I'd like more control over the graphics/environmental aspects. For instance:
-property-level control over the weather, with the ability to cue masterless weather changes (for dramatic effect, for instance - well placed rainstorms and what not would be very nice)
-ability to change the ambient color for dramatic effect
-access to sounds, allowing for another layer of detail
For Ring to succeed it's going to need to allow user's - of all skill levels - to produce -original- work that has a clear and distinctive feel. By adding in the above cinematic elements (and others, I'm sure
) you not only allow people the freedom of their own arrangement of models, dialogues and sequences, you allow them to shape it with more artistic control. The interface and logic already lend themselves to a cinematic approach - we even use the term: "acts."
An example of this use would be, as mentioned above, control over ambient lighting. A red hue during a climactic battle or when a good tribal chief dies when his son poisons him. Adventurers are standing in a small, twisted forest grove as a storm kicks in, a strange darkness settling and the sounds of predators - unseen - all around them. There may even be some success in making it a visceral experience and allowing for a tremendous diversity in finished works. Signature styles would develop, and you have a truly groundbreaking system.
I find the scenario construction to be very versatile. Using the activate/deactivate events you can even build logic into it, allowing for some pretty complex interactions between the NPCs and the environments. I just hope a little more thought is put into allowing people to not only prepare the actors, but to set the stage as well.