Neal Stephenson Reinventing Computer Swordfighting, Via Kickstarter 151
New submitter toxygen01 writes "Neal Stephenson, sci-fi writer mostly known for his books Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon, takes on revolutionizing virtual sword fighting with help of crowdfunding. Inspired by the little-known fictional universe of 'Mongoliad,' an interactive book he is collaborating on, his company is trying to develop hardware (low-latency motion controller) and software for realistic medieval sword fighting. From what is promised, it will try to be open for other developers by having API and SDK available for further modding." Very few Kickstarter drives have a steel longsword as one of the rewards for investing.
Not Just Mongoliad... (Score:4, Informative)
The main charactor in Snowcrash, Hiro Protagonist, is known as the best swordfighter in the Metaverse. So, obviously, his interest in swordfighting predates his most recent work. Hiro, besides actually knowing how to use a sword in the real world, also wrote the template sword fighting code for the Metaverse. I guess Neil Stephenson is looking for that "edge". :-)
Besides, a good generalized real-time controller framework will enable many types of gaming besides swordwork...the code should be similar enough to enable things like baseball bats, hockey sticks, and golf clubs.