Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Journal #6

Interaction in a game is one of the most important aspects of game play. Games would be very boring without interaction of any sort. In order to create interactions, game makers have depended on artificial intelligence (AI) to give the players something to interact with. With the increased speed of telecommunications, players are now able to interact with one another along with AI. Second Life is a game that depends entirely on player-to-player interaction along with the financial based game play.
In Second Life, I had found an area with a group of people and I must say, there are quite a few limitations when interacting. Artificial Intelligence does not exist, so without other players, the game is dull. When interacting with other players, the two modes of communication are typing or talking with a headset. The group of people I found did not use the headsets, so I opted out of using what I had. Typing is actually nicer because the messages show up at the bottom of the screen, where all of the option buttons are. Other players tend to be one of two types; the type that will not say much, or the type that are rude. I tend to be rude when I receive one word responses when I am trying to have a conversation. There is a large variety of players within Second Life; I met one man from Denmark. The feature that allowed me to communicate with him was a translator. The instant message would show what he typed and then showed the translation into English. Second Life seems to want players to communicate from across the globe, but after a forced conversation there is very little to do with another player.
When interacting with the environment, a player can purchase items or collect items that are free. When purchasing an item, the player has to put it in the items list, much like a folder in Windows, and from there must open the folder, extract the item into the world, and then collect it again. This process is quite tedious and if a player had to buy a lot of items, this would take up most of the play time. In order to get around the massive landscape, the player can fly and/or teleport to coordinates much like a map works. Within the map function, there are filters to find locations with large populations, free items, etc to help the players get where they want to go. The environment is not much like a busy city in real life. In real life, you can bump into people and they will respond, possibly even start yelling or fighting. In Second Life, the most someone can do is type-out their aggression or leave entirely. I am not sure if the designers made it this way to try to create “the perfect society” where fighting does not exist and players have to be nice to one another, but this is what inevitably happens.
The quote from Lynn Hershman: “Interactive systems require viewers to react” is absolutely true. In order for a system to properly function, the player needs to make reactions to what he/she sees on screen. Second Life seems to ignore this rule; there is nothing to react to unless there are other players interacting with you. Even the other players interacting with you are most of the time, dull. If Second Life had some artificial intelligence to take up space when there are a specific number of players are not engaged in the game, they would greatly improve the playability of the game. Without interactivity, there is no game.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Diamond Age

I find it interesting how Miranda manages to ract after becoming a Drummer, in Nell’s Primer in order to find her.

After reading all that Nell learns from the Primer, I wonder how nice it would be to have one myself; I wish I could learn martial arts and all the proper etiquette as easily as Nell had. Having someone/something as a companion teaches is much more effective than someone/something that is completely foreign to your way of things.

I felt sort of bad for Hackworth, while he was gone his wife had decided to divorce him and when he came back Fiona decided to join him on his journey. On their travels, they stumble across Dramatis Personae and Fiona decides to stay with them. Hackworth has lost his family entirely. To think that a girl would rather stay with a theatre troupe than with her father is quite disturbing.

Princess Nell finds out her subjects were mice and when they become disenchanted, they are an army of little girls. What are you supposed to do with an army of little girls? Take over a city?

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Virtual World

For my virtual world, I chose Second Life. After watching an episode of The Office where Dwight created a Second Second Life, I thought the game might be worth checking out. When you start Second Life, you can customize what your avatar looks like right away, along with a semi-custom name. Unfortunately, there is not much to choose from when you start, there is a list of last names to choose from, I picked the most brutal one I could find: Hammerer. (Erek Hammerer sounds pretty brutal, huh?) I spent a good deal of time trying to make mine look similar to me with terrible results. After getting acquainted with the controls and some other people, you can leave the starting island.
Once you land anywhere within Second Life, you immediately notice the mass amount of information within the game when it takes a few seconds to load your surroundings. Once you come to terms with your surroundings, there is quite a similarity between real life and Second Life. Just like real life, the economy runs everything and the Linden Dollar is king. Although, this may seem annoying to anyone on a budget (especially me, why else would I play a game that requires a $0 startup cost?) there are many things for free within the world of Second Life, you just have to know where to look! I found jeans, Nike Air’s and a Limbonic Art (Norwegian Black Metal band) tee shirt. I even managed to find a Diamond chain that sparkles so much, it almost blinding. There are free Pope Rings, Lord of the Ring rings, and various other pimp rings, even a blinged out pimp cane!
Controlling this madness is the same as any other game, WASD are directional keys and the mouse allows you to look around, the Home key activates flying and End deactivates flying. Communicating with others can be typed out with instant messaging, or use a headset and talk. I only used instant messaging because I did not care to have these other people hear my voice. Second Life has its own version of Ventrilo, however, it works like a real voice would in the sense that the further away you get from the avatar speaking, the less clear it gets.
This game is pretty easy for beginners, but I do not see the appeal for many players. Sure, there are there are X-rated areas, but even in virtual reality it seems disturbing. Aside from playing here and there to mess around and see what kinds of antics you can get away with and hear reactions from other players, there is not much to do without spending money. By using a credit card, you can purchase land and build a house using Second Life modeling software which would allow others to come in and have a virtual party. Some users like to make their houses open to the public and you can walk right into their kitchen. The most disappointing fact of the game is that there are no health meters and no way to die. To test this out, I had my avatar fly up as high as he could and disabled flying. While in is free-fall towards a real-life death, he starts flailing to make it a bit more believable. When he hits the ground, there are no repercussions, not even a bounce; he simply stands up waiting to do something. After about an hour and a half, I had seen enough in the Second Life world and got back into my real life. I will have to get back into this world eventually and see what kind of trouble I can start for free.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Cyberpunk: 1987

1987

Eric Hall
Lance Harrington
Kristy Keaton

Science Fiction Eye premiers all cyberpunk issue. Cyberpunk is recognized as a genre itself among science fiction

Robocop released - Police officer almost killed in the line of duty is integrated with machine to stop a politician from getting to be chief of police. "What is human?" issue brought to public, throughout the film, he struggles with being human or machine.

Akira released in English - Manga describing the world after WWIII, psychic research done by government with "guinea pig" experiments. Psychic powers are acknowledged and the government wants to harness the power but does so by inhumane means.

Bubble Gum Crisis - Manga where Tokyo is split by earthquake, Genom Corp becomes immensly powerful. Genom creates "Boomers"; artificial beings used for manual labor. (Blade Runner anyone?)

Mirrorshades published in Germany

Sega releases Phantasy Star - one of the first RPG's with Sci-Fi/Fantasy setting and first to have female protagonist. Cyberpunk and science fiction genre is used within game concepts.

Incentive released Driller - precursor to modern FPS 3D - Humans abandon Earth after it was destroyed by relentless conflict and search for natural resources.

Pat Cadigan publishes Mindplayers - The main character, Allie Haas is persuaded to "to try an illegal, stolen "mindcap". This experience goes very wrong She ends up hospitalised and criminalised, facing a serious sentence. But then she’s given one last chance - to take up a dangerous and, to her mind, loathsome career as a mind-player." This relates to cyberpunk when the high technology of a mindcap is used on the low life of a drug user.

Lucius Shepard releases Life During Wartime - This story has all the elements of cyberpunk, "a helicopter that thinks it's God; a man whose brain chemistry is somehow wired to that of butterflies" etc.

H.P.Garg publishes Advances in Solar Energy Technology: Collection and Storage Systems

The Running Man is released - World economy falls and the world is in chaos. Totalitarian society has set in and capital punishment is seen as entertainment where the main character, Ben Richards, is selected to play. This relates to cyberpunk when the economy has collapsed and the world is in chaos. Totalitarian societys erupt after a collapse of the government infrastructure.

Cherry 2000 is released - The story of a man who has an android wife who blows a fuse. The story follows Sam Treadwell as he shuffles through barren wastelands and abandoned manufacturing plants to find a replacement android wife.

Black Magic M-66 is released - This story tells the tale of a girl captured by a government-issued android who is out-of-control. Military issued androids is only found within cyberpunk.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Journal #3

Blade Runner was made in 1982 based in Los Angeles 2019. The story line is based around “a semi-retired cop known as a blade runner, attempts to track down a foursome of renegade slave cyborgs known as replicants” (Schager). The film is based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, with many modifications. This film introduced the world to a future that would not be a bright and happy change, rather a dark and dirty world where fear and non-human creatures called “replicants” exist and are rampant throughout Los Angeles.
With this large amount of people, technology has grown and “replicants” have taken over the labor work. Science has taken a giant leap forward since the modern times where genetics are just beginning to be understood. The “Tyrell Corporation” is the company responsible for creating the “replicants” and have to make them as full grown adults, seeing has how each part must be non-organically. Having pioneered such a feat, the Tyrell Corporation is reaping the benefits of creating mechanized slave labor, however, they can also be destroying the world that made them so wealthy.
Within the capitalist society we have today, advertisements are everywhere we look; on busses, internet ads, magazines, billboards, etc. Blade Runner paints us a picture of what we, as Americans, have to look forward to: “mass advertisements littering every inch of any wall of every building” (Varun). Aside from the advertisements, nightlife is just as busy as daytime, a constant buzz of people buying and moving all around. Night is no long night, the neon lights flood the streets where sunshine sat hours earlier. Schager describes it best as a, “multicultural techno-grunge hellhole drenched in rain, infested with advertising and shrouded in mist.”
The concept of creating this dark, gloomy future, may be more realistic than we want to believe. Large corporations run the world with the large sums of money they come to terms with. In Blade Runner, it is suggested the Tyrell Corporation may have played a role in creating a devastating environment. “…Nuclear, chemical and biological wars, grand-scale terrorism, global warming, merciless exploitation, excessive pollution, exhaustive over-population; probably a combination of them all. The way the Tyrell Corporation and other commercial enterprises are presented in the movie suggests the mega-corporations are to blame” (Hermansson). All aspects of a change in weather throughout the film are gone, the only time it is not raining and dark is within Tyrell’s own office when, “ Only in his office do we see any essence of the sun and a calm space” (Skaar). This is to suggest that, as Skaar states, Tyrell has a “God-like presence” being the principal power within the society.
The environment we all see and take for granted today is seen as a massive overhaul of advertisements and acid rain, as represented in Blade Runner. The large corporations are blamed for such a catastrophe and have more power than can be imagined. Evidence of such an event can be seen today if one looks close enough, for instance companies like Wal-Mart are buying up large areas of land are have made billions of dollars, Microsoft has made billions for creating Windows(PBS). Large corporations can control much of the planet and if we are not careful, the grim future that is portrayed in Blade Runner, may be our reality.
Works Cited
"Frontline: Is Wal-Mart good for America?." Secrets of Wal-Mart's Success. 2005. PBS. 1 Oct 2008 .
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Hermansson, Niclas. "The World 2019: A Worn-Down Hell." Blade Runner Insight 17 Dec. 2005. 27 Sept 2008 .

Schager, Nick. "Blade Runner: The Final Cut." Slant Magazine Film Review: Blade Runner 25 Sept 2007. 27 Sep 2008 .

Skaar, Tor Inge. "How Science Became God In Blade Runner." Blade Runner Insight 7 Aug 2006. 27 Sep 2008 .

Varun, Begley. "Blade Runner and the Postmodern: A Reconsideration." Literature Film Quarterly 2004. 29 Sep 2008 .

Journal #2

Cyberpunk, as Bruce Sterling suggests, is much like punk rock; a raw form of music that has “in some sense a return to roots” (Sterling, x,xi) bringing more of the essential feelings and characteristics early science fiction had laid claim to. One of the most prominent writers, one that coined the term “cyberpunk”, was William Gibson (Leonard, 2007). Gibson was growing up in a time where a lot of things were changing and the future looked very shiny and clean and everything would work perfectly. Society at the time looked forward to the future to bring greatness and peace to America, while Gibson’s father died while he was only a child. Feeling the trauma of a lost father, he turned to science fiction. Gibson saw the awesome power technology could have, all the while having the trauma of a lost father haunting him. The cyberpunk genre had yet to be made, but the mold of high tech, low life was being formed while Gibson was growing up. (Gibson)
When reading cyberpunk, there seems to be a recurring theme of a fantastical future that mankind had strived for, and in working towards that goal, mankind destroyed the environment we had lived in for millennia. There is always a mix of the amazing lights and technological advances with the dark and gloomy presence of watching eyes and the weaker in society being taken advantage of, yet still able to use modern technology.
This theme is apparent in Johnny Mnemonic, the short story where Johnny was to collect a large sum of money for a great deal of data stored within his head in which he had not access to. “If they think you're crude, go technical; if they think you're technical, go crude” (Johnny Mnemonic). This statement shows the “high tech, low life” atmosphere all cyberpunk stories are famous for. Aside from the direct quote from the story, the setting is another example of “high tech, low life” in which someone is acting almost as a drug mule, transporting data for a large sum of money. If Johnny does not deliver, he will be killed. Interesting as to how the cyberpunk genre is to be set in the future, yet the same aspects of illegal activity that plague the modern day society are still played out. Throughout the story, the reader will see that the future can be just as scary and dirty as today’s society is, but with a sort of exaggeration. The future is an inevitable thing that we cannot stop and the technological advances mankind has made over the past century is mind-boggling. With a more technologically advanced society, there will always be problems with someone, or a group, breaking the law and trying to rule over as much of the streets, or world, as possible.
In conclusion, the future can hold many great possibilities for mankind and possibly end many diseases and illnesses. However, the same conflicts that emerge within our society today seem to still be apparent within the cyberpunk genre. Crime is always a constant; drug transportation is replaced with data transportation and the human population seems to be on a steady increase throughout the future. Money, people, and crime are the few aspects that seem to transcend time. What makes the story is how the people interact with one another with the technology.







Works Cited

Gibson, William. "William Gibson: Johnny Mnemonic." Johnny Mnemonic 01 Oct 2002 25 Sep 2008 .

Gibson, William. "Since 1948." William Gibson - Official Website. 6 Nov 2002. 25 Sep 2008 .

Leonard, Andrew. "William Gibson: The Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary Interview." Rolling Stone 27 Nov 2007 25 Sep 2008 .


Sterling, Bruce. Mirrorshades. New York: ACE, 1986.