DICE CEO ponders using cloud power to create clouds

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Prepare 4 weather

In a recent Guardian interview, EA DICE head Patrick Söderlund talked about some of the new avenues cloud computing is opening for developers and posed the question, “what if we had servers where it pulls in just things as simple as weather and day time from the local area?”

“If the server is in Stockholm and it’s sunny, what if the map is sunny, too? What if it’s snowing and dark in Moscow? Okay, let’s have the servers there playing snowy and dark maps. You look at the possibilities and realise you can do so many more things in the cloud-enabled world than we couldn’t do before. That’s frankly one dumb idea from me, but it’s kind of cool!”

I don’t know whether this weather will ever be implemented, but I think it’s kind of cool, too. The idea of dynamic weather on its own, though — even if it’s not pulled from real world data — might be something multiplayer games should start considering. Different times of day and weather effects could help keep the same old maps feeling fresh.

Söderlund also talks about the legacy of Mirror’s Edge‘s uniqueness and its standout main character, though he offers only vague details on Mirror’s Edge 2. Don’t mess this one up, guys. I gotta have Faith.

Battlefield, Mirrors Edge, Star Wars: Patrick Söderlund on EA Dice [The Guardian]