite engine- I can see that the direction that the EA is going is to establish their cross-platform technology & products, which means, for any future development for The Sims franchise will go along the same direction. I'm totally fine with that, but, how are they going to maintain the same quality for all platforms? We were told that due to performance issue, they can't do this & that... So, I'm a bit skeptical about it... On the "services" front, EA has big plans to deepen the "social capabilities" of its games, and this includes advancements to how you meet up with and spend time with other players in games, as well as sharing content captured in those games to the wider world. For matchmaking specifically, Moss said EA is making changes to allow for a more personalised experience that pulls from data you share with EA. Moss stressed that EA is being mindful of respecting player privacy.- I like this idea, but, for The Sims specially, I would like to have an option to immerse in my own virtual world, but at the same time, I can also interact with the other players when I want to... like most MMO games out there... For example, like WOW where I can choose to play solo or with a team... I'm not really into data sharing, although it could be good in personalising individual experience... but, I would not like it if it's only meant for marketing purposes..Project Atlas is EA's new streaming and cloud technology, which will allow gamers to play graphics-intensive titles potentially in a browser because the content is streamed and not stored locally. EA is working on a streaming service of its own, but details about subscription pricing, titles, and more have not yet been disclosed. - I'm not against cloud technology, it's good in general as it's saving us a lot of space and will probably optimised our game experience... But, most of the time, I would like to play offline and pull my data locally. And I'm not into paying the subscription, possible upgrade, etc.... And I'm very concern about the security...EA also plans to leverage AI and machine-learning to make significant advancements to the believability of the interactions in its games. NPC behaviour stands to become far more realistic and dynamic, while the commentating in sports games could also get a boost of believability...."Leveraging AI and machine learning will also give game makers the ability to craft in-game interactions with non-playable characters or - NPCs in a way that is virtually indecipherable from a human interaction," Moss said. "So, instead of a pre-scripted, pattern-based logic for NPC behavior, this would make it possible for an NPC to engage in a way that is dynamic, contextual, and absolutely believable. - I personally like this idea as it's one of my research topics that I would like to explore in the future... The dynamic interaction is probably one of the best feature that EA could actually integrate in The Sims.. And with the new development of VR, I think it will be the best combo in the new gaming industry... But, in the end, I hope that we'll not immerse in the virtual world too much... :D

Admittedly, using machine learning for better AI sounds impressive (although it's expensive on processing power right now on EA's end, especially if it requires constant retraining to adapt), but the other online parts like cloud and streaming integration are a bit iffy to me, if only because of past experiences with online integration. Plus it's EA, so this sounds like another reason for microtransactions to creep into their games.

"icmnfrsh;c-16807992" wrote:Admittedly, using machine learning for better AI sounds impressive (although it's expensive on processing power right now on EA's end, especially if it requires constant retraining to adapt), but the other online parts like cloud and streaming integration are a bit iffy to me, if only because of past experiences with online integration. Plus it's EA, so this sounds like another reason for microtransactions to creep into their games.Couldn't agree more.. :D

EA Project Atlas | EA Forums

94 Replies

catloverplayer
Legend
7 years ago
Glad their preparing for cloud tech. That's a better way of saving our games.
icemanfresh
Legend
7 years ago
Oh yay, more always-online stuff that people didn't ask for. As if the Olympus and Simcity debacles weren't enough.

If the next Sims game focuses heavily on other players making changes to my game, at least I'll know to save my money
x4m1r4
7 years ago
Thanks for sharing the article @simgirl1010 :)

The engine aspect of Project Atlas will see EA further unify its engine work to focus even more on the Frostbite engine

- I can see that the direction that the EA is going is to establish their cross-platform technology & products, which means, for any future development for The Sims franchise will go along the same direction. I'm totally fine with that, but, how are they going to maintain the same quality for all platforms? We were told that due to performance issue, they can't do this & that... So, I'm a bit skeptical about it...

On the "services" front, EA has big plans to deepen the "social capabilities" of its games, and this includes advancements to how you meet up with and spend time with other players in games, as well as sharing content captured in those games to the wider world. For matchmaking specifically, Moss said EA is making changes to allow for a more personalised experience that pulls from data you share with EA. Moss stressed that EA is being mindful of respecting player privacy.

- I like this idea, but, for The Sims specially, I would like to have an option to immerse in my own virtual world, but at the same time, I can also interact with the other players when I want to... like most MMO games out there... For example, like WOW where I can choose to play solo or with a team... I'm not really into data sharing, although it could be good in personalising individual experience... but, I would not like it if it's only meant for marketing purposes..

Project Atlas is EA's new streaming and cloud technology, which will allow gamers to play graphics-intensive titles potentially in a browser because the content is streamed and not stored locally. EA is working on a streaming service of its own, but details about subscription pricing, titles, and more have not yet been disclosed.

- I'm not against cloud technology, it's good in general as it's saving us a lot of space and will probably optimised our game experience... But, most of the time, I would like to play offline and pull my data locally. And I'm not into paying the subscription, possible upgrade, etc.... And I'm very concern about the security...

EA also plans to leverage AI and machine-learning to make significant advancements to the believability of the interactions in its games. NPC behaviour stands to become far more realistic and dynamic, while the commentating in sports games could also get a boost of believability...."Leveraging AI and machine learning will also give game makers the ability to craft in-game interactions with non-playable characters or - NPCs in a way that is virtually indecipherable from a human interaction," Moss said. "So, instead of a pre-scripted, pattern-based logic for NPC behavior, this would make it possible for an NPC to engage in a way that is dynamic, contextual, and absolutely believable.

- I personally like this idea as it's one of my research topics that I would like to explore in the future... The dynamic interaction is probably one of the best feature that EA could actually integrate in The Sims.. And with the new development of VR, I think it will be the best combo in the new gaming industry... But, in the end, I hope that we'll not immerse in the virtual world too much... :D
icemanfresh
Legend
7 years ago
Admittedly, using machine learning for better AI sounds impressive (although it's expensive on processing power right now on EA's end, especially if it requires constant retraining to adapt), but the other online parts like cloud and streaming integration are a bit iffy to me, if only because of past experiences with online integration. Plus it's EA, so this sounds like another reason for microtransactions to creep into their games.
x4m1r4
7 years ago
"icmnfrsh;c-16807992" wrote:
Admittedly, using machine learning for better AI sounds impressive (although it's expensive on processing power right now on EA's end, especially if it requires constant retraining to adapt), but the other online parts like cloud and streaming integration are a bit iffy to me, if only because of past experiences with online integration. Plus it's EA, so this sounds like another reason for microtransactions to creep into their games.

Couldn't agree more.. :D
simgirl1010
Hero
7 years ago
The part about your game changing from day to day reminds me of Animal Crossing. I used to get so upset when I'd load my game and get a notice that one of my favorite animals had left town. Imagine loading your sims game only to find one of your sims had moved to another town. In another player's game :p
x4m1r4
7 years ago
"simgirl1010;c-16807996" wrote:
The part about your game changing from day to day reminds me of Animal Crossing. I used to get so upset when I'd load my game and get a notice that one of my favorite animals had left town. Imagine loading your sims game only to find one of your sims had moved to another town. In another player's game :p

Owh gosh!!! Noooo...... :D :p
icemanfresh
Legend
7 years ago
"simgirl1010;c-16807996" wrote:
The part about your game changing from day to day reminds me of Animal Crossing. I used to get so upset when I'd load my game and get a notice that one of my favorite animals had left town. Imagine loading your sims game only to find one of your sims had moved to another town. In another player's game :p

And said player sends your sim swimming...permanently >:)
paradiseplanet27
Seasoned Ace
7 years ago
"simgirl1010;c-16807996" wrote:
The part about your game changing from day to day reminds me of Animal Crossing. I used to get so upset when I'd load my game and get a notice that one of my favorite animals had left town. Imagine loading your sims game only to find one of your sims had moved to another town. In another player's game :p

I thought Halloween was over already? Don't scare me with such nightmares please! :scream:
icemanfresh
Legend
7 years ago
As a side note, I can totally see machine learning being used to solve the problem with horrible randomized outfits. It just needs to get samples of player-made sims in the gallery, train on them and try to generalize a pattern based on how they're dressed, and the game should be able to generate outfits that aren't as terrible. Machine learning isn't perfect, so there'll be a few oddities there, but it can give better results than what we have now.