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Ideation
With some information gathered about what my peers may expect from a Simulation Theory driven game, I want to process this information to assist in ideation. I've categorised this section into the three motives mentioned in the survey page, and I want each of these motives to be the basis for a variety of ideas that utilise the different themes and genres supplied in the survey.
The 3 motives:
- Simulation as a form of control
- Simulation as a form of escapism
- Simulation as means of recovering lost information
The 3 genres:
- Action-Adventure
- Puzzle
- Role Playing
The 8 themes:
- Free Will
- Existentialism
- Dreams/Nightmares
- Conspiracism
- Physics
- Determinism
- Icarus
- Technology
With these different concepts to choose from, how do I go about putting them together? I personally think that the motives behind a simulation are the most important part - they set a foundation from which everything else develops, so I think I'll develop the ideas based around these three motives in particular. From there, I can adhere specific themes and genres that tie into that motive the most appropriately:
Motive 1 - Control
For me personally, control is strongly evocative of more negative and existential themes. Themes that revolve around a world in which there is an antagonistic force driving the controlling nature of the simulation in question, thus I feel like the 'action-adventure' genre ties in the best. Not necessarily because puzzle and role-play do not fit, but instead because control as a motive offers the most in terms of action and combat. Control by definition carries intrinsic themes of opposition and conflict, as control implies that one or many are BEING controlled, and, in turn, implies that it would be against their will. This idea holds up especially well when we take into account other forms of media that utilise control as a motive behind a simulation - The Matrix in particular is iconic in pop culture for its absurd and over the top action sequences. Because of this, the action-adventure genre should fit in with expectations and allow for the most expansion of the control motive.In terms of themes, the aforementioned negative connotations of control have to be reflected within them. I think the first theme has to be determinism for its overly pessimistic and depressing outlook on the the universe.
It's clear to see that the negative connotations and weight that control implicitly carries are reflected in my interpretation of it - it's hard to think of any positive simulation scenarios in which control and manipulation are the motivation. Because of that, it's paramount that I double-down on these negative connotations. Out of the eight themes chosen by the survey participants, I feel like Free Will, Existentialism and Conspiracism apply to it the best. One concern I have at this stage however is that a lot of the ideas are going to tread a bit too close to The Matrix. Even though I could still make something enjoyable along that same line, I need to make sure I'm digging deep to portray control in a different way. I'm going to look to make an idea or two that is a bit more relatable to people, something a bit more localised instead of generalised. To conclude Control, I'm going to be creating ideas using the following criteria:
Simulation Motive: Control
Themes: Conspiracism, Existentialism and Free Will
Genre: Action-Adventure
Motive 2 - Escapism
Escapism, to me, is a means of displacing oneself from the real world in order to escape the burdens of it. We all have things we escape into to feel happier or more inspired. For myself, Pokemon was my escapism as a child - despite Pokemon games never being objective brilliance, they felt like an entire universes worth of experiences to me. Owning my own Pokemon and being free enough to tackle obstacles and explore the world felt unbelievably liberating and freeing. When writing this, I didn't initially consider using escapism to liberate and allow for expansion on ones own experiences in a more positive sense. Since I tied simulation theory (and its more negative and darker themes) to escapism, those darker themes persisted. So perhaps it could be good to make something that focuses on expanding the world in a positive sense. Escapism has deep-running roots in psychology and is a sub-topic of it. To explore escapism would be to explore an aspect of psychology. It is often most associated with mental health issues, since said issues are often times impossible to escape from in the real world, since the roots of a lot of these issues can be found within it. Take me for example, my social issues stem from a difficulty engaging in social situations and being out in the world. It's very difficult to escape from these issues in the real world, unless I look to quiet places in nature for example. To help with escaping from these issues, I'd look to video games and videos. Immersing myself in a different world would allow the negativity within the real world to slip away, I could almost assume another identity, one that does not have these issues. Because of these psychological ties, it'd be good to research into how I can turn these issues that prompt escapism into tangible and relatable metaphors within my game ideas.
The buzzwords I think of reflect my initial interpretation of escapism. There is an implied sense of burden within ones reality carried by escapism. The connotations of this are intrinsically negative, but also have little glimmers of hope and positivity sneaking into the cracks. Thinking about it now, if I make a game about escaping ones own bleak reality, how do I conclude it? If I double down on the negative aspects, it would set up the game to be overwhelmingly depressing, and would almost suggest that the bleakness of reality is inescapable. I think it'd be important to reframe that idea. Although reality's negativity is well and truly inescapable, we can circumvent it and fix problems as we progress. I want to shift these connotations from focussing more on the negative aspects of reality, into a focus on accepting there is negativity and that it can be dealt with and overcome.
I think I'm going to use Escapsim as a means of developing happier and more positive ideas, as stories of triumph over evil seem to make the most sense to me, and have a much more 'conclusive' sound to them. If I focus on the idea of 'overcoming', then I think the puzzle genre is most fitting. Puzzles can be easily crafted to serve as a metaphor for finding ways to overcome ones problems. Role-playing could make sense too, but I feel like the idea of a puzzle game within this context is a much more explicit means of conveying the feeling of triumph. Although moments of action and adventure could be fun, I feel like it would not accurately portray the struggle one goes through when tackling their problems - it is much more than simply slaying a beast (even if that can still serve as a good metaphor), and I think placing the emphasis on 'solving' problems portrays the struggle and the journey more accurately. If the puzzle genre doesn't quite work out in testing however, I can definitely approach action-adventure from a more strategic perspective. Turn-based combat could serve as a reasonable back up plan, as it is much more strategic than regular combat mechanics.
In terms of themes, I feel as though dreams/nightmares hits the idea of escapism perfectly. The contrast between the beauty of the worlds one escapes to in a dream and the bleakness of a nightmare highlights the inescapability of negativity, and that it must be dealt with head on, rather than escaped from. I think free will also ties into escapism quite well, as I envision the idea of an individual breaking free of the monotony of life to escape to fantastical worlds in which they can dictate their own reality from the ground up. Dreams exemplify this concept and go hand in hand with free will, they can serve as a playground in which one can create entire worlds from their own unique visions. As a final theme, I think technology is best suited, although I'm not particularly convinced by the other remaining themes for this motive. Technology is often associated with forms of escapism, and none of these technological escapes are more explicit than that of virtual reality. I feel as though dreams go hand in hand with virtual reality - VR gives us the ability to experience different worlds with much more accuracy than other forms of technology, giving us the closest means by which one can 'escape' reality. Given the personal escapism that many of us go through with video games in particular, I feel technology and VR specifically are a shoo-in for developing this idea.
To conclude Escapism, I'm going to be creating ideas using the following criteria:
Simulation Motive: Escapism
Themes: Dreams/Nightmares, Free Will and Technology
Genre: Puzzle
Motive 3 - Recovering Lost Information
This motive is probably the most difficult to approach from the beginning, as I find it quite difficult to get the gears moving. It's not that the motive is uninspiring, it's just a bit harder to make sense of it in my head. This motive stems directly from the concept of ancestor simulation. If it turned out that we are being simulated by our descendants, then it would most certainly guarantee that something in the future caused a large portion of human history to be lost. This is because, when evaluating other motivations, there is very little sense in simulating ones ancestors if you already have a large amount of information on them. And, since we live in an age where the preservation of information has never been easier, it would be highly unlikely our descendants would be 'missing out' key parts of our history. The outlook of this very concept is, by nature, highly negative and pessimistic. It implies that humanity will, eventually, damage itself enough to erase large parts of our own history. For our descendants, simulation would most likely be the only way to go about understanding us and our history. Another concept to play around within this motive is that of memory loss. I didn't think of this idea initially until Dylan spoke about his topic (memory) in a talk we had with Emma. I realise that the recovery of information doesn't necessarily have to be a global or historical thing, it can relate back to single individuals and the experience they have with the world. In the case of those with dementia, perhaps I could make a concept in which experimental treatments have allowed patients to slowly reform the neurological connections that formed their memories, and the gameplay could recolve around the individual fighting to recover said memories? This sort of concept heavily explores science, morality and ethics, as well as memories, all while hitting the motive head on, which could be really fun and interesting to look into. The part of this I like the most is that it could be a happier take on simulation theory, a story in which one slowly but surely becomes themself again in the face of hardship. I definitely want to explore this concept, as it is a nice change of pace from an otherwise pessimistic subject matter.
The buzzwords for Recovery are, once again, generally negative. There is an overwhelming sense of loss and grief that arises from it. One thing that I am realising however is that Recovery as a theme is a logical chronological successor to Control - the Recovery motive can easily set up a foundation for a game set AFTER the events of those using the Control motive, so that is something to explore. The 'post-apocalyptic' concept seems to go hand in hand with recovery, but, as I mentioned earlier, it can relate back to the simple idea of memory. Recovery, by definition, means getting something that was once lost, back. For potential narratives, that opens the door similarly to the Escapism motive for more positive and 'overcoming' ideas. I feel as though there is a lot more world-building potential for this motive however, and a lot more potential for environmental storytelling and exploration, something I am INCREDIBLY fond of in games.
In terms of themes, I feel as though Icarus goes hand in hand with the motive of Recovery. For something to be recovered, something needs to occur that causes loss of some kind. The only issue with Icarus is that it implies that something has to be intentionally caused, or caused by sheer carelessness rather than something happening through bad luck. I think for this motive specifically, I want to make an idea or two that ditches that intentionality/carelessness in order to make an idea more geared in the direction of disease or general misfortune, such as dementia or a natural disaster. I'm still going to use its face value definition for some other ideas, however!
The next theme I think fits best is that of Technology - I feel as though any Icarus situation stems from some form of technological oversight within the context of simulation theory. It's easy to see this concept reflected in the real world: technological advancement is amazing and benefits us a lot, but showcases our greed and reluctance to consider the environmental consequences of such advancements. Recovery has strong ties into data as well, with data loss and data recovery being a necessary and important service within the tech industry to save massive amounts of important information.
The last theme is a bit harder to choose since effectively any of them could fit. I think Determinism might be the best theme here, however. If I use humanity as the species that overreaches its boundaries to bring about this Icarus situation, I could exemplify humanity's terrible need to commit atrocities in order to actually learn their lessons. By using that logic, it's almost CERTAIN that humanity is going to make another mistake that hits us all on a global scale. With that in mind, one could say that future is already written, thus being an example of determinism. The only issue I have with Determinism right now is that it's quite hard to get across as a gameplay mechanic that ISN'T limiting to the player experience. If I utilise Determinism as a plot point, I feel as though it would result in a linear story, or at least one in which the ending is always the same, which could result in a dissatisfying payoff at the end. As a mechanic, it doesn't seem to carry much merit either, as it implies that any given interaction has already been written, thus making the journey meaningless if the end point is even remotely predictable. I think instead it's better to utilise it as a point of contention within this context. Perhaps the protagonist(s) could push back against the notion of humanity dooming itself, ending with a more positive look for humanity that does not conform to said notion. I'm not sure either way, but it's a very interesting theme to try and use. I'll have to dig a bit deeper and look around at other media for inspiration if I want to use Determinism properly.
Since role-playing is the only genre left, my hand is forced here. Fortunately though, I feel as though it is more fitting than the other two. The recovery of data, post-apocalypse scenarios, memory loss - none of these seem to elicit any sort 'action' that would remain consistent throughout an entire game. Recovery as a motive connotes more along the lines of mystery, morals, ethics and exploration than action. The good thing about role-playing specifically is that it could take the form of a table-top RPG or a video game, but I'm inclined to choose the latter since it has a better means of utilising exploration.
To conclude Recovery, I'm going to be creating ideas using the following criteria:
Simulation Motive: Recovery
Themes: Icarus, Technology and Determinism
Genre: Role-Playing
What's next?
The best next step is to begin putting the thoughts and ideas on this page into more refined ideas. I'll put these ideas back through a survey to quickly generate further ideas.
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