That is what we think. In movies, in TV series, in books and also in games. Yet the question becomes have we ever considered an evolving setting?
That thought came to mind when I was considering the political settings we currently face. So in comes an old acquaintance all the way back from 1985. It was the Balance of power. I had the Atari ST version, but it originally came from the Macintosh. It was created on a system with 512Kb of RAM, all whilst the Atari ST had 1024Kb of RAM. These were simpler times, but the software was remarkable, even for those days. So now we have PC’s with a lot more (4000 times more). The PS5 has 16GB of ram and the BlueRay can hold so much more than a 800kb floppy.
That was merely the hardware, the setting of 1985. There no longer is a simple setting of bear versus eagle. The world is a lot more complex. Big corporations have global power, The simple setting of Russia versus America is gone. There is now the Commonwealth, the Arabian nations and there is China. It is governments versus corporations and all versus chaos and anarchy. So what happens if the game gets updated to include all these parameters.
So the ‘media’ is all about whitewashing using sports. So what happens if these parameters are included? What can we see when these thousands of elements are included? There might not be an actual AI yet, but the LLM’s with deeper machine learning could set a proper larger stage to test and use in the new Balance of Power. All set on actual premises. So what happens when this game actually include the extremists and what could the game dish out against the user who decides to become a president, a monarch or a CEO of a large company?
What can we make in the complexities of media and political charged players? Consider parts of the CCG Illuminati, created by Steve Jackson Games in 1980. What if the game has both elements so that any choice could evolve? The question becomes is there a market for this game. In 1985 the game sold over 250,000 copies. It was a time when almost no one had a computer. So what becomes of an evolved setting? I have no idea, in those times there were little games, the thousands of games were only starting to get developed in 1985. So could a game like that work? I am merely one curious gamer. The connected setting is not merely can it be done, but could it work to a larger audience.
A game where we can set the stage and can see if something is set in stone, or could it evolve if certain political players are not included? How could we consider if a technocracy could not exist, or the reverse. Could it become the only way out?
All questions we might ask and what happens if there is a game that gave you a likelihood of certain evolutions.
All nice questions, but there is a larger stage. What happens is that LLM is in the cloud and you merely download a copy of the evolving parameters. In this what happens when we add a second game (for example) the setting of a game like the 4th protocol, based on the movie/book with Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine. What happens when we add an MI5,FSB,CIA element? We try to remake the wheel, but what happens when we create an element that uses the same data file? We could look at different stages all based on the same data, so the second game would have all the people in place, it merely adds the names the other game doesn’t use, but it all fits the nearly same pattern. You see, all these players (Microsoft, Google, IBM, Amazon) are creating their own ‘AI’ version. But what happens, when we do the reverse? One data set allows for evolutions in games? It was never done before because these systems were not in existence. Now we have the power, the data space and hopefully the inclination to create a new type of game, and this could fit all the formats. It is merely an idea but there is a larger need to create a unique game. At present we largely get more of the same and someone needs to think out of the box and create something new.
So, this is just an idea and perhaps the idea might not work. Yet I believe that systems like this allow someone to totally create something new and never seen before in gaming and it could lead to a new level of RPG games. I made mention of this 2-3 years ago. What happens when NPC’s in games create their own intelligence? I gave the setting in them, but there is a larger need. Something needs to learn NPC how to become more intelligent, so that we don’t get the laughable AC Unity crowds. NPC’s that keep on walking in the wall and intelligent responses in a game. You can either create a more intelligent NPC, or you can let the NPC evolve through LLM’s and that is where we need to go. An evolved remake of the Balance of Power is merely the setting that could work and create another game in the process as you prototype solutions. It is just a thought to have the weekend.
Have a great weekend, it’s Saturday now and 7 hours until breakfast (for me).
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 