For those interested in the topic check out this video of a virtual grid called LivePlace from the creator of myspace, that is possibly due for rerelease in the near future http://techcrunch.com/2008/08/11/liveplace-to-launch-photo-realistic-virtual-world-rendered-in-the-cloud/

Also I found this a better understanding with dialogue go here http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/4dm1a6/liveplace---virtual-world

Cool.

2nd generation of 2nd Life. I figured it would just be a matter of time.

I wonder if Maxis has ever gotten involved with something like this. Well, there was the Sims Online. Maybe that soured it for them. 

~Shane

And I already never get anything done....

Laurie

that story was from 2008.....

The dog ate my homework - The economy ate my 3D world? I see that these OTOY folks are the Octane Render folks. Never had any interest in this stuff but I always wondered what happened to Second Life. The last I remember reading was scandals about underage characters etc. Judging from the low quality stuff back then, I can imagine what would would happen with the kind of 'Hollywood' level graphics that article was touting. Seems like there would also always be an issue if you had to move DAZ's, SM's etc. IP to some server to be rendered - possibly a non-starter without massive DRM, money changing hands, legal opinions etc.

2nd Life is still around and still very popular with its users.  There are a number of other such virtual worlds out there Utherverse / Red Light Center (actually the same world, just two different entry areas).  There are some other "knock offs".

I was asked to work on helping develop another such world but backed out because the company seemed too disorganized to succeed.

Many such new worlds are using the Unity or UDK (Unreal) game engines and I suspect the one in the article was using one or the other.  The graphics can be surprisingly good and if you get good 3d artists who know their way around retopology you can get some low poly characters that look really good.

Both Unity and UDK do server side rendering, I've seen 3D MMORPGs done with either that can be run on a tablet or smart phone.  Both engines are capable or real time rendering of things live waving grass, trees swaying in the wind, waves crashing on a beach, etc.

But everything is done at much lower poly counts and smaller textures than what you typically find in Poser.  For example a 1024x1024 texture map is large for such game engines where in Poser is average to small.  You just aren't going to cram a V4 character model into one of those worlds and trying to do a 4000x4000 px transmap would likely bring the game engine to a crashing halt.  They just aren't built for that (last I read the docs you can't even load a texture that large, won't accept it).

Still, there are a lot of neat things you can do and these virtual worlds seem to be only growing in popularity.  I know people who run "virtual businesses" within them and literally make a full time living from them.  If you want to build your own, you'll need some good modelers, artists and programmers, as well as licensing the game engine (around $1,500 just for that) plus servers, bandwidth, etc.  Have seen some start up using crowdfunding and giving extra in world perks to early subscribers as part of the reward.

Some have focused mainly on the gaming side (like WoW) while others focus on the social aspect (2nd Life) and some mix the two (Wizards101 and to a lesser extent SW:TOR).  I suspect in the future we'll see more that mix the two, having both gaming aspects as well as a well developed social aspect.  People seem to like being able to create not just characters / avatars, but also virtual homes, decorate them, create virtual families, etc.   More also seem to be consciously including the option to create in game businesses that allow player to actually sell in game products they create and cash out for real money (with the game provider taking a cut of course).  Its interesting watching how it all develops.

To ambient shade, I'm not sure about Maxis, I guess we'll find out tomorrow at the E3 in Germany when they unveil The Sims 4, and it would be nice if it were like Second Life, I feel like I've saved up a lifetimes worth of content, but I'm wondering if they would have to deal with horrible lag with the heavy voxel count

2008 story.....

"Its interesting watching how it all develops."

Indeed. IIRC some real world companies had set up shop in Second Life. I can imagine some interesting opportunities for education, global activism etc. in a more controlled or focused virtual environment. As to the purely social/entertainment side of it, I'm I see it as just another incentive for people to tune out of real, in person interaction. But, for better or worse, that seems to be the way things are going. * *

Oh absolutely that's part of what draws people to it, its a way to drop out of the real world and live in a fantasy world where people can easily create the lives they'd rather have.  Its not uncommon to see men pretend to be women, women pretend to be men, people who are married IRL having online relationships (even going as far as to have online marriages).  In my experience the drama level is usually very high as a result.  Partly because people do want their perfect fantasy life and the moment some other player doesn't "play along" with that, drama ensues.

I have seen more positive aspects to it.  I have one friend that runs an online Spanish language school using one such virtual world.  She actually teaches the classes online, has a virtual classroom set up with visual aids, links to reference materials, audio files, etc.  The classroom itself is almost like a web site you can walk around in to navigate.  She uses VOIP in world to actually talk to her students and listen to them.  Its pretty neat really, and yes, she charges real world money for those lessons.

I've also seen online concerts done this way.  A real band plays at some real world venue with camera's set up.  A live feed (sometimes multiple feeds) are sent in world to some virtual club or venue which has one or more "screens" showing the live feed.  People seem to enjoy it.

In some ways I can see these virtual worlds becoming an extension of the internet and world wide web.  Its a bit like the "matrix" / cyberspace fiction writers have been envisioning since Gibson coined the term.  But they are also huge time sinks.  You can easily spend hours in them without realizing it.  They can be very addictive, literally.  I came across a news story out of S. Korea about a young man who became so addicted to online virtual worlds he literally starved himself to death and died.

I have even seen people use things like 2nd Life to create virtual art similar (but lower quality) to what we do in Poser.  With computing power still advancing according to More's Law, I could see maybe next gen games offering closer to Poser like quality in a virtual world.  I could also see being able to create characters not just to pose for still renders, but animations and then be able to interact with them on some level.  Perhaps an early example is Star Wars: The Old Republic where your character can gain "companions" that you only generally control, have some limited level of interactivity and assist your character during game play.  Add some programming similar to what I think Shade was referring to with Maxis and you might have something more socially interactive.  That is your "models" would be capable of becoming interactive in world characters, companions, etc.

"Okay so Vicky, how about standing over there and lets get a few shots.  Give me some playful poses, not too sexy a bit understated.   That's it, work it... camera loves you baby..."  I'm laughing but it may be closer to the future than we think.

Quote - "Its interesting watching how it all develops."

Indeed. IIRC some real world companies had set up shop in Second Life. I can imagine some interesting opportunities for education, global activism etc. in a more controlled or focused virtual environment. As to the purely social/entertainment side of it, I'm I see it as just another incentive for people to tune out of real, in person interaction. But, for better or worse, that seems to be the way things are going.

I agree ;). It's not for me for certain - my real life has enough drama already. LOL

Having said that...I did like games like Riven, which were visually beautiful and full of neat stuff ;). I'd prefer that.

Laurie

That has been something I've enjoyed about both Star Wars games, they had some nice scenery you could enjoy besides the gaming aspect.  Mind you, since it is an online gaming environment there are also things that may try to shoot you or eat you hidden in that scenery, but still, its a nice view until then. LOL

For example in Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR for short), the world of Alderaan is beautiful to visit and one of the hidden "easter eggs" is a sort of flying manta ray you can hop on and ride around for an aerial view of a large valley (and nothing shoots at you while you enjoy the trip).  The grass waves in the virtual breeze, as do the trees, the water has ripples and waves, butterflies (or something like them) flit past you.  Its really very good animation, particularly since its for a MMORPG game.

The reason this particular idea of a virtual world for Poser/Daz avatars interested me is because of the quality of renders, creativity and content we could actually use a lot of the stuff that we have in world and explore and create art in real time, and I would finally get to meet some of you folks as well as other Poser/Daz users out there,

I mean the forums are nice but there is something to be said for looking at an avatar gesticulating and/or typing to get the gist of a personality type, or the more pragmatic thing would be making somthing more out of my investments and putting them to use to actually experience them, rather than use them for art.

Thanks to everyone for commenting

The language school thing sounds neat - more like the things I would hope develop more. Theres something to be said for the fantasy aspects, people like Halloween etc. Living as an made up avatar 'obsessively' though, kinda scarey. I did hear about the guy who starved.   

As the technology developes we'll se more good and bad. With more advanced 'intelligence. virtual characters could indeed provide companionship for the isolated I imagine - something robots do in fiction and getting closer in reality but probably not afordable except to the few. If you can afford a robot, you can afford real companions. One could argue that the robot's interest was at least as genuine as the bought companions I suppose. Imbued with enough of your personality, a virtual clone could outlive you. People already talk to their dead spouses etc. Having one that could talk back would be nice.