a computer gaming network vision

I’ve had a vision that computer game designers have flirted with, but for some reason don’t pursue. Like everything else in our culture, the world of computer games is fragmented. Each game is isolated, presenting frustrating dead ends. In today’s simulation games, you can create your own person, your own house, your own city, your own country, your own species, and even your own world. But few games have done more than experiment with the idea of placing your simulated person into your simulated city, your city into your country, your country into your civilization, and your civilization into your world. My vision is a network of games that has the potential to make the world of computer games as detailed and as vast as the real world.

Far from being a refuge for escapists, this simulated cosmos will give the player a deeper appreciation of the design, detail, beauty and harmony of real life and the real world. It's strange that computer game designers are pushing realism to its limit in their games, while stressing the importance of the distinction between real life and their games. Have they ever thought that maybe their games could help their players discover a better life in the real world, kind of like a good book or a movie?  

I don’t know much about anything, but I do know a little bit about a lot of things. The minimum amount of knowledge I have of random subjects is what sparked my interest in this strategy/simulation project. I believe the gaming world is approaching a revolution that will benefit society at large by offering the common person a fresh, comprehensive, interactive and fun perspective of their world. Fan sites and gaming blogs of many different computer games are already diving deep into the topics of beauty, technology, history and more, because their favorite games made them think about the topics. In and of themselves, strategy games like the Sim City series, Sid Meier’s Civilization series, Age of Empires, and online gaming communities like Everquest and Warcraft, have provided the seed for future ideas. Imagination and creativity just might be the best projection of our future, and nothing today can be more imaginitive and creative than a computer game.  

The gaming revolution I envision welds together the world of utility and the world of entertainment, to the point where a person is having so much fun that he doesn’t even notice how much he is learning and perhaps even working. The truth is intriguing. It ought to inspire us to continue pursuing it with every little bit of it we discover. The gaming world, especially through the depth of computer games, has taught gamers so much efficaciously, I believe it is a method of learning worth investing in.

Will Wright, the founder of Sim City and The Sims, talked about creating a similar gaming network, but never followed through. The Sims got too big. Also, Sid Meier’s Civilization franchise provides a great dimension to develop a simulated nation within, so these ideas I’m throwing around have already come close to actualization. Come to think of it, just about every dimension of simulation is already out there. They’re just not linked. Sim City 4 made it possible to upload your Sim from The Sims into one of your cities, but it wasn’t a very interactive gaming experience.

As you can see, Will Wright and Sid Meier have the vision closest to mine, but it’s still fragmented. I envision the ability to zoom in to a role-playing level like in Sim Copter and Sid Meier’s Pirates! Imagine building a privateer in one of your Civ cities, then diving in and playing in the story of that privateer, raiding cities you built in games like Tropico and Stronghold, attacking caravels and frigates that have a direct impact on other computer games. The power and enormity of the Internet can link it all together. Interested in managing a city you settled in Civ on a more microscopic level? Simply buy the city simulator linked to the game. Want to zoom in closer? Play the paramedic just employed by the hospital you just built in the city. There are role-playing games and simulators for practically every era, every manageable entity, every exciting profession. If it were all linked, the possibilities are endless.

It’s time for computer games to utilize their true potential. Since the beginning of human history, the seeds of people’s dreams have been planted during the time of leisure in their lives. When kids play, they pretend to be the professional they want to be when they grow up. Artists and writers have always created the world of their imagination through their work. There is just so much fragmentation in our society. We no longer see the relation between the things we have to do and the things we love to do. The computer gaming world, with its potential for detail, can finally be the tool that makes learning and valuable production fun. We’ll never re-establish Eden, but that shouldn’t stop us from getting as close as we can in this life.