Multi-user, synchronized, 3D environment - scaleable by both number of users and zooming from the macro to the micro in the 3D space
Algorithm created content (optional in Croquet)
User created content is the best content because it encourages "ownership"
Spore advantages over Croquet:
Everything is algorithm generated so it’s fast, compact, easy to distribute.
Ease of 3D content creation due to predefined pallet of construction resources from which to choose
Physics is automatic and inter-object physical interaction behavior is extrapolated at runtime
Hard to reverse engineer, so easier to protect Intellectual Property if you have any
Efficient generation/memory-storage of textures
All 3D content exists in one single universe, so all content can be located by a single 3D position in the universe for it
Articulated avatars with preprogrammed, realistic motion & behavior
Hard for the user to crash the system 9
Less need for security to insulate users' behavior from each other
Croquet advantages over Spore:
Not all content can be expressed by algorithms, especially in education, where the domain to be learned has already been expressed in other multimedia
Users can create their own programming logic/behavior as well as their own content
Lots of new non-algorithmic content can be created
Open source
Easier to enhance with add-on extensions which are automatically distributed
Hard to derive content from algorithms, so hybrid approach helps in transition
Can easily record and play back the user stories in dynamic or other multimedia
Easy to reverse engineer, so easier to enhance or build the next big thing
Multiple user-created worlds can exist separate from each other, so easier to focus on specific communication activity or learning activity, and easier to create/duplicate a world & its content
Can search content data for values, labels, or code used by the active content
Can represent the chemical tools of biological organisms as well as structural tools
I'm sure others can think of more advantages and disadvantages.
Finalization is not resource management Check out SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com) for an already working version of something like this. Spore seems from the description to be a lot more in depth in some areas, but then again SecondLife has been around for a couple years, and has 15,000+ users.
SecondLife is masterminded by the guy who brought streaming video to Real back in the mid 90's. The content creation tools are incredible, and include not only a powerful CAD modeler in-world, but an interpreted scripting language that looks a lot like embedded C. You can also upload custom animations for avatars authored using Poser, and custom textures using anything you like.
is an example of the first thing I've created in-world using the tools available. And yes, the car is scripted, and you can drive it around.
Pretty much all the content in SecondLife is end-user created. Note that SecondLife is restricted to people 18+, and as such some of the content (in mature areas) is very explicit.
is an example of the first thing I've created in-world using the tools available. And yes, the car is scripted, and you can drive it around.