Simulations

I have been brainstorming the scenarios for 'The Real Game'. I have thought of calling it NIPPER, instead of 'The Real Game', which seems somewhat bland. I am not sure though.

It should also be set in 2011. 2011 is far enough in the future for the 'Republic' type Superpower we see in Star Wars, to transform into the 'Evil Empire'. It simply becomes too big and too powerful and soon tries to invade and dominate everything. This might be the case with the USA, especially in a world running low on oil and clean water. I am not sure whether to make Nipper a US citizen, or someone from elsewhere. Korea is an idea. Maybe she is a North Korean spy? Or perhaps she is from New Zealand. 2011 is also a good date because it alludes to 9/11, and the story is meant to be relevant, and useful, to what is happening now. It is meant to be an extension of our present reality, and to point to the faraway picture our actions today may well create. 2011 has an incomplete feel to it, whereas 2012 sounds too contrived. Any earlier seems too early, and any later seems too far away.

Simulations are interesting as a concept. The News is a lot of simulated reality. News is not reality, although it is probably closer to it than say a movie. Some television dramas are arguably even better at achieving verisimilitude. Once the world was not interested in RE-presenting reality as reality. This was the time of Impressionism. I am into an Existentialist/Impressionistic way of expressing the world. Why do you want to attempt to be realistic when you have the Real World?

Having said that, 'The Real Game' is not intended to be very impressionistic. But neither is it meant to be entirely realistic. It is based, after all, on the premise that our dreams and the collective reality are intertwined. We are, effectively, bringing about our reality because of our daydreams, our careless thoughts, our care and carelessness.

When I visualise the opening of the story, I see a situation which is presented. It is a disturbing situation. It is a situation where a girl is alone on a beach, and a fine dust falls on her face. She walks over the sand to find her clothes are stolen (yes, exactly like the Morrissey song Everyday is Like Sunday). She is in a situation where she needs to find some kind of shelter or protection in order not to suffer the consequences of prolonged exposure to radioactive fallout. In this scenario she begins to retch, she begins to die, and then the 'reality' is shown to be mere simulation. Because TRG is set in the near future, the gaming universe is necessarily a lot more advanced. You do literally walk through a computer generated world - where your surroundings, which are really thousands of revolving and movable microplasma screens. The screens produce not only environments but also physical surfaces, that might represent gravel or grass, and might be rough or smooth, or wet. I need to think more about how this is done. I don't like the idea that the person in the simulation is wearing a helmet, or electrodes. I like to think they are unencumbered. In the computer simulation everything looks and feels 95% as it would in the real world. So the effect is very real.

I have sketched out one Scenario above. It is slightly different from the other five I will describe below, in that the End of the World event has already occurred, and what remains for Nipper to do now is survive. It is no longer about prevention. And the time frame is 12 hours minimum, after which finding uncontaminated food and land become the new priorities.

Here are 5 other scenarios:
1) Stadium
You are in a football stadium. A missile is flying towards this stadium. It is 5 minutes to impact. You are a civilian but with a knowledge of electronics and broadcasting. The stadium contains 50 000 people, and they are all absorbed in the football game. About 100 metres from you is a press booth. Besides the press booth is a big electronics display board. The missile is carrying a nuclear warhead.

2) Taxi
You are the driver of a taxi. You hear a news bulletin that a man is believed to be in the country, intent on assassinating the president. The description given matches the passenger, and you notice that what appeared to be a black walking cane is actually a high powered rifle. Your passenger leans over and shows you a picture of your family. You have 20 minutes to prevent the assassinating. You have no special skills.

3) Tiananmen
You are in China, on a public square. All over the world, but especially here, there is civil unrest. Government police and soldiers are shooting people in the streets. People all over the world have realised, as they cede power to the Empire, that their governments are not serving them. You have 1 hour to survive the unrest and leave the city.

4) Sniper
You are an agent. You are tasked to assassinate the North Korean(or US) leader, and defuse a Nuclear crisis. You have 6 hours to deadline.

5) Diffuse
You find a nuclear bomb in the basement of your local public library. You are not a bomb disposal expert, but you make an emergency call and are patched through to one. You have 2 and a half minutes to diffuse the bomb. You have no equipment, but one of the people browsing in the library has a Swiss army knife.

Those are some of the simulations so far. I will try to flesh it out and begin writing some kind of rough draft. Have to rush to a vege-dinner now.