Welcome back beautiful readers for another Geek Wish-List. I wanted to take this week to discuss how video games are becoming extremely detailed and complex, more importantly I also want to discuss how I would like this trend of detail and complexity to continue.

With the increase in graphics and memory space, games with  extreme graphical detail have become very common. However, I don’t have the space here to reference every detailed game out there. So I’m going focus on the ones I’ve been looking at recently, Total War Warhammer, Battlefleet Gothic Armada, and Battlefield 1.

What I find really interesting about these games is the sheer level of detail and how all these elements don’t degrade their performance. If we look at the Total War series as a whole it has always been known for having great detail. Yet the games detail isn’t limited to looking good. but also a high level of detail in how units interact in different in-game situations. One example of this interaction is how Total War allows you to charge into the flanks of the enemy to break formation. Similarly how of Battlefield series allows massive battles with up to 60 players, seamlessly. This concept of having games that are both highly detailed as well as complex in their mechanics is what I find so interesting.

Having learned how much work goes into creating simple games with minimal graphics and complexity I’m awestruck on the technological feats of today’s video games. My wish is for features from games such as Battlefleet Ghost Armada, where each unit can be upgraded individually, are introduced into large scale battles with Total War level of complexity.

I know that the concept might be hard to visualize so let me help break it down a bit more. What I’m wishing for is for games to include the following features. First off, I want video games to have models that are not only graphically detailed, but also interact with their surroundings. The next feature I want implemented is for these units to have detailed customization and upgrade options. Last of all I want all these game models to be included in large scale maps. The ending result would be games that include amazing graphical detail and enough complex interactions to make the game feel as if it’s a functioning world in and of itself.

In my personal opinion what I would love to see is a game where large scale conflict can be flawlessly affected by small scale conflict. To help visualize this feature I came up with a game scenario of my own design. As a player you are flying a massive battle cruiser against an enemy space station. They are firing dozens of cannons at you and vice versa. After getting within range you send in troops via boarding pods and they proceed to fight in first person combat. After your troops destroy the shield generator they Evac from the station before your cruiser unleashes its finishing salvo.  The glory of this being that your fight, which is able to stand as a match by itself, is only part of an even larger scale battle ranging across the battlefield.

With that my wish-list for the week is done and I will hopefully see you all again next week.