Evolution in video games
2008/11/23 Álvarez Busca, Lucía - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa
If you could create a species, a world, a universe, how would you? Imagine that you create a being that according to your decisions is evolving to develop a species, a family, a society and a world. Do you want to try?
When our being is a unicellular organism, the game appears to us in two dimensions, as if we look at it with a microscope. (Electronic Arts Software)
If you fell short, here's a wider opportunity. Last September Spore was presented. It is a video game to play both on the computer and in the game console or on the mobile. It is based on the concept of theological evolution or intelligent design. The player decides the evolutionary process of a being as if it were a god.
Each can give to being the desired form, from being a unicellular organism to being a complex animal and reaching a certain degree of intelligence. The player must grow several of his generations, structure and direct society from the beginning of civilization to the ability to reach space.
Three million species on the net
Will Wright is the creator of the game Spore. Wright is already very popular because he is the creator of the game Sims. In that game the toy was society. Wright wanted to take a step further and allowed to create not only behaviors, but also beings. At Spore the toy is the universe. To this end, Sims has incorporated into his social functions the foundations of biology and the concept of evolution. In Wright's words, there are toy ecosystems, planets and galaxies, and the goal of the game is for these toys to be fun, for the player to explore and create cities and worlds. The criterion of the creators of Spore has been to develop the game of player taste, focus on the experiences he wants to live and give the player the ability to change to his liking.
The game begins with the birth of life. In fact, on the planet you see a comet falling. This principle explains the idea of panspermia, according to which the ‘seeds’ of life are scattered throughout the universe and their arrival on Earth on our planet began their life. From there, the player must go through five different situations: unicellular organism, being, tribe, civilization and exit to space.
Depending on the decisions made in each phase: herbivore or carnivore, development of one or other defense systems, etc., the being created by the player will evolve in one way or another. Thus, genetic points will be marked according to what is decided in each phase. These points condition the decisions we will make later. For example, according to the decision made at the time of the cell, the game will give us a number of legs, arms or eyes, or depending on the choice of one or other defensive weapons, the groups around will be friends or enemies.
Three million species on the net
Beings created by a player can be shared with other players, integrated into the existing beings base on the network, and this base also allows the downloading of beings created by others. Currently, more than three million beings created by users are on the net as a reflection of the game's success.
But they have already appeared against this game. Thus, a man launches the blog Anti Spore, a game that shows the smallest ideas contrary to faith. In fact, the creator of the blog opposes the ideas of evolution that defend the game and believes that it opposes religious beliefs.
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Gai honi buruzko eduki gehiago
Elhuyarrek garatutako teknologia
